About the Author:

Tyler Durbin is the lead author and editor here at GenYJourney.com.  Tyler shares his daily experiences as a recent college grad and young professional and loves to talk with readers and followers about theirs. Say something below in the comments or stop by Twitter and connect with @TylerDurbin.

After graduating from Miami University, without a job I was not happy.  I was depressed, dissatisfied with my education, economy and my own effort and embarrassed…but more than anything I felt PRESSURE!  I would equate my college experience to doing 100 bench presses and then finally not being able to lift the bar off your chest.  You completely maxed out, yet…you’re pretty much screwed…

The Thursday before the July 4th weekend some of the seeds that I had planted earlier in the year had finally bloomed.  I was offered two different jobs in the same week.  Wow!  You want to talk about pressure lifted!  My dad stopped calling everyday to ask about my progress and my mom stopped faking her optimism. It felt nice!  But that relief completely overshadowed all the other aspects of accepting one of these positions.  This was in no way the company I wanted to work for or the type of position that I had spent hours in the library for the past 4 years preparing for.  But at the time and in the midst of the Great Recession, a full-time job with salary and benefits was pretty good.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know what I was getting into and completely ignored the warning signs of a nightmare job.  Now, 9 months into a new job, I’m starting to realize the things that I didn’t do to ensure that I was coming into a good situation. Whether you’re a college senior or a laid-off young professional and regardless of the current economic environment, it’s still important to make informed decisions.  Here are the three things I didn’t do:

I didn’t dig deeper into the company’s culture and current personnel.

I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to speak with many of my future co-workers before accepting the position, but I didn’t ask the right questions.  The conversations were more about my transition from college to career than it was about the work environment.  I didn’t ask what the interactions between co-workers were or what they’re clients were like.  Big mistake!

Be ready with specific questions.  I walked in unprepared and was

working hard to just keep a conversation going…not really learning anything.

I had no clue how the company is perceived from an industry/consumer standpoint.

This should have been a giant red flag.  I had no idea that the company had such a bad reputation in the industry and especially with the clients they had worked with previously.  Oh my God…looking back I can’t believe that I made this mistake.  Any time I Google that company’s name now, there is negative crap everywhere.  I had bought into all the internal hoopla about how great they were, how they were an industry leader and the great future they had ahead.  NOT THE CASE.   I was run out of restaurants when I walked in.  I was cussed out on the phone, in person and through email.  I was hung up on. Lied to. Not paid. Ignored.   Ahhhhhhhh…..

Google. Period.

Pay attention to the office environment

When I had an opportunity to meet with my future co-workers, I should have paid more attention to who I wasn’t introduced to and why.  I was passed around between all the company’s “favorite” employees.  These people were being passed lead after lead (just in the day that I was there) and the favoritism didn’t stop at how leads were distributed.

I missed another big connection.  A majority of the job was to be on the phone cold calling.  Which is bad enough but what I didn’t pay attention to was the actual layout of the office and how it would affect that work.  The building was old, smelly, zero natural light, 6 foot tall cubicles and old, clunky Dell computers. I understand their are sacrifices but you must consider everything when making any type of employment decision!

Consider everything!  When you are on your way to an interview,

imagine that you have been working there for 2 years.  Would all of this stuff be as bearable?

Ever have a nightmare job?  What made it so bad?  What warning signs did you miss?  This is going to be an exciting and funny conversation…be the first to start it up!

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