Where to Work? Where You Are Fully Alive!
I am writing to help you consider WHERE you want to work. You may want to relocate to a different city where you’ve always wanted to live, or work for a company closer to home with a shorter commute, or a company in a warmer climate, or another country. Likely you’d like to go to a company WHERE you are fully alive.
WHERE is Step 3 in the job search process.
WHO | WHAT | WHERE | WHEN | WHY
WHERE includes a geographic location, but WHERE also describes a company culture, a company where you will thrive, with low turnover, committed to retaining its employees. A coaching client recently said, “I want to work where the company is led by a solid executive team and in an industry with high growth potential. I want to report to a great boss and where the company is committed to employee training, mentoring, collaborative management, and welcomes new ideas and suggestions, and where no layoffs are expected!”
A company focused solely on the bottom line and stock stability has one priority, investors. It’s not where you want to go next. Employees are regularly downsized to maintain stockholder confidence in their bottom line. Communication is rare from senior leadership, and employee training or mentoring doesn’t exist. Employees are considered replaceable. This is not a company where you will thrive.
How to find a company WHERE you will thrive?
Research is key, both online and talking with your network. LinkedIn contacts who work at a potential company can provide you with invaluable inside information about a company culture and management style. Seek out these contacts for a short phone call.
Check on Glassdoor and read employee comments. Some cities have Best Places to work lists which is also a good place to start. Use these lists to develop your target lists of where you’d like to work.
Along with solid research, ask good questions during your interviews. Ask them to describe their employee training programs and how employee performance is evaluated. If you discover that the company has no training for employees, no tuition program, no performance review system, this is a red flag that employees are not highly regarded and not invested in.
Trust your instincts! If it doesn’t feel good during the interview, it could feel worse when you work there. WHERE you choose to work is critical.
There will be a good job at a great company for you!
Jan Shurtz, Career Management Coach
Janshurtz.com
janshurtz@gmail.com
