Here's What One Exec Looks for Before Joining an Organization

Most people focus on making good impressions on employers during the hiring process. They often forget that it should also work the other way around. After all, employment is a partnership and you should be proud to work at an organization just as much as they enjoy you working there.

Ryan Patel , is a global business executive who works with a number of big-named brands, chats with LinkedIn News Editor Andrew Seaman on the latest episode of Get Hired to explain what he looks for before joining or partnering with an organization. The two also discuss the importance of having an employer who invests in developing your skills and celebrates your passions.

You can read a transcript of the conversation below. You can listen to the episode above or on Apple Podcasts by clicking here .

TRANSCRIPT: Here's What One Exec Looks for Before Joining an Organization

Andrew Seaman: Something my Gen Z colleagues have taught me about are vibes. They didn't invent them, they just gave them a name. For example, you know that weird feeling that you get when something just doesn't feel quite right? Well, Gen Z would say that, "The vibes are off." So today we're talking about how to figure out if the vibes are off with a potential employer.

From LinkedIn News, this is Get Hired, a podcast for the ups and downs and the ever-changing landscape of our professional lives. I am Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn Senior Managing Editor for Jobs and Career Development, bringing you conversations with experts who, like me, want to see you succeed at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

Even if it doesn't feel like it at the time, the hiring process is just as much about you getting to know an employer as much as it is about them getting to know you. How do you do that? What should you look for? Also, how do you gracefully step away when there are just too many red flags to ignore? Well, someone who knows a lot about that and partnering with organizations is Ryan Patel. He's a go-to authority on business, economics, and more. In addition to all of that, he works with a number of big named brands. So I want to ask him what he looks for in an organization before signing on to work with them. First off, let's hear a bit about Ryan and his background.

Ryan Patel: I would say I live in a couple buckets. I love being on boards and advisory boards of major companies that are trying to scale and trying to make a difference, if it's from healthcare supply chain, to finance, to tech. Especially, I think we all globally interconnected, and so my passion around building businesses and going global gives me that ability to do that if it's in marketing, branding, and all those things. I love being a part of events that want to have real conversations and being at some of the largest events from World Academic Forum to even company leaders that I know, on leadership in the future of technology and how we use it and connecting all audiences, not just from young professionals, Gen Zs to executives. I think those places that I love being a part of, having a multitude of conversation, I just want to make an impact and build people. The business expertise is something I want all people to have.

Andrew: You do so many things now. when you first started down this road, because obviously you go to school, you get your degrees and you graduate. What was the first thing for you, and then what were the first opportunities to really pop up that you had to say, "Is this right for me?"

Ryan: Yeah, that's a great question. Obviously going into the corporate world was something that I wanted to do. And it was funny, always working for a brand that I recognized, and when you're young, you want to attach yourself to feel a part of this community. That's the same thing when you're working for somebody or working for a brand or even working for yourself that you built something that you feel a part of. And that's what I wanted, and I was luckily able to be a part of some of that. I think the moment that I thought that this could be something that people wanted, I mean it was really the moment like, "Oh, they want me?" I think I still have that moment. I just be very honest. I'm still very humbled, like, "Oh wow, I'm doing X on this," or whatever the case is. It was when you say no to things. And when you say no to opportunities that obviously can give you money. And then you kind of go, "Well, that's not the right fit."

And when I say fit, I mean thinking about what I want to do. Does it tie to my expertise? Does it tie to the things I want to do in the future, not in the short term. Is that what I believe in the mission and values? And it's more than mission and values, it's something that I represent. When you say no to something like that and you're taking money off the table, it makes clear on what decisions and what you want to do. And that was the moment for me to say, "Okay, I said no to something that I probably would've done handful of years ago, but knowing that I want to work with these other types of people." Not just brands. And mind you, when I say brands, I think of the people that I get to meet.

Andrew: Yeah.

Ryan: That's an important aspect to it. And so I think once that occurred, Andrew, these other partnerships just came from CEOs that I've met and head of Comms. And I would say one thing I look into of brands is, it makes it sound simple, I get to be me. That's how I evaluate. Will they let me be me? Will they collaborate? Will they let me take off on certain partnerships?

Andrew: Yeah, I think that's a really good point, especially now for people who are coming into the workforce and Gen Z who wants to be creators. Everyone I talk to, especially when they're in high school or college, they'll say they want to be a creator or things like that. And something that I've been talking a little bit more about to people is what are you doing with younger workers? They're not just sitting at their desk and doing their work and going home. They're talking about it online and videos on TikTok and all these places. So is the company going to let these people be themselves?

Ryan: So, that's a great point. And I say this all the time to many leaders that are in those companies, and I'll say even to the younger generation, we don't live in that place anymore that, "Hey, here I go for a job. I want to work here. Here's your job description." It's up to the managers to understand the professional and personal development of what that worker wants. If I was coming to the workforce today, will this person help my professional career? Do they also understand that what else I want to do on the side gig? There's 67% of side gigs are rising, of people who have it. And so if I feel like that my manager is going to allow me to flourish on my side gig and say, "Do it on your own time." Which is perfectly fine, but imagine if they help a little bit.

