A probation period is a clause that employers typically include when extending a job offer to a new staff member.

In my experience, the probation period is usually 3 months or 6 months in length although it could be longer. In most cases Ive seen, a 3-month probation period is fairly standard.

What does it mean to you in practice?

Depending on local employment laws and policies of the company in question, the probation period is typically used to protect the employer if they hire someone who doesnt work out as planned and they need to terminate the person.

Typically, it usually means that the employer can terminate a new employee within the probation period with or without cause.

It can also mean that certain things such as company medical benefits dont kick in until the probation period is over.

This can cause a bit of trouble if you rely on medical benefits especially if you have a family and are worried about leaving your current employer where you have paid medical benefits and are thinking about moving to a company where youll have to wait several months for the medical benefits to kick in.

Negotiating a reduced probation period is something that you might consider when you are speaking with a potential employer about a job offer.

Depending on your situation, you might consider letting the potential employer know during the job offer negotiation stage that having consistent medical benefit coverage as you switch jobs is important to you.

In many cases, it can be a negotiating point that you discuss with the employer and can improve upon or in the best case, get the employer to get rid of completely.

Ive negotiated job offers for people where Ive been able to eliminate the probation period completely with regards to medical benefits. In other words, rather than having to wait for the probation period to pass before medical benefits kick in, the employer agreed that the employee would be entitled to benefits from day one on the job.

In other cases, Ive seen where company policy dictates that no one gets the probation period for medical benefits eliminated or reduced and the employee had to decide whether or not the probation period was a strong enough reason for not accepting the job.

If medical benefits (or other benefits that are delayed by a probation period) are important to you, checking with a potential employer during the job offer negotiation stage about the possibility of receiving these benefits from day one on the job is an option you should consider.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it?s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it?s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it?s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I?m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!