I have made a career out of convincing professionals that a particular position is the right one for them. However, I have never done that without actually believing that the position in question was the right one based on what I know of the individual, their career goals and the opportunity that is being presented.
What I do not do is attempt to convince people that a job is right for them when that is not the case. Not only would that be disingenuous, but it would be a disservice to both the candidate and also to my client. After all, my client has secured my services to ensure that I help find someone who will be a good fit for their organization.
My goal is to create a win-win situation. That involves both a win for my client and a win for the candidate. I want them to be pleased with each other and pleased with the situation. Now on the one hand, I always encourage Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to at least consider an opportunity and be open minded when an opportunity comes along. However, that doesn’t mean that you should always pursue an opportunity.
Sooner rather than later
You can decide at any point during the hiring process to stop pursuing an opportunity. However, the earlier you do it in the process, the better. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, you won’t waste your time and you also won’t waste the employer’s time. Second, by being upfront and forthright, you’ll brand yourself in a positive fashion. Third, it will allow you to devote more time and energy to pursuing the opportunities that you should be pursuing.
So with all of that in mind, below are six reasons why you should NOT pursue an opportunity:
#1—There are a lack of opportunities for advancement.
Let’s face it: career advancement is one of the main reasons that you change jobs in the first place. Why would you move from an employer that is not offering opportunities for advancement to another employer that is not offering opportunities for advancement? That doesn’t make sense. So be sure that your potential new employer has everything that you want in this category. If it doesn’t, then you probably don’t need to go any further.
#2—You are uncomfortable with the company culture.
In order for you to truly excel and reach your full professional potential, you must be at ease with the culture of the organization for which you work. There’s really no way around that. In fact, you should be more than “just okay” with the culture. You should be excited to join it! If that’s not the case, then that’s a strike against the organization.
#3—There are a lack of training opportunities.
Not only do you want to advance within the organization, but you also want to add to your skills and expertise along the way. What is the employer offering in terms of training? Is the organization prepared to invest in you as an employee and pay for a certain amount of training? Or is it simply content to let you worry about it and then be the beneficiary of the investment that you make in yourself? The answers to these questions are important.
#4—Your core values do not align with the organization.
First of all, you must know your core values. Second, you must know the core values of the organization offering the opportunity. Otherwise, there’s no way to compare the two. Knowledge is just the first step, however. The values must be in alignment. If not, then you may be setting yourself up for disappointment and failure, regardless of the other attractive aspects of the opportunity.
#5—You know there’s a chance that you might “ghost” on your offer.
I’ve written about this topic before. “Ghosting” on your offer means that you simply disappear once an organization makes an offer of employment. I’ve seen this happen on more than one occasion. It usually occurs when a candidate is part of the hiring process of multiple organizations. That’s all fine and good, but it’s not an acceptable reason to just disappear.
What’s even worse is accepting an offer and then not showing up for your first day of work because you decided to take another offer in the interim and not inform anyone of your decision. If you view an opportunity as simply some kind of “placeholder,” then you need to stop pursuing it.
#6—You know that there’s a chance you would accept a counter-offer.
This is related to #5 above. If you’re ready to seriously pursue other opportunities, then there should be NO chance that you would accept a counter-offer. If there’s a chance that you would accept one, then you should address whatever problems you’re experiencing with your current employer, whether they’re related to compensation or otherwise. Because if there’s a chance that you’d accept a counter-offer, then you’re not committed to leaving. And if you’re not committed to leaving, then you’re not committed to truly pursuing other opportunities.
How a recruiter can help you
You should always be open to considering an opportunity. However, just because you’re open to considering it does not mean you have to pursue it. And as you can see, there are instances in which it does not make sense to pursue it. The key is to identify which opportunities should be pursued and which ones should not. To paraphrase an old saying, discretion is the better part of employment valor.
This is where an experience Animal Health Recruiter or a Veterinary Industry Recruiter can help your career. That’s because a good recruiter has experience knowing when an opportunity is worth pursuing. In fact, if you align yourself with an experienced recruiter in your niche and build a relationship with them, they’ll know what is most important to YOU in a new opportunity. Armed with that knowledge, they’ll be able to present opportunities to you that meet the criteria that you originally outlined. In other words, if you work the right way with a good recruiter, every opportunity that they present to you will be worth considering (and quite possibly, worth pursuing).
Enjoying career success is like enjoying any other type of success. It requires solid decision making skills. That’s why you should leverage the expertise and resources of a good Animal Health Recruiter or Veterinary Recruiter. They can help you make the best decisions possible regarding your opportunities, your options, and your career.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.