The Internet is full of advice on how to prepare a resume and rehearse top interview strategies and so on. This article is not another contribution to how to land your dream job. It's about how to know what that dream job is in the first place. Being adept at landing the job isn't much of a virtue if you're landing a job at the wrong firm.
You have the skills and experience that you have and effective marketing of them is up to you. But how to go about that is in fact the secondary question after knowing who your target market is. We can, and have, provided a list of the elite of the best companies to work for , but that list offers no tailoring to your own unique disposition, preferences and compatibility.
Size Matters
Job seekers and career changers don't always take account of company size, but they really should. It can make a major difference in success and satisfaction of your work experience.
Are you more suited to working at a smaller firm? It usually has a much more hands-on focus. The working relationships you'll form will likely be much closer, almost family-like (which has two sides to it). This is not only opportunity for a close familiarity with your colleagues; you could actually know everyone with whom you work. This is a distinct work environment. An additional benefit, in the minds of many, is the chance to see the immediate payoff for your work and effort. This is something that large, impersonal firms usually can't provide -- certainly not to the same degree and in the same manner.
It is certainly true that big companies aspire to compensate for this cost of scale by attempting to cultivate a team spirit in their various departments and divisions Sometimes there is notable success in these efforts. However, in such a context, your team's accomplishments will always be conditional upon those of other departments and divisions, over whose work and efforts you and your team have no influence. So, even the best intended efforts at such scaled team building can never really capture the immediate and tangible experience of gratification from meeting challenges and achieving success experienced from work at a small company.
On the other side of the coin, though, for some people the large company is the place to be. It provides benefits and opportunities that are simply unavailable in smaller businesses. Larger size means more employees, which, due to scope of management limitations, usually mean more managerial layers, which means many more rungs on the executive ladder to be climbed, for superior compensation and benefits. Increased size also offers greater opportunities for professional specialization. At the same time, though, it can provide escape from a specialization that has grown stale. Lateral moves can open up new career possibilities without compromising seniority and tenure.
As many large companies have geographically dispersed operations, they present the opportunity to travel and live in exotic locations, making your work a cultural adventure as well as a business one. Though there are certainly exceptions, generally, larger firms will be able to provide richer compensation and almost always will be able to provide better perks and benefits.
Structure Matters
Size of a firm though isn't the only thing that matters; you should be giving consideration to the organizational structure of a firm for whom you're considering working. How will your personal disposition fit with the structural operations of a given work experience? It can have a big impact on our success and satisfaction at work The extremes go from the regimented, tightly rule bound, hierarchy that prides itself on the precision of job description and responsibility, along with a rigorously practiced chain of command, at one end of the spectrum.
At the other end are companies, such as the video game producer Valve, who embody fluid, adaptive working relationships. These firms are rooted in the dynamism of employee initiative and innovation. Indeed, some of them, like Valve, don't even have chain of command hierarchy. Instead they are premised upon the entrepreneurial spirit of their associates, lateral operational adaptation and an ethos of collegial mutual accountability.
Sometimes those who feel a more natural fit with one structure or style than another are prone to dismissive moral judgments on those attracted to the other kind. Aside of the obvious vanity in such judgments, they reveal a short-sightedness about the virtues of organizational diversity. Such different business methods exist precisely because different strokes suit different folks. The point isn't to denigrate those different than you, but to figure where in that tapestry of possibility you will fit most productively and comfortably.
Perhaps you thrive most when tasks are clearly prescribed? Are you stressed when blindsided by problems which you had no idea were going to be your responsibility? Are you anxious when given vague instructions or encounter unclear expectations? If so, no matter about all the great perks you may have heard about at some of the flatter structured firms, it's probably not the place for you. No number of ping-pong or massages tables will be adequate compensation for a work life that feels constantly distressed. That's not a recipe for either satisfaction or success.
On the other hand, if you feel suffocated by authority, are constantly seeking new challenges and love the thrill of relentlessly demanding work place improvisation, notwithstanding the security and stability that the more traditional, hierarchical firms often provide, you'd likely find the organizationally conservative culture to be claustrophobic. You need to be in a more fluid, flat structured work environment that provokes your creative spontaneity and encourages your intellectual curiosity.
Remember, this is not about what's right and wrong or good and bad here. It's about what's right or wrong and good or bad for you. Companies of different sizes and structures possess different characteristics. Your success and satisfaction at work is much enhanced by ensuring that you're working in an environment that gets the most from and gives back the most to you. This short review has been intended to aid you in making the better choice for your own dispositions and long term success.
