After you have graduated with a college education, what is the correct procedure for dealing with job offers, and what can you do if you start working and don’t like the company, the job, or the career you have chosen?

The good news is that nothing is written in stone, and you can change your mind—but don’t burn any bridges behind you!

What Are Your Obligations When You Apply for Work?

College will have prepared you for writing a resume, looking for work, applying for a job, filling out an application, and taught you how to conduct yourself during a job interview. Keep in mind, however, there are responsibilities attached to the process and to the acceptance of a job:

• Be scrupulously honest about yourself in your resume, your application, and your interview.
• Don’t interview for a job in which you have no interest and only want the interview experience. You shouldn’t waste a company’s time if you have already decided you don’t want to accept a job offer.
• If you apply to more than one company and you receive a job offer from one but would prefer to work for another, it is perfectly all right to ask for time to consider the offer. However, do sound grateful and enthusiastic in case you don’t hear from the second company and want to accept the first job a day or two later.
• If you haven’t heard from a company after being interviewed for a job, you can call and remind the interviewer that you are hoping to hear from them soon and that you “really want to work for their company.” A lot of people don’t realize how important it is for the company to know that you really want the job. Be sure and ask for it.
• Once you have accepted a job, don’t accept another, and don’t take any more interviews.

How Can You Change Companies, Change Jobs, or Change Careers?

1. You Don’t Like the Company or the Job – Be sure and give yourself reasonable time to adjust to a new job, a new company, or a new boss. If you really can’t stand the work, the working conditions, or the company, give careful thought to how you can leave gracefully without any hard feelings. Your work history follows you everywhere and you need good references to find a new job now and in the future:

• Don’t leave too quickly. You don’t want to create the impression that you aren’t reliable and you will never stay long in any job. If you leave within a year, dream up a good reason and never say you don’t like the company or the working conditions.
• Stay on the job while you start a new job search. It is easier to find work when you are employed than when you are unemployed. When asked, have an acceptable reason for wanting a job with another company without complaining about your current one.
• When you are ready to leave your current job, ask for a reference, and be sure and thank everyone you worked for and worked with.

2. You Don’t Like the Career – If you decide you have chosen the wrong career and would like a different one, remember that college can make it relatively easy and affordable for you to make that change:

• You can take college courses while you are working. For example, Universal Learning Institute, a career college in Vancouver, BC, is able and happy to accommodate work schedules.
• New programs commence almost every week all through the year and you won’t have to wait long to start training for a new career. You will be out and working at a new job before you know it.

After obtaining your college education, you may find the perfect job or one in which you can move forward to bigger and better positions until you land that perfect job. However, after giving yourself time to adapt, if you really don’t like the company or the working conditions, start looking for another job while you are still employed. If you don’t like the career you have chosen, go back to college while you are still working and try again. A lot of people change companies or careers before they find the one that suits them best.

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to the Universal Learning Institute and a clickable link back to this page.