Probation at work

In many cases, when an employee promotes or managers of a company plan to add a position to their organization, they let some candidate work on probation for a while, seeing if she is fit for the job. The probation period is usually 3 to 6 months and during this time, employers would observe candidates from different perspectives, from personal abilities to social skills and from creating new ideas to the capacity to work as a team member.

The main problem with probation is that the candidate may not be sure if she is a part of the group. In most cases, candidates are not paid and this can put a lot of pressure on their shoulders. The behaviour of other employees sometimes is not friendly as they don’t consider probation workers as one of themselves. To forestall these problems, employers must make everything clear about both responsibilities and privileges of the candidates.

If the employee on probation performs well during this period and employers decide to retain her, they will issue a confirmation letter and inform the candidate that she has passed the probation successfully. Sometimes, managers need extra time to evaluate the candidates and then extend the time of probation. The probation period could be tough, still, if it is about your dream job, it is worth it.