Imagine they just give you a little bit. They're like, "Hey, oh, I saw that you're an artist. Why don't you put your painting up in the wall?" Or, "I know somebody." Or it doesn't cost anything to connect people. And if someone did that for me, you don't think they'd be wanting to work there? They would love to work for that person, that that company values those relationships. Now all of a sudden you've got not just a creator, but you've got someone who's making an impact on multiple levels and is happy for what they do. Those little things add a lot of value.

Andrew: Yeah, it totally does. And I think one of the things that is really applicable in those situations, and for people who are looking at an employer, what I always say is that it's your time to get to know the employer just as much as it's their time to get to know you. And I think framing discussions from your career development is always a winning strategy, to see how they are receptive to it. So when you're talking to an employer and you say, "I'm really excited to learn this role. And then within maybe three to four years I would love to be a manager, to help other people grow in their careers or something like that." You get to see maybe what their reaction is to that. Are they going to be invested in your career growth or are they just going to make you push buttons and do the job they're hiring you for and hope that you'll just stay there forever?

Ryan: I'm inspired by the Gen Z because they're going to continue to push. And that's fine. If you don't have an answer to the push, then go get the answer. If someone says, "I want to be a manager in three, four years." The goal would be like, "How can we do it faster?' And is that person showing those steps and not just saying. And I think if you put people in the right position and empower them to do that, they'll do it. If you are not clear and you can't communicate clearly to what those objectives are, because, listen, we live in a different generation when people can be educated and can do learning on the side, you can see their efforts. It's a little bit easier to do and it's a great push and pull.

Andrew: Yeah. And I think when people say that Gen Z or Millennials don't want to work or something like that, it's always funny because it's not necessarily that or maybe they'll say they're unprofessional or there's always that question in the back of my mind, I'm like, "Is it really that they're not professional? Or is it just that they're changing the definition of professional?" Because a lot of times I think people think that things just have to stay the same forever.

Ryan: I think part of it where society's moved, when you think about economies are looking at. Like I mentioned, consumer spending, side gigs. Half the people in the US have a side gig. It tells you that it's not going anywhere and it's only going to increase. What are you doing about it to be more inclusive? I welcome it because I think it's a great way to move society forward because there's other ways of doing things. Doesn't mean it's always right, but that doesn't mean that we can't come together and have a way to find the best answer.

Andrew: We'll be right back with Ryan after this break.

Andrew: And we're back with global business executive Ryan Patel.

I want to go back to something that you mentioned earlier, which is the idea of a name brand company. And I completely am on the same page. When I was in college, one of my internships was USA Today, and obviously it's morphed a lot over those 20-ish years, but I remember when I got that internship, I was like, "Oh, wow, this is great," coming from a really small town in Pennsylvania. What's nice is there is some assurance when you have a big brand, you know what they stand for. But then there are a lot of people who maybe they don't have those companies within reach in their local area. So how do you analyze a company or an organization that maybe doesn't have that big of a footprint?

Ryan: So I'll give you two answers here. One, the under the hood piece, I have maybe a little more access to, I get to talk to the execs, so I kind of have a good sense of not just intern, but also what others think about them. And so what that means is I get the real kind of story of are they really saying DEI is important? Are they really saying sustainable is important? Are they really doing it? And if there's mistakes in the past, how have they resolved that? So I look at all of those things. And we think about if you don't have access, that's fine too, because obviously I didn't have access from the beginning. And how do you determine that? And I think I looked through a couple points.

It can't be perfect. And that I wish everything was so easy that to be able to do. You do a lot of research on different things that they've done, different videos, I'd watch everything, Andrew, I'd watch everything from anything that they would've done with anybody. It doesn't matter if it's a celebrity or it's an influencer or with how they approached the recession? How did they lay off folks? To me, all those things like a scorecard that I would have my personal scorecard and be like, "Okay." I think about if something went wrong, would they do it the right way and could I call them and be like, "What is it? Or what can I do to help to make sure that we feel comfortable?" And I think when you start putting the scorecard together with some of these brands, especially the smaller ones, I always think if they had all the spotlight in the world, what would they do with it?

The second piece again I was talking about is people. If they don't share the same values as a company and me, you can have a match with the brand, you can have a match with the partner on the other end, but if there's no match in between who's working on it? Forget about it.

Andrew: And it's also a nightmare for you in the end.

Ryan: If you start worrying about the middle piece, yeah, the product may still be great, but it still doesn't unlock everything. And I think that to me is half the battle. Walking into a place that you feel like you're just focusing on the end. As much as that sounds simple, it's really hard to do in many of these just conversations and partnerships in places that you pick for work too and how you do things.

