HEALTHCARE >> Approach with caution

You like your potential new job, but you’re not sure it’s the right fit. Instead of jumping in blindly, do your homework and trust your intuition. Stability isn’t exactly a given these days and whether you’re a waiter, a plumber, a vice president of finance or a freelance designer, be sure you’re keeping an eye out for those warning signs that indicate your job may not as permanent as you think.

These often include:

Boring work: Try to avoid a job that won’t offer you a significant challenge or new opportunities for growth. When looking for a job, it’s important to address the skills you want to use in a new position, not just the ones you’re currently using. Even more important, make sure it’s not a step backward from what you’re used to doing on the job.

Bad managers: Before you agree to begin work with a new company, it’s helpful to find out who you’ll be working for. While it may be difficult to find out why a person isn’t liked or respected, a few simple questions — what’s the turnover for this position? Can I speak to someone in the department?— usually bring some simple answers.

The wrong move: Do you have that dream where you show up to a class and no one’s there? For some employees, it’s no dream. “I took a job with a start-up that had leased out some space in River North in Chicago,” says Rebecca Troy, a graphic designer. “I went to work onmy first day and they were gone. No one was at the workspace from the company. They moved to a new location in Wicker Park before I started, and no one bothered to let me know.”

That lack of information was enough for Troy to take a pass on the job altogether. “I called to quit, and they were all apologetic and said it was an oversight. They had seven employees. I would have been eight. That’s not an oversight. That’s a bad firm.”

Sure enough, when Troy says she looked for her former “employer” online a few weeks later, their website was gone. “They lost their funding and they closed up shop,” she says. “Imagine that.”