Your new job sounded brilliant when you read the ad. Then you went through the interview stage, and it seemed like the perfect fit. So why, now that you’ve started the role, does it seem so… rubbish?

This is shift shock – the nasty jolt you get when the reality of the job you’re doing doesn’t marry up to the expectations you were sold before you started – and it’s a common experience.

As coined by Kathryn Minshew of The Muse, shift shock is described as “that feeling when you start a job and realise, with either surprise or regret, that the position or company is very different from what you were led to believe”. Research from The Muse found that of 2,500 people surveyed, 72% had experienced the phenomenon.

Shift shock can come as a result of different working hours to the ones you thought you would have (perhaps you were told in your interview you’d ‘probably’ be working 9-5, Monday to Friday, but were advised to be flexible to meet business needs… then you got started and learned you’d be working every weekend), having unexpected responsibilities on your to-do list or discovering that a company’s culture isn’t as lovely as it appeared.

Whatever the cause, it can explain why workers lean into the quick quitting trend. After all, why force yourself to stick out a job you hate when you might be able to get a better one?

Shift shock is a very real risk when you get a new job – so how do you tackle it?