Jocelyn Glei: making and recovering from a poor job transition

Jocelyn Glei from shared a terrific mistake story and lessonon The99Percent.com. Here is the start of the story:

One of the biggest mistakes I made was a poor job transition in 2007. I had been working for an exciting startup called Flavorpill for a little over 4 years. When I joined in 2002, the company was expanding, and I had the opportunity to assemble an editorial team, collaborate with the founders on growing the brand, and work closely with our wonderful design partners to build and launch new products. It was a great job and I learned a ton. But eventually, I knew it was time to move on.

A friend connected me with the CEO of a massive music website that wanted to reinvent its coverage for a new, hipper audience. He was looking for an editor with a vision. I didn't like their current website, but the allure of having carte blanche to reinvent the site was strong. I was also offered more money than I had ever made, and the opportunity to relocate to Los Angeles. I was ready for a major change, and this seemed like the perfect way to shake things up.

As a result, I probably didn’t do as much homework on the position as I should have. After just a few weeks on the job, I realized something was amiss....

Please go to The99Percent.com to read the rest.

Sometimes a bad mistake works out just fine

I posted this story first as a comment to a post on The99Percent.com:

14 years ago, I was getting restless in my current role and had started to look for new opportunities. The company I worked for was consolidating the division I worked in and there was a lot of uncertainty about the future. I was also feeling that I was ready to leave Boston, where I'd lived for more than 10 years since graduating from college.

Given these motivations, I rushed my job decision. When a former colleague called and said the company he worked for in Atlanta needed someone like me in a leadership position, I jumped. I didn't do my due diligence.

About two weeks after I started at the new place, and after I'd relocated, I realized that I had made a big mistake. I couldn't figure out the culture, the company didn't seem headed for success, and my job was not a lot of fun. What a disaster.

I ended up running into an executive at my former company, who had also moved down to Atlanta. We had dinner a few times, and at one point he said that the company he was working for would be a perfect fit for me. Nine months after I moved to Atlanta, I left the first company (refunding part of my relocation costs) and moved to this other one. I had a great run there and my old boss was right: it was a perfect fit.

Even happier than that, I made a lot of great friends at that company in Atlanta. One of those friends became my wife, and we have two wonderful kids together.

So the lesson for me is this: sometimes even a terrible decision can lead you on a path to an outcome that is far better than what a good decision would have resulted in.