Not Every Company is Worthy of Your Employment
Jeremy Altman - Helping Job Seekers Everyday
Recruitment Specialist - Investment Management | Designer of the "How to Land the Job" Signature System | Blessed Father | Hiring Expert
Not every company is worthy of your employment.
Great companies have a responsibility to secure great talent. That is the only way they become great. Many, many, many companies are not great. Many are dysfunctional. A company is usually as good as its upper management team. If those team members thrive on and embrace dysfunction, then guess what… the whole of the company clutches to this dysfunction.
On the other hand, if a company’s management team promotes teamwork, personal responsibility, creativity and accountability, then so will its employees. Greatness and a sense of fulfillment will ensue. To me, it all begins with process and you can often get a glimpse inside the company’s processes by how they conduct their hiring.
It Is sometimes hard, though, to see the trees through the forest. When we are in the middle of a job search, we can invariably feel somewhat anxious, nervous, frustrated and even depressed at times. Yet we must still objectively assess our fit within the company. Is this an environment where I can thrive? Can I be happy here? Will this be fulfilling work? Taking a look at the hiring process can be a great indicator of company process, personality and culture.
So let’s do that. Is this company worthy of your personal commitment to them? Very often the answer is ‘yes’, but sometimes the answer is ‘no’.
Sometimes the company’s dysfunctional personality can become very evident in the hiring process. Note some red flags:
1) Interview calls are postponed without notice
2) Interviews start late and are unorganized
3) Added interviewers are present
4) The interviewer(s) is not truly engaged
5) Your email ‘thank you’ letter receives no response
6) You are blindsided by irrelevant questions
7) The tone of the interview lacks warmth
8) The interview is rushed
9) You are not permitted to speak to other employees
These practices are not indicative of a healthy company with a vibrant culture. Don’t internalize their dysfunction. This is their sh*t. A truly strong, successful and vibrant company embraces its employees and the hiring process. Candidates must be respected through the process with common decency.
Both company and candidate must be given enough information in the interviewing process to assess the likelihood of this union being a great match…a match of needs to skills, a match of culture to personality, a match of company growth to personal growth.
If a hiring manager is only looking to serve the company and not serve the relationship between supervisor and report, then this is not a place to work. Interviews should no longer be intimidating as they once were. The hiring manager needs to understand your value to the company and you need to understand the company’s value to you. You are assessing them as much as they are assessing you. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THIS!
If you come away from an in-person interview and are no closer to feeling this is a good fit, then it probably is not a good fit. This individual is a representative of the company. He/she should not only allow, but encourage, questions. It is your job to have the right questions to ask when given the chance.
If you prepared properly for the interview, yet come away from an interview, feeling ‘less than’, then this is not the company for you and don’t waste any more time thinking about it. Thank the interviewer(s) and be on your way. They did you a great service by not employing you!!
Remember, a great fit is where both parties feel like they won! Until that moment, be careful and listen to that inner voice! Not every company is worthy of your employment.
Don’t forget, though, that you have a responsibility to show how you are the best solution to that company’s needs. If you have not done this, then own that and become a better candidate next time.
For more information… visit us at www.careerresourceconsultants.com
Multiple Award Winning Specialty Pharmaceutical Sales (Buy and Bill Injectibles)
6ySome companies turn and burn employees.
Award winning salesman
6yJeremy, I could not agree more that it is also the candidate’s responsibility to make sure the company is right for them. I was told I was the final candidate for an “open territory” position and that the offer letter was coming the next week. The next week, I was told the job was being put on hold for a month. A month later, I was told that the job was not open because the “current employee” had made his plan and his job was safe for another few months. I was shocked and declined the position when it came open 3 months later. I didn’t want to work with a manager that had lied to my face about the status of the position. I also find it comical that a candidate is strictly judged on the number of jobs they have held in their careers but a company is not held to the same scrutiny as to how many sales reps and managers they have gone through in the same period of time. I was interviewing with a company that they were hiring a 4th sales rep in 20 months but asked me why I had left my position after 18 months. Leaving was not mine or the other 6 peoples’ choice when the new CEO was named. He had no response when I asked him about that after I responded that I had been laid off from my last position.