When you work in a job that you don’t like, for whatever reason, it can have a hugely negative impact on your life.
There are plenty of companies out there and most professionals, if you are relatively good at what you do, can afford to be a bit choosy with the company you work for.
I do realize that some people can’t afford to be choosy about which job they have; maybe they are new grads with no experience and just need to get their foot in the door. Some are having a tough time just making ends meet. But if you are looking to leave your current job, and are in no rush, be very choosy.
After all, you spend more than 40 hours a week at work. You should work for people and a company that you respect and enjoy.
Research the Company
It’s hard to know whether you’ll like the company until you’re actually working in it, but you can help it along by doing your research.
Glass Door
If the company is big enough or you live in a large enough city, Glassdoor.com can be really helpful. Employees (existing and past), and interviewees are able to review a company on this website and they can rate the compensation, culture, and other factors.
Read the comments if the company is featured on this website.
Social Media
Check to see if the company has a presence on social media. If they do, what do they post about? How many followers do they have? Social media is a good way to see if you even have an interest in what the company does.
The Interview
If you do decide that you want to apply for the position in question at the company, and you get an interview, remember:
You are interviewing the company, too.
Many job seekers see the interview solely as a chance for the company to see if you’ll be a good fit for them, but you need to make that determination, too.
I applied for one position before landing the one I currently have at a company that seemed great. They didn’t have any negative reviews, their vision and mission statements were on their websites and no red flags went up, and they seemed to be ethical and interesting. When I was at the interview, I could tell that the interviewer really liked me and that I would be offered the job. However, some pretty big red flags went up during the interview (first of all, they told me that they sometimes joke about each other’s weight and asked whether I find that offensive). I knew I wouldn’t be happy at the company, so I didn’t take the position when it was offered.
Ask Questions About the Environment
In interviews, you should always bring with you some questions to ask the potential employer, because it makes you seem interested in the company. Most people ask questions about the job itself, but not so often about the working environment. Ask questions about the culture, how the interviewer would describe it, the leadership, and how the company demonstrates it’s values.
The job could be amazing, but if the company sucks then you won’t be happy.
If you have the opportunity, do yourself a favour and make sure you are working for a company that you can be proud of working for. Don’t see an interview as just an opportunity for the company to interview you, look at it as an opportunity for you to interview them, too.
Daisy, great points. I know many people who have had miserable jobs…low pay, bad boss, etc. I wonder how many of them could have avoided the experience by asking questions other than how much and how many hours?
This is very true. You need to always research the company before you work. I just had wrote a post about a scammy company that was trying to “recruit” me for their sales position when really all it is was hitting up my friends and family to buy their crappy services. No thanks. Make sure the company you work for is legit.
Right on! I agree. For me, there’s little options for jobs so I can’t be choosy, but man, if you can be, then you should be!! Interview them while they interview you!
The employers checks out emoployees`backgrounds, so why not check out the company to make sure it`s a place that you could be comfortable working at. Good points!
Asking questions about the work culture is super important. I think the ability to work from home, choose flexible hours, and have a casual relationship with all the other employees is even better than making a little more money.
That being said, if it’s your first job out of college, any job truly is better than no job. There’s always time to be picky later.
Always interview with multiple people at the company at multiple levels. If you just interview with one person you can get a very biased and unrealistic perspective.
I always take time to do my research if I am looking at different organizations. I had never heard of the glass door, sounds like an interesting site to check out. One thing I always did, even for my current job which I love is, I interviewed the company. As much as they want to interview you to see if you are a fit you should interview them to see if they would be a fit in your life. It’s a two-way street. Great tips
I think in a poor economy a lot of folks are happy just to get their foot in the door. It’s really important to make sure that you’re “signing up” because you like the company and the company culture, not just because you’re desperate for a job. I know a lot of recent grads who took jobs they weren’t excited about, just because it was better than no job. Some of them have been able to find a job they liked from the job they hated, but others are still “stuck” at the bad job.
Thanks for the post. I am a new grad myself and find this very helpful and true, what you stated here is just the things i am facing with at the moment, not being fit for the job really does have a huge impact on a person’s personal life too.