You have the skills and experience that you have and effective marketing of them is up to you. But how to go about that is in fact the secondary question after knowing who your target market is. We can, and have, provided a list of the elite of the best companies to work for , but that list offers no tailoring to your own unique disposition, preferences and compatibility.
Size Matters
Job seekers and career changers don't always take account of company size, but they really should. It can make a major difference in success and satisfaction of your work experience.
Are you more suited to working at a smaller firm? It usually has a much more hands-on focus. The working relationships you'll form will likely be much closer, almost family-like (which has two sides to it). This is not only opportunity for a close familiarity with your colleagues; you could actually know everyone with whom you work. This is a distinct work environment. An additional benefit, in the minds of many, is the chance to see the immediate payoff for your work and effort. This is something that large, impersonal firms usually can't provide -- certainly not to the same degree and in the same manner.
It is certainly true that big companies aspire to compensate for this cost of scale by attempting to cultivate a team spirit in their various departments and divisions Sometimes there is notable success in these efforts. However, in such a context, your team's accomplishments will always be conditional upon those of other departments and divisions, over whose work and efforts you and your team have no influence. So, even the best intended efforts at such scaled team building can never really capture the immediate and tangible experience of gratification from meeting challenges and achieving success experienced from work at a small company.
On the other side of the coin, though, for some people the large company is the place to be. It provides benefits and opportunities that are simply unavailable in smaller businesses. Larger size means more employees, which, due to scope of management limitations, usually mean more managerial layers, which means many more rungs on the executive ladder to be climbed, for superior compensation and benefits. Increased size also offers greater opportunities for professional specialization. At the same time, though, it can provide escape from a specialization that has grown stale. Lateral moves can open up new career possibilities without compromising seniority and tenure.
As many large companies have geographically dispersed operations, they present the opportunity to travel and live in exotic locations, making your work a cultural adventure as well as a business one. Though there are certainly exceptions, generally, larger firms will be able to provide richer compensation and almost always will be able to provide better perks and benefits.
Structure Matters
Size of a firm though isn't the only thing that matters; you should be giving consideration to the organizational structure of a firm for whom you're considering working. How will your personal disposition fit with the structural operations of a given work experience? It can have a big impact on our success and satisfaction at work The extremes go from the regimented, tightly rule bound, hierarchy that prides itself on the precision of job description and responsibility, along with a rigorously practiced chain of command, at one end of the spectrum.
At the other end are companies, such as the video game producer Valve, who embody fluid, adaptive working relationships. These firms are rooted in the dynamism of employee initiative and innovation. Indeed, some of them, like Valve, don't even have chain of command hierarchy. Instead they are premised upon the entrepreneurial spirit of their associates, lateral operational adaptation and an ethos of collegial mutual accountability.
Sometimes those who feel a more natural fit with one structure or style than another are prone to dismissive moral judgments on those attracted to the other kind. Aside of the obvious vanity in such judgments, they reveal a short-sightedness about the virtues of organizational diversity. Such different business methods exist precisely because different strokes suit different folks. The point isn't to denigrate those different than you, but to figure where in that tapestry of possibility you will fit most productively and comfortably.
Perhaps you thrive most when tasks are clearly prescribed? Are you stressed when blindsided by problems which you had no idea were going to be your responsibility? Are you anxious when given vague instructions or encounter unclear expectations? If so, no matter about all the great perks you may have heard about at some of the flatter structured firms, it's probably not the place for you. No number of ping-pong or massages tables will be adequate compensation for a work life that feels constantly distressed. That's not a recipe for either satisfaction or success.
On the other hand, if you feel suffocated by authority, are constantly seeking new challenges and love the thrill of relentlessly demanding work place improvisation, notwithstanding the security and stability that the more traditional, hierarchical firms often provide, you'd likely find the organizationally conservative culture to be claustrophobic. You need to be in a more fluid, flat structured work environment that provokes your creative spontaneity and encourages your intellectual curiosity.
Remember, this is not about what's right and wrong or good and bad here. It's about what's right or wrong and good or bad for you. Companies of different sizes and structures possess different characteristics. Your success and satisfaction at work is much enhanced by ensuring that you're working in an environment that gets the most from and gives back the most to you. This short review has been intended to aid you in making the better choice for your own dispositions and long term success.
About the Author:
Thomas Ryerson's work at the Best Companies to Work For site is a tremendous resource for job seekers and career changers. Also, for those considering a leave of absence from work to pursue an MBA, his article "Is Getting an MBA the Right Decision for You" is required reading.
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