Before You Take That New Job, Check Out Its Culture

Is that new job really going to be a good fit?
Is that new job really going to be a good fit?
Image Credit: Chris Devers

As managers, we are often presented with opportunities to switch jobs. We may be presented with a new job that catches our attention and we may start to seriously start to think about switching employers. However, as attractive as a new job may appear, it might be in our own best interest to not rush into taking a new job. One of the big questions that we have to use our manager skills to answer before making any jump is to determine what the culture of the new company is.

Look Before You Leap

It turns out that company culture does matter. You need to take the time to understand the culture of your next workplace before accepting what looks like an attractive new manager job the experts say. Doing a poor job of this can lead to a misfit and you are less likely to thrive in an incompatible culture.

You need to make sure that you understand just exactly what corporate culture is. Corporate culture consists of the prevailing beliefs and behaviors that guide workplace interactions. It is estimated that about 30% of managers taking new jobs fail to figure out the company’s culture correctly and end up leaving relatively soon.

Is The New Job A Good Fit?

One of the most important things that you need to realize is that culture is nearly as important as pay when it comes to taking a new job offer. You need to make good cultural decisions before you move from company to company. The way that you can make this happen is to pose the right set of questions. This is your best bet for getting a candid read on whether a company’s culture is open to outsiders. Sadly, there really is no manager training for doing this correctly.

In order to determine if a new job offer is a good fit for you, what you need to do is to collect the right information about the job. What you are looking for are both red flags and positive signals about a corporate culture.

Your first step should be to identify who and what counts. Your goal is to grasp unwritten norms, discern what is acceptable behavior—especially for managers. You should check whether sales stars operate under looser standards, such as completing deals without required internal approval. The reason for this is because you may feel uncomfortable working for a business where there are different rules for different people.

You need to ask recruiters about your suitability. A recruiter who has handled placements for your target employer should know whether its culture would suit you. You should ask why the five previous people you recruited (there) were successful. You should also ask them why other individuals had left the role, and what was the leadership turnover and why?

Take the time to walk the halls at the new firm. One way that you can find out more about a company that you are thinking about working for is to ask rank-and-file staffers what it is like working for their prospective employer. While you are walking around corporate offices, also heed unspoken cues. What this means is that you’ll want to notice whether employees smile at you or avoid eye contact. Find out if they do any team building.


What All Of This Means For You

The opportunity that a new job presents, makes all of us get excited. However, if we are not careful we could end up switching to a job that is not the right job for us. What this means is that we’ve got some homework to do before making a job switch. The key is to understand what you need to learn about the new job before you make a decision to jump ship.

Much of what will make a new job a good fit for you has to do with the new job’s company culture. You need to understand what the company’s prevailing beliefs and behaviors that guide workplace interactions are. In order to determine what a company’s culture is, you need to be able to ask the right questions. You need to identify who and what counts. You need to ask recruiters about your suitability. You need to take the time to walk the halls at the new firm.

A new job can bring with it a lot of new opportunities. However, this will only happen if the new job is a good fit for you. This means that you need to take the time to find out if a new job will meet your needs. Take the time to find out about the new company’s corporate culture and you’ll boost your chances of making your next job the perfect job for you.


– Dr. Jim Anderson Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World IT Management Skills™


Question For You: Do you think that you can find out about corporate culture by talking to current employees?


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