When you start a new job, it’s tempting to compare how things are done at your new gig to your previous role. However, constantly comparing your new job to your old one won’t do you any favours, and may turn your new colleagues against you.
Photo by Creatista (Shutterstock).
It’s one thing to tell your boss or coworkers “Oh yeah, we used that app/platform/tool at my old job, I’m familiar with it.” It’s quite another to constantly remind them “At my old job, we did it this way” or to say “At Y Company, we didn’t use that platform, we used X because it was so much easier to configure and maintain.” You may mean well, but when you’re a rookie in a new job, you don’t see the whole picture. Beyond that, you may be fostering animosity in your new coworkers.
US News Money‘s Chrissy Scivicque calls this “comparison syndrome”, and explains it this way:
Of course things were different. That’s a given. But when you note it out loud for everyone, it starts to sound like you’re implying things were also better where you used to be. And eventually your co-workers will start to wonder: “If you like your old company so much, why not go back there?”
You might think you’re being helpful, sharing a bit of your background and bringing the best work methods of your old employer to your new one, but your co-workers won’t see it that way — at least not at first. Sadly, many are looking for reasons not to accept you into the fold. By constantly comparing your old home to your new one, you create an “us versus them” mentality, where you’re on the outside. You continuously remind people that you’re new to the tribe so it’s easy to keep you in that status.
In small doses, these comparisons can be a good way to tell your coworkers that you’re following along. In large doses, it’s just annoying. Hit the link below to read a few more rookie mistakes to avoid at a new job.
4 Mistakes the Office Greenhorn Should Avoid [US News Money]
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