Choosing a job from the best of the worst available

I will do ANYTHING to get out of my current job.  I hate my boss right now.  The working environment is so hostile that I can't take another day!  These are all phrases I have heard from candidates recently as they embark upon a job search.  They are so miserable with their working conditions that any option sounds better than staying put.  There are some obvious dangers with this line of thinking.

First of all, I would never recommend taking another position just for the sake of getting a different job.  I can tell countless stories of candidates that have done so, only to find out that they weren't actually in the worst working environment.  They manage to find something even worse!  You may think that doesn't happen very often, but it is becoming an epidemic.  Finding the "right" job is harder than ever these days.

Secondly, if you have to talk yourself into all of the reasons to take a new position and refuse to look at any downsides, you are doing yourself a disservice.  We have all made the infamous "T chart" to compare strengths and weaknesses of a potential employer, but how many of us have taken that exercise seriously?  If you are anxious to leave a bad employment situation are you really looking at both sides of that chart, or are you completely focused on the minimal "good" aspects of the position just to fool yourself into taking the job?

Thirdly, are you actually comparing the good and bad aspects of your current job with the one you are about to take?  Or are you simply hatching your escape plan and only considering your job now to be 100% bad?  Candidates often reach out to me AFTER taking a job that would fit the category of "best of the worst" and lament about how the new employer doesn't have something that the former employer did.  No matter how bad this now former employer was, there was likely something you liked about the company.

Lastly, how are you approaching the interview process?  If you are walking into any prospective employer's door hellbent on telling them how awful your current employer is, do you really think they're going to outline some of the negative aspects of the role or company?  You just gave them a perfect excuse to tell you everything you want to hear and leave out anything that could potentially be a reason to not take the role.  I tell candidates all the time that in an interview you must always focus on why you are running TOWARD another opportunity and not AWAY from your current position.  See the small difference?  This change in philosophy could end of being the difference between taking a job because it is the best available in a bad market or really remaining patient and finding the right opportunity.

Have you ever known someone to take a position just to say they got out of a bad situation?  How did it turn out?