I swear I’m not switching teams…
We’re seeing an influx of in-office roles in the 2-3 year target experience range. The problem?
That demographic barely exists.
It’s been 3 years since covid melted the world down. Not many people who started their careers in 2020 or 2021 had their first (or second) job working in an office.
Do you need to have worked in an office before to do it now? Of course not. But I hate to say it: it’s hard to develop your business maturity and office etiquette when you’ve never worked with people in person before.
The things we take for granted. Body language. Timeliness. How much small talk is the right amount. Music and speaker phone at the desk. What topics are inappropriate. Staying off social media during the day.
Absolutely none of this is rocket science…unless it’s new to you. It’s one thing for an entry level hire. But another thing entirely for an experience, mid-level hire. Employers expect more maturity.
We’ve seen a few companies try the same personality tests they used pre-covid. Only to find out they don’t work. (Did they ever? Another rant entirely.) No real bearing on who is successful and who isn’t. Because these things aren’t personality. They’re acquired skills.
Was this foreseeable? Sure. There wasn’t a sales manager in the world who didn’t think it’d be tough as well to train an SDR in a fully remote environment.
But this is something different. Not the job skill, but the workplace skill.
I’m still all aboard Team Remote. Personal preference. I’m more productive. But I’ve been at this whole ‘work’ thing for…a while now.
My advice? If you’re starting your career today and you’re fortunate enough to have a choice between an onsite and a remote job, take the onsite. At least for a couple years.
There’s a lot of things *not* on the job description that you’ll miss otherwise.
Side note: Perhaps there’s short term play for job etiquette training for experienced hires. Online courses selling hucksters are chomping at the bit…
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
