Why You Should Always Have A Break Before Starting Your New Job

You have completed the selection process.

You get notified by the hiring organisation that you have been successful and are offered the job.

Great news for you without a doubt.

The hiring organisation will no doubt want to know when you can start.

The temptation might be to say a date immediately after your notice period in your old job is completed.

Personally I don’t think this is a great idea.

Here’s why.

When you are leaving a job and working your notice period you will be busy.

There will be a lot of tasks to be finished off.

You may even have to spend time training the person who is replacing you.

All of this can be pretty exhausting.

When you start a new job you are on a probation period.

Initially there is so much to learn.

There’s a lot of people to meet and building relationships with.

You have to integrate into a team with new colleagues.

There are high expectations of you from the person who hired you.

The pressure can feel pretty intense.

Having a clean break and a period of time between finishing up in one job and starting the next will help you:

  • Re-energise
  • Focus completely on the new role.
  • Let go of the previous role.

So how long should that break between roles be?

I would say a full working week is good.

If you can make it two weeks even better.

While you might be tempted to finish one job on Friday and start the next one on Monday, the transition will be so much easier if you can have a break.

You will go into the new role better prepared and ready for the challenges ahead.

About the Author Duncan Brodie

Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.

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