Olga is an experienced HR, she worked for 6 years in the international company Inditex.
In this article Olga shares with us her experience of adapting to a new job, which turned out to be more difficult than planned.

I started working at Inditex in 2015 as an HR Analyst and immediately felt that I wanted to stay with the company for a long time. I quickly realized that I was bored working only with numbers, and thanks to my manager I found a position that really inspired me - HR Business partner. After two years I took it, I was 25 years old at that time. I started business trips, store openings, projects - everything I wanted. I was very lucky with the team. Despite the fact that I had no experience in the store itself, everyone helped. Thanks to this, I quickly understood the functionality and after six months I was already feeling at ease.

На позиции HR Business partner я проработала 4 года и однажды поняла, чтI worked in HR Business partner position for 4 years and one day I realized that all my favorite tasks had become a chore. I started asking myself how I could develop as a professional in this position, and I couldn't find the answer.

As time went by, I began to have a feeling that I was wasting my time. It was difficult to make the decision to change because I really love the people who work at Inditex, they live this business. I realized that in order to move forward as a professional, I needed to change the company.

I want to say one more thing, which is important. For a while I lived with the idea that a executive MUST develop me and resented the company for not offering me anything. Then I realized that it was my choice to stay and resent it or look for development opportunities. I decided to look for a job. I was very selective about the process and after 6 months I found a company I wanted to work for.

I think I spent so much energy and time on the decision to leave the company that I didn't think about what was next for me. I got the long-awaited offer and relaxed. I was sure everything would be just as great as it was at Inditex because both the position and the business are similar.

Now I realized that even companies that are from the same industry are all different. Everywhere has its own culture, rules formal and informal. When you work for six years in one company, you grow within it, there are neural connections and habits. Then, when you come to a new one, you feel as if you have "landed on the moon" - everything is new, nothing is clear.

I had a great adaptation, I have an excellent, attentive manager, but I had such high expectations of myself that it was very difficult. A lot of new information, I could not remember the first time, and I thought that everyone would understand that I was something different, not at the right level. In fact, on the contrary, there was only support from my colleagues and from my executive, but inside I certainly blamed myself.

I tried not to think about work after hours, it didn't work out, naturally. Sports helped me feel better, walks, family, loved ones. And I was supported by my former colleagues who became friends.

At the end of the first month, I already knew that it was time to call a professional and figure out what was going on with me at work. I am an advocate of the fact that if there is an opportunity to go to a professional, a doctor, for example, then it is better to do it than to self-medicate.

Coaching really helped me. First of all, I came out of that state of loss and negativity toward myself. Thanks to the sessions, I realized that what was happening was normal and part of my development. I'm not taking a step back. This will not only develop me as a professional, but also as a person.

We worked through how to properly interact with partners, with a supervisor, what the differences were between this role and my previous experience. I knew that at the end of the session there would be a decision that I would come to with the help of the coachee's questions. This was very supportive for me.

I would advise taking care of yourself in this situation. Give yourself time to adjust, breathe out, think, plan. Don't expect things to happen at the same speed. That doesn't mean you're a bad employee.

If there is an opportunity to turn to a professional, a coach, to get acquainted with the right tools, to get to know yourself better from an unfamiliar side. We see ourselves from the inside, and plus we have been familiar with ourselves all our lives, we have templates about ourselves, our colleagues, relatives and family also see us. A coach is a person with an objective point of view, he helps us arrive at the desired result.

And to take care of ourselves in our difficult times and treat everything as an experience and a journey that develops us.

1. A change of employer can be very stressful for a person who has worked in the same company for a long time. If you are mentally ready for it, adaptation is easier.

2. Do not expect to continue working at the same level of performance as before. Give yourself at least 6 months to adapt: understand the business processes, the peculiarities of communication of people in the company, who is responsible for what.

3. Keep track of what is happening to you on an emotional level. Aren't you falling into a victim state? Aren't you scolding yourself endlessly? Try to keep track of your reactions and states. This will help you not only get through the adjustment period, but also get to know yourself better and develop as a person.