After spending eight years in the same office, I realized that it was time to change something. However, as soon as it came to looking for a job, I was seized by real panic. The new job scared me to the point of trembling in my knees. Can I handle it? How will you greet the team? Will your relationship with your superiors work out? Have I lost my business acumen and flexibility of thinking after eight years in one place? What if I don't pass the probationary period? The fear of a new job was simply paralyzing...
During the Soviet Union, labor dynasties were held in high esteem. It was considered very prestigious to spend your entire life in one workplace or in one work team. And if there was fear, it was not of work, but of the boss or the opinion of the team. “He went through his career from a mechanic’s apprentice to a production manager”, “Thirty years ago she came to the enterprise as a young graduate”, “He is one of those specialists whom the plant raised from its own personnel, training them at the expense of the enterprise”, “Her whole life passed before the eyes of the team,” such phrases were once often found in work biographies.
Much has changed since then, including views on the track record of a good specialist. Today, an employee who sits in one place all his life can hardly be considered promising. It is becoming increasingly popular to say that you need to change jobs every five years in order not to lose your professionalism and to have enough diverse experience to increase your value as a specialist. Resumes and entries in work books are becoming more and more voluminous. As a result, more and more people are afraid of work.
Reasons for fear of getting a job
Many psychologists encounter the phrase “I’m afraid to start a new job” during their consultations. The issue is especially acute for girls who have interrupted their working career due to maternity leave. The restructuring of the body, changes in thinking, social circle and complete reorientation to children's topics mislead young mothers about their qualifications.
Fear of the team
Closed and insecure people are afraid not so much of the employer and his requests as of adapting to a new team. It always seems to a newcomer that everyone is looking at him with suspicion and disdain, waiting for his first mistakes and failures. An inner voice constantly repeats: “I’m afraid to go to work, they’ll laugh at me.” It is worth thinking about the fact that each of the people currently working in the team once came for the first time and also did not know where to start. The fact that people already work there doesn't make them any better. You need to think that attentiveness and responsibility can help you succeed in a new place no worse than those who have extensive experience.
Attention! A newcomer to the team is a mystery. Public opinion will depend on how you manage to present yourself, on the basis of which the attitude of the team will begin to form.
It's scary not to cope with responsibilities
Another popular fear can be formulated as follows: “I’m afraid to work because I might not be able to cope.” You can overcome this fear only by trying the degree of difficulty of the tasks on yourself. As a rule, such fear occurs in people with a heightened sense of responsibility and conscientiousness. A person who is accustomed to doing work carelessly will never be puzzled by such a problem. Therefore, if an inner voice repeats: “I’m afraid to start a new job, in case I don’t meet the required level,” this only means that one’s own seriousness and demands on oneself will not allow one to lose one’s face.
New team: future friends or enemies?
Strong fear of a new team increases the likelihood of failure. To get involved, try following these recommendations:
- take a talisman with you if you have one;
- say hello and smile to all employees, so you will show yourself as a friendly and friendly person;
- first study corporate etiquette and rules;
- do not compare your new job with your old one;
- listen more and talk less, it is better to refrain from details of your personal life;
- you don’t have to immediately redo everything to suit yourself;
- keep it simple and be yourself, falsehood is noticed immediately;
- There is no need to snitch or snitch on your colleagues.
Ultimately, a new employee is evaluated on his professional qualities. Carry out your duties conscientiously, be ready to help, and you will soon achieve the respect and favor of your colleagues. This way, the fear of a new job can be considered overcome, and you will be happy to wake up in the morning.
“I can handle it” – is this about you?
Fear of unfamiliar responsibilities is based on low self-esteem. Challenge yourself! Don't be afraid to take on difficult work. Once you get started, you simply won't have time to be afraid. Remember that learning something new always moves you forward. Training and continuous development will gradually replace the fear of work, and you will be a professional in your work.
How to overcome fear of a new place
How to overcome the fear of driving as a new woman - advice from a psychologist
When going to a new place, it is important to think about the fact that any job has its own specifics. A person who has just graduated from a university with a diploma is not a professional in any field, even if the diploma is excellent, even if all the grades in it are “excellent”.
Important! The education you receive gives you the opportunity to become a member of a particular team and choose your employer, but it does not yet make anyone a professional. Any production has its own internal characteristics and rules.
If an applicant is going to work as an accountant, having the appropriate theoretical skills, he will not be able to become an excellent specialist until he understands the specifics of the organization’s activities, until he is told about cash flows, until he becomes familiar with computer programs. You always need to complete your studies in a new place. A conscientious employer will need to undergo a single briefing on both labor protection and fire safety. The first couple of working days will be spent on adaptation and registration, during which you will be able to get to know some of the employees and establish contact. After which the fear of work will no longer be so pronounced, because some part of it has already become familiar, because most often the unknown scares.
The specialist will be introduced to the specifics of the organization
Tips if you haven't gone to work for a long time
Emotional burnout - how to deal with the problem, is it possible to overcome it?
After a long break, going back to work is always difficult. This is due to two main difficulties:
- I’m afraid to go out to work - I don’t remember what to do;
- It’s difficult to overcome your own laziness and force yourself to get up early every day.
