How to find the best company for you

When you’re thinking about your career and considering your next move, how do you find the best company for you, and what do you base that decision on?

If you’re one of those people who gets easily carried away by the excitement of a new opportunity (especially when there’s more money involved), maybe you should take a moment to reflect before making a snap decision.

Weighing up the pros and cons of a role, the resources available for you to do it, the management team, location, and rewards are most likely top of your list. But you'll need to dig a lot deeper than that to know if the company’s a good fit.

You may think you have plenty of time to work it out, knowing how long the recruitment process can take. But you get very little face-to-face time with the company before being offered a role.

It's particularly tricky for businesses with senior hires, as they have to make risky decisions based on a few hours of meetings, psychometrics, and referencing.

It's a big problem for you, too, because you only have a few hours of meetings to make a life-changing decision, and if it doesn't work out, you'll have to start the process all over again.

So you'll need a finely tuned antenna and be very clear about what you want.

Why finding the right fit at work is more important than anything else:

If you fit in, it will be easier for you to do your work well.

If you do your work well, the company will benefit from hiring you.

If you are contributing to the business, you will be appreciated.

You will feel better about your work and the company if you are appreciated.

Which means that you’ll do better work.

Which means that you’ll feel happier.

Which means that other people will enjoy working with you more.

This means they’ll also feel better about the work and perform better.

This way, you have the potential to impact the organisation way beyond just doing your job.

And you’ll be recognised within the business for your work and personal impact.

Then your public image and reputation for doing good work will flourish.

And you'll become more visible, not just in your company but also in the broader industry sector.

You get the picture.

The right fit is much more than going for drinks or joining the running club with your colleagues.

How do you work out what a good fit is?

Use your intuition or 'gut feeling’ if you're brave enough.

Find out more about the company through people in your network and do some detective work ‘behind the scenes’. When you’re at the final stages, ask to meet more people informally. Unless you’re interviewing for something strictly confidential, this shouldn’t be a problem. The more people you meet, the better, and it will give you more of a ‘feel’.

If your personal values are not aligned, you won’t feel happy.

Then there's the work style, staff turnover, and retention to consider.

When the BoF released its mega-report on the best companies to work for in the fashion industry, it surveyed 2,600 employees from over 190 companies, specifically examining rewards and benefits, leadership and development opportunities, and culture and working environment.

As a result of the study, the BoF identified the top 16 companies, but only you know the best type of company for you.

Tracy Short & Co offers executive career coaching, recruitment & talent services, and exclusive networking meet-ups.

Tracy has a unique approach to career success – a fresh alternative to traditional career coaching and executive headhunters.

Get in touch to find out how I can help you or your company.