ARTICLES
For Career Success
Evaluating
a Prospective Employer
By
Nancy Abramson
Many of my clients have chosen to search for new positions because
they are let down by the organization or manager. They are burned
out or downsized in a company where they no longer enjoy the
work or workplace. My clients identified two major causes of
their discontent: work environment and lack of growth. The concern
over whether the new employer’s workplace would be a good
one or toxic to them kept them confused or stuck when pursuing
a new position.
Evaluating the prospective employer’s workplace was an
important factor in their success and happiness.
How
do you know whether a company or organization has a work environment
that meets your needs and fosters your success?
-
First it is important to identify your needs and values. What
are you missing that is getting you out of integrity? There
are several assessments and exercises you can complete to help
you discover who you are. A coach or career counselor can provide
these assessments and work with you to identify the meaning
of the results.
- After
you understand what kind of environment is best for you, it
is time to talk to employees of other organizations to find
out what it is like to work in that company. These employees
have probably worked elsewhere and can also talk about other
companies in which they have worked. This is called an informational
interview.
Informational
interviews are usually conducted with people in the industry
of choice or with people working in similar positions to the
one you chose. They can tell you their opinion of the company,
the management style and existing opportunities.
Make sure you get an honest picture. It is wise to get more
than one opinion and always ask for suggestion of others to
talk to within the company or in other organizations. Often
your friends and acquaintances know people you can talk to in
your field of interest.
-
If you find yourself interviewing for a company or division
that you did not research prior to the job interview then you
could talk to the receptionist while you are waiting to interview.
There are good questions to ask your interviewers during the
time you interview to help you find out.
-
Ask the Manager about their management style and what is
important to them about the person they chose to hire.
- Ask
them what challenges they currently face in their department
and how the new person could help solve these problems.
- When
you are offered the position ask to interview the people you
will be working
with before you accept the position. Ask them pertinent questions
about how they like working there. Make sure your concerns are
addressed without jeopardizing the rapport and your offer.
There
is never any guarantee that the environment will not change
in the future. Executives and Managers leave which causes the
environment to change.
Give
yourself the thermometer test every six months as you work in
a company. What is changing and does the change go along with
your values and needs. There is one thing constant in our world
today and that is change. So expect it and prepare for the change.
QUOTES
For Career Success
When
you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it--immediately.
Author: Stephen Covey
Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Live
out of your imagination, not your history.
Author: Stephen Covey
Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Many
people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for
failure in other areas. But can it really?...True effectiveness
requires balance.
Author: Stephen Covey
Forget
the resolutions. Forget control and discipline...too much work.
Instead try experimenting. Go in search of something to fall in
love with...something about yourself, your career, your spouse.
Author :Dale Dauten,
Source:'Charming the brain may allow changes' by Dale Dauten (Arizona
Republic 1/7/99)
If
you want to be creative in your company, your career, your life,
all it takes is one easy step...the extra one. When you encounter
a familiar plan, you just ask one question: "What ELSE could
we do?"
Author: Dale Dauten
Just
because we increase the speed of information doesn't mean we can
increase the speed of decisions.
Author: Dale Dauten
Source: 'Day is here for managing through joking' by Dale Dauten.
Arizona Republic, 7/15/99
It
is never too late to be what you might have been.
Author: George Eliot
Source: The Thinker's Way: 8 Steps to a Richer Life by John Chaffee,
The
strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.
Author: George Eliot