It is easier to compete with an external enemy than to overcome your own laziness. A long vacation relaxes, demobilizes your strength and deprives you of your potential. The longer a person does not burden himself with any load, the more difficult it is to start changing. The first step towards starting a career can be self-discipline. Waking up at 7 a.m. every morning to exercise, get out of the house for a run, or walk a few miles around the block is a great start to evening out your routine. Not everyone succeeds in this simple task: 80 out of 100 people turn off the alarm clock in the morning and continue to sleep with the thought that they will definitely get up tomorrow, but today they need to get their last sleep.
Self-discipline starts early in the morning
Fear of work as a phobia
Pathological aversion to work is called ergophobia. Symptoms of this condition:
- pronounced dislike of work;
- preference for any other activity over work;
- difficulties in the educational or work process.
Although ergophobia is a phobia (and usually falls on the list of the strangest fears), the medical community does not recognize it and does not consider it a disease. Instead, it makes more sense to talk about hypertrophied anxiety , based on:
- Low self-esteem.
- Past negative work experience (for example, if relationships in the team were terrible or you had to go through a difficult dismissal).
- The presence of concomitant mental pathologies: depression, obsessive-compulsive neurosis, panic disorder, social phobia, etc.
It makes sense to consider ergophobia not as a real phobia, but only as a consequence of a number of other problems. For example, if a person is afraid of people in principle, then he will be afraid to go to work.
Fear cannot be the result of laziness. Laziness leads to reluctance, but not to fear. If a person has the desire to earn money and work, but lacks the determination and moral strength to do so, then this is ergophobia.
What to do if you have no experience
How to successfully pass a job interview - secrets and tips
Fear of work, when you don’t know what you have to do, makes it difficult to maintain a sense of self-control. We must not forget that panic is the first step to failure. You need to be able to tune in to perceive a large amount of new information. If you manage to mobilize all your strength, the adaptation will be successful. A new employee is always given a probationary period, during which he must study the subject area and the nuances of the organization. Don't be afraid to ask questions to your colleagues or manager.
Important! While a person is considered a new employee, they readily answer him and explain the details. In the first days, do not be shy to ask questions. After the probationary period ends, they will ask the newly minted specialist.
When psychologists hear typical phrases in their classes: “I’m afraid to get a job because they won’t hire you without experience,” classes are based mainly on increasing self-esteem. At first, it is important to establish yourself as a promising specialist. To do this, believe in yourself and don’t be shy to communicate. Everything you need for your first meeting with your future manager:
- clear, moderately loud speech;
- neat appearance;
- tact;
- punctuality.
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How to prepare yourself for your first visit to a new place
If you are scared to go to work for the first time, you can simulate the first day and imagine how it will go. It is also better to prepare for the questions that will be asked at the interview in advance. This will help you cope with excess anxiety. You need to be able to tell about yourself in such a way that the employer would want to hire such an employee. It’s easier to calm the fear of starting a new job if you read humorous stories from the lives of specialists in your chosen profile. When applying for a job in a store, you can read the forum of cash register workers who share funny situations at work. Many of them will make you cry from laughter, not from fear. It will be easier to get used to the role of a store employee if you look at the entire work process from the inside, thanks to such forums.
The fear of going to any job will disappear if the applicant is not too lazy to read certain documentation about his future profession. If you plan to work in the food industry or trade, you will have to remember the rules for storing different categories of products and the deadlines for their disposal. If the interview is for a future manager, it would be a good idea to study the basics of management, with an emphasis on the specifications of the target organization. Before an interview at a government agency, you need to repeat the rules of business etiquette, the established restrictions on wardrobe items and the brightness of makeup (for women).
Confidence in an interview
During the interview itself, you need to behave calmly, but with a slight positive attitude. To get the job you want, it is important to conduct your first meeting with the employer with a prevailing sense of confidence. Many personnel training specialists tell why they rejected a particular applicant: overly gloomy, nervous and bad-looking candidates were not accepted. The right way out is to find a middle ground, not to give the impression of a frivolous, gloomy or nervous person.
Do not forget that the employer is more interested in a new active and erudite workforce than the applicant. He, in turn, must interest the specialist, make him believe that the work under his supervision will be well paid and provided with everything necessary.
What kind of people are afraid of a new job?
A special fear of a new place is typical for people of a certain type, and here we are talking not only about self-esteem. Problems with communication skills are acutely manifested in situations of a new team. Introverts often experience increased anxiety when changing jobs. Their psyche is structured in such a way that establishing social contacts occurs slowly and in some positions this is a problem. Getting to know new responsibilities and colleagues moves slowly and is not always met with understanding. Introverts know this about themselves and begin to worry in advance.
Temperament also plays a big role. Choleric and melancholic people are not able to remain balanced in stressful situations, and a new job is definitely stressful. Questions and misunderstandings that arise unsettle them, the level of anxiety rises, and emotions take over.
The worst thing is that after this they begin to feel guilty, to work themselves up even more, although in fact, it is quite likely that no one from the environment attached much importance to their behavior. And again the circle of anxiety closes. It is for such people that this notorious exit from the comfort zone is a big problem. They are terribly afraid of both a new job and moving.
The situation often gets worse when it comes to a woman on maternity leave, or a person who suffers at her real job, does not develop and feels an urgent need to change something.
