How To Stop Picking The Wrong Place To Work (And 3 Ways To Pick The Right Ones)

Nothing is more frustrating than realising you picked the wrong company for your career.

The classic interview process can be very smoke and mirrors with you and your prospective employer putting on masks in which you tell the other person what you think they want to hear, rather than what’s authentic.

Too many of us get so excited about a job offer that we fail to evaluate if it's right for us.

3 ways to identify if it's the right workplace for you

You need to investigate:

1. People
2. Purpose
3. Progress

Let's break down each.

1/ People

Having the right people around you is something I speak about often. It's an area I feel is under-analysed in the decision-making process.

So many of us are often swayed by financial, bonus and benefits packages, that we pay no attention to the people with whom we could be spending upward of 50 hours a week.

One of the biggest reasons that people leave a workplace is other people and the environment which is shaped by those people. You can be paid millions to work for your dream company, but if the people are assholes, you won’t be there for long.

The people around you will form a very large part of your working world.

If it’s a metric of wealth vs happiness, what

are you more comfortable with?

2/ Purpose

This is pretty straightforward in my eyes.

Does what the organisation does and why they do it align with your sense of purpose? If you're an advocate for clean energy sources and you're planning to work for an old company, it's safe to say you're going to have some conflict.

Get clear on if you can get behind the company's purpose.

It’s wise to take the time to reflect on the purpose a new opportunity can provide. Does it align with you? Do you feel it will make you fulfilled? Will it be the motivation for why you rise every morning?

3/ Progress

It’s wise to explore the opportunities to grow your skills, experiences and mindset with any prospective new employer.

Knowing that you’ll have access to talented people whom you can learn from is always a big plus. Another of the most popular reasons people leave an employer is the lack of opportunities to grow and take on new challenges.

If you’re ambitious and want to be somewhere to continuously learn, then you need to do your research in the hiring process and through the help of your good friend Google.

Sites like Glassdoor and social media can give you an unfiltered look into how an organisation really operates and if they provide an environment for growth. In the times when you’re faced with two or three very similar offers, the deciding factor can be the place which will offer you the best opportunities and environment to grow.

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