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Making Sure the Second One's a Winner
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You want to stay long enough to figure out why you're so unhappy. Is it the job? Or is it the realization that "you're just not in college anymore, Dorothy," as Pollak puts it?
To determine the difference, engage in some serious self-assessment, whether on your own or with a career coach. It will be easier now than when you were in college. Those questions about what kind of manager you like working for best will make a lot more sense now that you have real-life experience.
Pollak said the most important thing to look for in that second job is growth and learning potential. "You're at such a critical stage in your career. . . . The worst thing you can do is stagnate. You want to get bullet points to put on your résumé."
And, of course, there's money. With luck and negotiation, you should be able to get more of it.
Consider that your second job may be a new position with your first employer. Before you leave, talk with your supervisor about what your career prospects look like there. "You don't want to leave the day before they promote you," Pollak said.
Michael Jalbert, president of Management Recruiters International in Philadelphia, said young workers should look for something that excites them for their second job. "The first job is all about proving you can work, proving you're reliable. The second job is all about leveraging that into something you feel passionate about," he said.
He's more hard-line than Pollak about how long you should stay at the first job, though. "You have to stay 12 months to at least prove you're credible, that you're responsible. But once you've got that year in, you shouldn't be at all fearful of leaving."
The second employer could very well be the one you stick with for the long haul, which was the case for Jalbert.
"I spent a number of months with the federal government right out of school," where he felt he didn't really fit. He moved to PepsiCo and stayed there 17 years.
"People for the most part will say yes to the first job, just to get it started," he said. But with the second one, you have "far more confidence, and therefore a little more patience."
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