Andrew: And obviously there's no perfect answer, but I really like the idea.

Ryan: Just consuming whatever you can find in talking to the people. And especially I want to highlight the idea because unfortunately it's a useful tool and something that you can lean on right now, which is how did a company handle layoff? Or how did they handle a rough time? Because that's usually when I think you see the character of an organization really come out.

Andrew: And there was something recently where a company, it wasn't a huge company, they ended up having to lay people off. And what was really interesting is the CEO basically posted, 'Listen, we're going to have to go through layoffs. I had to tell the team this morning.' It wasn't one of those sappy, 'Woe is me, I'm the CEO of a company and I had to do this.' It was very much matter of fact. And what struck me is when I was looking at the comments, it was his employees who were actually affected by the layoffs and they said, 'Thank you.' They basically said, 'This is going to be rough for me, but I appreciate you handling it this way.'

Ryan: And that's a part of the scorecard. Really, I'm telling people, you have your gut and then you got to be objectified of what that numbers look like. And then when you decide the scorecard of looking at how that feels to you, you then can move in that right direction. Here's a couple of tips I would say. Go on LinkedIn and just DM a person on the other side of the other company who's active. Say, "Hey, I just want to take 15 minutes of your time of informational." It doesn't matter what level. And you'll just get a good sense and you'll find a sense, "Well, that was kind of odd. Or this was not." And you get a couple of these in there? You will see. There's a lot of great people who just want to chat and I'm always going to make time to do that.

You can get on a call and you'll be amazed to see what information and passion. That is helpful. And then when you're on the call with them and you create a good rapport and you start to build a relationship, don't be shy to ask them, "Hey, is there anyone else I can connect to? I just want a different perspective." And I think when you're genuine enough to share that and then communicate that you'll get there.

Andrew: Yeah.

Ryan: I think the other thing that I would say is go comment on posts. Go comment on the person that you are trying to get in front of, and or maybe the company posts and be really smart with what you say. I love when companies are active.

Andrew: Yeah.

Ryan: In the comment section too, and their leaders. You will be surprised who will see it. I assure you. I've seen a lot of people on my own posts, and the companies, sometimes I hide them, they comment, they appreciate it, and they say something valuable. Because If you say something that is valuable to them and it triggers something that is a shared value or insight, they'll respond. And guess what? Now you've got a contact at the company that you didn't have before because they can see your expertise or your thought process and say, "Hey, I had a question." Or even if you want to pose a question.

Andrew: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Ryan: You can too. And I think it's a great example of flipping the script a little bit and having the conversation be more mutual.

Andrew: Yeah. And I think, not to go back to the Gen Zers again, one of the things that they've given us is the term the vibes are off.

Ryan: Yeah.

Andrew: And I think when you're in those conversations and you're in the hiring process, there's the scorecard you put all the information into and it's just coming down on a no. You eventually you just have to make the call, right?

Ryan: I mean, it's not an easy decision. And again, the scorecard is there.

Andrew: And money.

Ryan: Yeah. That has caused a lot of sleepless nights. And you want to make sure you make the right decision. You want to put yourself in the best position to make the decision. And at least you said you went through all the things that you said you would do, and you put the time and effort, not just a hasty yes or a no.

Andrew: And also, and I think you're a great example of this, for anyone who looks at your LinkedIn, you could just see all of the different partnerships that you have and that you've maintained for years.

Ryan: Yeah.

Andrew: And so of all the things that you've said no to, it's always good to know that more opportunities are waiting for you.

Ryan: I'm blessed and feel very grateful for the ones I have, and I am fortunate to have people who actually got to know me. I wouldn't have these types of opportunities if it wasn't for the people who understand things. And so those creators who are, and those people who are looking for those things, those are the people you want to cherish and relish and add any kind of value that you can because they're always going to be in your corner.

Andrew: Yeah. Thank you so much, Ryan.

Ryan: Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me, Andrew.

Andrew: That was global business thought leader, Ryan Patel.

Remember, it's up to you to put our advice into practice. Still, you always have a community backing you up and cheering you on. Connect with me and the Get Hired community on LinkedIn to continue the conversation. Also, if you liked this episode, please take a moment to leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts. It helps people like you find the show. And don't forget to click that follow, subscribe, or whatever other button you find to get our podcast delivered to you every Wednesday, because we'll continue these conversations on the next episode right here, wherever you like to listen.

Get Hired is a production of LinkedIn News. This episode was produced by Alexis Ramdaou. Rafa Farihah is our Associate Producer. Assaf Gidron engineered our show. Joe DiGiorgi mixed our show. Dave Pond is Head of News Production. Enrique Montalvo is our Executive Producer. Courtney Coupe is the Head of Original Programming for LinkedIn. Dan Roth is the Editor in Chief of LinkedIn. And I'm Andrew Seaman. Until next time, stay well and best of luck