Be purposeful in choosing your next job
If you’re looking for your next job, there’s some fundamental due diligence you should undertake to make sure that the company is as right for you, as they might think you are for it.
Before I start, this list is going to get pretty comprehensive. Not every source of data is going to be available to you for the company you’re looking for. For some people, that burden of proof is going to be much lower than others, depending on things like seniority, where you might want to invest significantly more time researching. But the point here is that some level of due diligence should be applied to every role you apply for, to make sure that you don’t get past that honeymoon period (however long it is) and kick yourself for buying into a dud.
I read somewhere that people need roughly 10 reviews about something before forming an opinion, and I think that’s a pretty good yardstick of data points to work towards before making your decision on whether a company is right for you. So what types of data points can you look at before, during, and after the recruitment process, to help curate an informed opinion of whether an opportunity is right for you?
Before applying
Every year, a global comms firm called Edelman publish something they call the ‘Trust Barometer’. It nicely sums up the sentiment that various demographics have towards trusting certain groups or institutions, and is a good resource to guide some of your dirt digging as you go full Private Investigator on these companies. Interesting takeaway from the 2020 one: Business is seen as competent but unethical — so yeah… maybe taking just an employer brand as gospel isn’t the best course of action. So how can we flesh it out or fact check it?
Stretch those fingers and let’s get to work!
Career sites
Career sites continue to be the easiest way to see good info about the company, followed by access to their active jobs. Expect a broad variation in these. Larger or more progressive companies typically have great examples of their employee value proposition (what you — the employee — get, in return for the type of work you’ll do) and some companies have nothing at all. The risk with any career site is that they might be handing them out alongside rose coloured glasses. Conversely, those with nothing might mean they just haven’t had a chance to set one up yet (newer companies). But, on the odd occasion, it’s because companies don’t care or aren’t competent enough to know the value of a careers site. Something to note — what are the values the company talks about? Keep these in mind for further down the list, as you’ll want to make sure they ring true. Nothing here will likely be enough to draw a firm conclusion from —but it’s a good place to start and helps set a baseline for what else we uncover.
Review sites
Another easy place to start, review sites are often filled to the brim with raw information from a typically more trusted source, the employees actually working in the business, who are often less likely to be as curated as a company rep (such as the CEO or recruiter). Glassdoor, Indeed or Seek (for Aussies) are all great places to start. Glassdoor and Indeed are global, but most countries will have their specialist equivalent too—these sites each have a review section where employees have often left a snippet of feedback on their time with the business, sometimes interview questions and salary details for specific roles too. Once again though, there are things to be aware of when taking them into consideration. People are often more motivated to leave reviews when they’ve had a bad experience, but, there’s also some clever companies who are very good at coaching or curating positive reviews from their employees. So again, give it a read, but it’s only one part of the puzzle.
Old faithful: Google
Google is another phenomenal place to look for info relating to a company, that doesn’t necessarily fit the traditional employment review process. First stop, whack the company name in the search bar, click the ‘News’ tab, and have a scroll to see what comes up. This could be a really deep and endless rabbit hole, or a pretty shallow one. Main thing to keep an eye out for, consistency to their brand, or anything raucous or exceedingly positive that can continue to add context to your employer profile. This may turn up nothing of interest, but I’ve personally come across businesses dealing with settled sexual harassment cases or other ethical blunders that immediately turned me off. You can also find really exciting things there that the company hasn’t done a great job of promoting themselves, such as charity work or another purpose that aligns with something of interest. Be sure to Google some of the people you’d be working with while you’re in the process too. You never know what comes up.
My fav: Current/Former employees
Ok, we’ve hit up the easy stuff that can be sorted within a few minutes. Now we’re into the deep end. LinkedIn, Twitter and I’m sure many more platforms have made accessibility and communication between otherwise unreachable people very possible now. So let’s use it. LinkedIn is great for identifying people and their roles, and depending on whether you are a premium user, contacting them too. So do that. Also consider Twitter, your network of mutuals (again, LinkedIn) or anything you can find to courteously reach out to them and get their feedback on working for the business. It doesn’t need to be the third degree, but basics like; what it’s like working there, what is leadership like, is there the opportunity for development, and tell me about the culture (opportunity to validate the values you read on the career site), are all good places to start. What’s the great or constructive feedback they can offer that helps add further context to the information you have to date? Focus on the things that are most important to you, but mix in a couple of open questions to see what they come back with. Try to ask a few people and then compare notes or to cover your bases if some don’t reply.
The recruiter
Despite what can occasionally be a popular opinion, most recruiters actually enjoy putting people in roles. They love offering someone a job. They love the excitement of getting the yes. And in candidates, they enjoy proactivity. They like getting a compliment on their funkily written job ad, and they like thoughtful questions from someone who is interested in working at their company. Only if they‘re miserable bastards who hate all candidates should you expect to be ignored or treated like they’re doing you a favour. So give them a call! Remember though, their job is to sell the role to the candidate as much as it is to vet the candidate for fit. So, much like the careers site, they represent a broad, oftentimes curated perspective of the business. But it’s still some insight about the business you may not have had previously, and could help get your profile sitting a little bit more prominently too.
If you were able to hit on most of these points in your research you might be 100% certain this is the place for you to spend the rest of your career — but hold up cowboy. You’ve still only got a broad perspective of what it’s really like to work at this place. Take some time to consider if the stars are aligned, and then let’s dive into the most important part of gauging if this is still the right move for you — the actual recruitment process.
During the interview process
Ok, you’ve read all of the above points and done your research, you still like the sound of the place so you applied and you got an interview - Excitement! You should have a relatively rounded view of what it’s like to work at the business. Now is the opportunity to really nail what it is you’ll be doing, and confirming it aligns with what you want, and that includes the cultural piece.
Reaffirm the role
It might sound obsolete given you just read the advert and applied to it, but reiterating the requirements of the job, especially back to the hiring manager, can be a good way to make sure everyone is aligned. You’d be surprised how often a job ad can be padded out with unnecessaries because the manager has just said “find me a so and so” and the recruiter had to make the rest up from there. Another thing that can happen is, things are moving so fast the role is actually in flux — so it pays to nail it in the interview, and reiterate the key responsibilities the role will be handling. While this may not be the case into the future, it always pays to know what you’re going into on day 1.
The feel
This is harder in COVID times when you may be interviewing and possibly even working remotely, but use your meeting with the hiring team to match what you learned about the company (before applying), with reality. Is the office the same funky place you heard about, are people wearing suits and ties despite being the laid back or casual wear culture that was described to you? Use these queues to join the dots between what you’ve found and what seems to be the truth.
Ask the right questions
There’s no real cheat sheet here — prepare to go in with a list of things that are important to you, and ask them about it. Drill into details if you need, or clarify where it’s been a little light. What are you still on the fence about, or what are the deal breakers for you as an employee? Typically, ambiguity in answers will mean they haven’t given it much thought, it’s never come up, or they’re deliberately trying to keep it light to address it and move on. It’s up to you to use your nous to determine which is most likely. Maybe it’s an opportunity for you to help positively influence in the role.
Some good one’s that tend to align with environments most people want to work in:
- How do you/business leaders handle feedback?
- What typically happens if something goes wrong or someone drops the ball?
- How does this company invest in innovation or facilitate creativity?
So there it is, a (relatively) no-nonsense guide to making sure you apply for a job that truly aligns with what you’re looking for, your values and the role you want. Because no one wants to join a company to be stuck somewhere they dislike, or to leave shortly after and have to go through the (highly disruptive and involved) process again.
I hope this helps!
Matt
