So I turned down a job. This is my life right now. As part of adulting, you need to figure out what you want and you don't want. And there is this barrage of tips about professional reasons to turn down job offers like the lack of a career ladder, the pay and benefits as well as workplace environment blah blah blah. But this job just didn't feel right. So here are some reasons that are both professional and personal that you can use to justify turning down a job.
1. It just doesn't give the right vibes.
For instance, this job I was looking into had a strict protocol about the chain of command. While I have dealt with a work hierarchy, this chain of command felt so rigid because of potential lack of upkeep previously. Which I guess means that they know what they're doing now. But it left little wiggle room for me to ask questions and feel like I had my own space in the organization. If an organization doesn't feel like it has... *sigh* a proper work environment that fits your needs, don't feel like you have to fit their standards if it really doesn't jive well with you.
2. The job isn't what you expected it would be.
While the job title was of interest to me because it was about community involvement, it turned out I would be doing one thing the whole time. And tbh, I was a bit overqualified for the job. I would be working with many in-college students and the requirements didn't list a degree. While I believe jobs can be fulfilling with or without a degree, I specifically spent four stressful years getting my bachelor's so I could pursue higher paying and more professional career options. So if a job doesn't offer you the things that you're looking for, don't take it "just in case". Keep looking.
3. It's the wrong location for you.
And I really stress the for you part. Because some positions are perfect for other people who have different connections and expectations with the place that they may be moving to. But this job was two hours away in a city I had bad vibes for with few people I knew in the area. I currently live in a city surrounded by friends and live with my best friend and my partner. I have support here and I have connections with the location I live. The perks of the job I was looking at didn't exactly outweigh the positives I listed about where I am now. In fact, the more I talked with some resourceful job search veterans (i.e. my parents), the more I felt disconnected with this new city. Find a place as well as a position that allows you to thrive rather than one that you dread calling home.
4. You're not excited about the position.
This was the largest deciding factor when I was weighing the pros and cons. I was not looking forward to a full time position doing what this job required. And thankfully I figured this out before I took the position. If a position doesn't make your heart race with possibility, building your resume both with excellent experience and your dreams figuratively written on a page, then it's not part of your career. Trust me, I've taken jobs that weren't within my field that were meant primarily to pay my rent and keep me afloat. That's called surviving and is totally commendable. But if a job requires you to move like this one did and give up so many things, then it better be worth it. I also had a secondary interview/testing period in which I practiced for a day in the field. I found out I really didn't like the duties that this position entailed. And that's okay.
I'm currently interviewing with positions I'd be honored to fill and ecstatic to do every day. I even got into a graduate program after a period of rest from my bachelor's (yaaaaaay). And that was literally the day after I turned down this position. Don't take a job just because you don't think you can't get better. It will get easier, maybe even better in your search for the great perhaps re:Looking for Alaska. It could even be the next day that you find that dream job. So hold in there and eventually you will be killing it in your intended field. Trust me. I'm an impatient millennial who is finally getting results.
