How important should corporate culture be to a job seeker?
We’re going to provide some answers to that question.
But first, let’s look at a great definition of corporate culture. From the experts at Investopedia:
What Is Corporate Culture?
Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires.
A company’s culture will be reflected in its dress code, business hours, office setup, employee benefits, turnover, hiring decisions, treatment of clients, client satisfaction, and every other aspect of operations.
That’s some excellent background. We always recommend that candidates do a serious evaluation of their potential fit with any corporate culture.
We also recommend that they have a relationship with a trusted recruitment partner that has a comprehensive understanding of their career objectives, skills, and work-lifestyle goals.
Patel Consultants can help you with all of your job hunting needs—from direct-hire to contract work, temp-to-hire, and everything in between. Call us today at 908-964-7575, and let’s start searching for your dream job together.
In this post, we’re going to cover the basics of evaluating corporate culture:
- Know your preferred corporate culture
- Evaluate any potential employer’s culture
- Make a balanced decision
We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started.
Know your preferred corporate culture.
We’re not trying to be captain obvious here! Candidates often get caught up in the more salient, traditional aspects of evaluating potential jobs. Things like salary, benefits, work-lifestyle options, PTO, etc., can tend to bubble to the surface. This is human nature. But corporate culture can be a huge factor in the job satisfaction equation.
A bad cultural fit can be the number one reason a candidate says, “Wow, I made a huge mistake!” after several weeks or months in their new job.
Candidates need to take some time and do some serious self-reflection on what type of corporate culture is the best fit for your personality type and work persona.
Evaluate any potential employer’s culture.
Not making enough money is still at the top of the list of reasons people leave their jobs. But a toxic work environment is running a close second. From the software experts at Jostle:
One of the most common yet often misunderstood causes of employee turnover is poor culture fit. And no, I don’t mean an employee who doesn’t fit in with the workplace culture; I mean a culture that doesn’t fit its people. In other words, the type of corporate culture that sabotages morale, scares away new talent, and actively drives away its best people.
Ouch! That’s a pretty harsh reality. Those types of caustic work environments exist, and candidates need to avoid them at all costs. Make sure you scrub the internet for any available information on the company’s brand, culture, etc.
Always take employee reviews with a grain of salt though. They can often be fake or unreliable.
You can follow most companies on LinkedIn and through their blog and news sections. What they post will tell you a lot about their culture. Most importantly, use your network as your end-all source of information.
Make a balanced decision with Patel Consultants.
Corporate culture is an important factor in any candidate’s final job decision. But it’s not the only factor. Know your corporate cultural boundaries and stay inside of them. Evaluate culture in the context of overall compensation, work-lifestyle benefits, work location, etc.
It also helps to have a trusted recruiter partner to help you navigate an ultra-competitive job market, like the one we’re currently in.
Consider engaging with an established recruiting and staffing agency to help you with your job search. A dedicated recruiting team can streamline your job search by helping you efficiently locate those great companies that are looking for candidates with your skills, credentials, and experience.
The recruiting team at Patel Consultants will take time to understand your unique skills, capabilities, and career objectives before we start the search process. We give the same red carpet treatment to our job candidates and our hiring clients.
You can expect us to find you the perfect employer from our long list of strategic relationships with local, regional, Fortune 100, and Global 1000 companies. Patel Consultants has over 40 years of experience placing IT professionals with exceptional companies.
Are you an IT professional looking for temporary, contract, or permanent work?
At Patel Consultants, we help IT professionals, just like you, find that perfect job, contract, or gig, every day!
Call us today at 908-964-7575, or get in touch online. Our expert recruiters are waiting for your call.
