One of the areas that people often ask about when they get a job offer is the probation period and what it means to them.

Companies can differ in terms of what the probationary period means and your local labor laws might have some input too but typically a 3-month probation period is fairly common.

This normally means that for the first 3 months on the job you’re essentially being observed and monitored by the company to ensure you’re the person they really want for the job. It often means that they can dismiss you without cause during this period and they may not have to give you notice (ie. 2 weeks) to terminate you. It’s typically the time when you don’t yet qualify for perks like company health insurance, too.

If your new job has a probation period, you might enquire to see if it can be waived but typically companies use the probationary period just to make sure they’re making the right hiring decision.

In my time as a recruiter, I’ve had a few cases where a person didn’t quite turn out and were dismissed within the 3 month probation period. This does happen from time to time unfortunately. Sometimes, things just don’t work out as planned and the first few months on the job is often when it becomes clear to the employer that they hired the wrong person.

When working with a recruiter, the recruitment firm typically offers the hiring company a guarantee period and it’s usually 3 months in length and maybe even longer ie. 6 months. This means that if you get hired by the company through a recruiter but you get terminated or quit within the guarantee period, the recruitment firm will replace you and find someone else to take the job at no extra charge to the client. In some cases, recruiters offer cash back which means that in the event you’re terminated within the probation period, the recruiter gives the money back that the company paid them to help get you hired.

Clearly, it’s not in the best interest of the recruiter to have to refill a job following a candidate getting terminated or quitting within the probation period – this is known in the recruitment industry as a fall off – so your recruiter will probably be touching base during this guarantee period to ensure you’re happy and aren’t planning on quitting (or getting fired!).