Ideal company to work for: 7 tips to discover
1. Find out who you are
The first step to discovering which companies are a good fit for you is knowing who you are. If you don’t know what your profile is, it’s harder to identify if a company is compatible with you, isn’t it? So start with self- knowledge .
Reflect on who you are, what your behavioral profile is, what your life goals are, how you would like to work, etc. Make a first moment of reflection and write down everything that you feel is related to you.
If you can’t think of much, use some free resources to help you, such as behavioral profile tests, which can be easily found on the internet. These tests are not definitive answers about who you are, but they can help you start this analysis and better understand your personal characteristics.
Also chat with friends, family and other people who live with you. Ask them to list their characteristics, both qualities and points to develop . This can be very useful, because sometimes our self-perception is different from the perception of others, so you might be surprised by the answers and discover even more attributes about yourself.
Finally, another resource that can help you is to look for a professional psychology person to help you, as they are specialized in the study of human behavior and can help you to get to know yourself even more deeply.
2. Know what your values are
After knowing a little more about who you are, it’s time to know what you value , that is, what your principles and convictions are.
Think about what guides your life, your behavior and your beliefs, what you consider right and that going against it would be out of the question. For example, the idea that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of any personal characteristics, is a value.
So, list all your values, as they also help you understand more about who you are and will be indispensable in choosing the right organization for you.
3. Think about the lifestyle you want to have
A survey by Salesforce showed that 52% of workers are willing to change jobs to maintain the home office . This study helps demonstrate how much lifestyle can be a decisive factor for continuing or not in a company, as the home office is a factor that completely changes an employee’s routine.
So, before listing the companies you want to work for, analyze what lifestyle you want to have and what would be indispensable. For example, in the research above, maybe the home office is a factor that makes it possible to work from several different places and this is something essential for some people to feel fulfilled, which is why many would not accept another work format.
For you, mental health-related benefits could be a deciding factor, or a good health plan, flexible hours, even a gym discount plan. The important thing here is to identify what quality of life is for you and how you think a company could contribute to improving yours.
4. Make a career projection
We talk about many subjective and personal values, but before you actually start researching companies, it is essential that you know where you want to go in your career.
First of all, you need to know if you want to continue in the same profession or if you want to change careers , as this will guide your next steps.
Afterwards, try to project what your biggest career goal is. Do you want to pursue a career in management or specialist? What daily activities would you like to do? If other questions arise, try to answer them as well.
Based on your answers, it will be easier to identify the companies that are most in line with your professional goals.
5. Study the organizational culture of companies
After all these steps, you are likely to have a better understanding of who you are, what you want, and what your goals are. Now is the time to start researching companies.
Organizational culture can be one of the interesting factors to start analyzing. In short, it works as a guide for employee behavior.
Knowing the organizational culture of a company will help you understand what the work environment is like and the dynamics of relationships in the organization. This is extremely relevant, after all, you will spend more time with people at work than with other people in your life, so it is essential that you develop a good relationship.
If you are a more collaborative person, for example, you might not be able to adapt to a company that promotes greater individualism and independence among employees. Thus, evaluate companies that have an organizational culture aligned with their behaviors to increase the chances of having a good relationship with co-workers.
6. Know the mission, vision and values
The company’s mission, vision and values help you understand what motivates the organization. From this information, you can analyze whether you believe in what the company does, how it does it and whether it is aligned with your values.
Many companies have a menu on their official website with these points, just search the company name on Google and find the official website, after that just look for the company’s “About us”, it is very likely that “Mission, vision and values ” is in that menu.
It’s important that you believe in what the company does, because that’s possibly what will keep you motivated to work at the company and make it progress.
7. Research your functions
Finally, it is not enough to like the company, what it does and the culture, you need to assess whether the day-to-day activities of your role are in line with your expectations.
It is not because a position has the same name in different companies that the function is the same. Two companies can hire salespeople , but in each organization this professional will perform different activities. So, don’t just look at the job title, look at the job description as well.
Today you learned that the first step in finding the ideal company for you is to understand who you are, what you want for your personal and professional life and what your values and goals are.
From there, you should research more about your role and the company and check if all of this is compatible with what you want for your life. Now it’s going to be much easier to identify the best places for you to work, isn’t it?