When starting a new job, have you ever doubted your decision?

In this week's team blog, Greg Mackenzie, a Recruitment Consultant here at The Candidate, explains the highs and lows of taking a leap and starting a new job. Greg, who works exclusively on advertising agency jobs, has been at The Candidate for just over 4 months, so he can personally relate to the excitement and challenges a change of job entails.

When starting a new job, have you ever doubted your decision?

Don't worry - it's a big change and you're not alone. Change is a recognised emotional process and it impacts people of all ages and seniority, no matter how experienced they are or how many times they've changed jobs before. Known as Kelley and Conner's Emotional Cycle of Change, it's not just limited to changing jobs, it occurs when we make any significant change in our lives.

When coupled with relocating, this process can be more severe and last for longer periods of time. As many of us go through similar, predictable stages, the emotional cycle becomes easier to understand - increasing our ability to cope.

The Emotional Cycle of Change:

- Stage 1: Uniformed Optimism

- Stage 2: Informed Pessimism

- Stage 3: Hopeful Realism

- Stage 4: Informed Optimism

- Stage 5: Completion

Stage 1: Uniformed Optimism

The feeling of certainty, that you've made the right decision, and your excitement at starting anew.

Stage 2: Informed Pessimism

As you begin to get underway, you may feel negative emotions and begin to doubt your ability to meet requirements as you get a better understanding of what the new role actually entails.

Overcome this by revisiting your goals, take one-day-at-a-time, focus on your positive achievements and seek assistance from a mentor.

Stage 3: Hopeful Realism

When you become familiar with your new circumstances, feelings of pessimism fade. Although tougher than in previous positions, you begin to realise your new goals are achievable.

Changing habits and following action plans often help you stay on track.

Stage 4: Informed Optimism

Confidence kicks in you feel you've made the right decision once again. You now have the experience to tackle problems and you can even begin to support other staff members at earlier stages of the cycle.

Stage 5: Completion

You've reached your goal. You feel satisfied having completed this emotional journey and you can now begin to look at the next goal.

****************

A few closing words from Greg:

Having just relocated to Manchester to begin a new career in marketing recruitment, I can certainly recognise my own personal journey through some of the stages discussed above. Learning about SEO recruitment & PPC recruitment has been just a small part of balancing an almost vertical learning curve with fitting in to a new city. Having an experienced support network around me in the office, I've been able to get off to good start - exceeding targets and building my reputation in digital recruitment in Manchester.

For most people, this cycle happens within their first 3 months of starting a new job, coincidentally aligning with a typical probation period. Change is never easy, but by recognising your transition through each stage and overcoming with the right techniques, you will reach your end goal.