
How to find a good employer - dantewest
I will say this post is going to come out as if I'm trying to boast or show off, I really hope most people understand that's not the point of why I'm asking for advice here.<p>Most of you in the tech industry (especially in the Bay Area) realize we aren't suffering from the same economic downturn and jobless issues as the rest of the world. Our world is ripe with opportunity, but it's a lot of hard work, and a lot of companies will do or say anything to lure us in.<p>I would say I've been a victim of this. After several years of being successful at a mid-sized company, I started seeing talent trickle out the door (bosses, colleagues, VPs, CxOs) for better opportunities. I decided to take a look myself and saw that the industry was full of neon signs and flashy banners.<p>I joined one of these high flying, well funded start-ups that promises insane amounts of rewards, great learning experience, incredible growth opportunity and best of all, family like culture where everyone tries to help each other. It was everything but this... months into the role (I was employee # in the single digits), I started realizing we were having issues growing past employee #10. Most of the problem seem to stem from things like location, industry, but then came the hard sell. I started hearing interviewers literally start telling lies about company culture, life-balance, opportunities, ...<p>I left that mess for an older/significantly larger company, hoping the culture would be established, reputation is known in the tech community, etc. Wrong again. The promises of interesting work and startup like feel translated to "lots of work to make investors happy and politics up the wazoo". Being from a startup, my natural inclination was to make sure we delivered on time. At this big company, it often translated to "If you don't think we can make it on time, you must speak up so you take the brunt of the blame. If you do pull this off, you're going to have to do parts of all of our work along with yours." Stupid me did the latter, the team got the praise... good times for all, but after a few years of that nonsense, I don't think I can take this any longer. I secretly was hoping by doing all this work, I could rise the ranks quickly to stick it to some of these guys, I ended up seeing them climb the ladders quicker (perhaps cause they had more free time for presentations).<p>Back to the point where I would love some honest advice;<p>What are some good ways to find out what a company culture is like? I've been reading on GlassDoor, I've looked at the Fortune Magazine rankings, I've read about Zappos and actually recently phone interviewed but decided I don't want to move to Vegas, so the conversation died there.<p>But I'm worried, every time I talk to a company, I am worried that I'm getting that same sales pitch that I was so morally against at my own past employer. At the end of the day, a few hours won't tell me much about the people I'll be working with. What to do??? Help...
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coderheed
Interviewing is a fundamentally flawed process for both parties. It's like
moving in together after the first date.

That said, here are a couple of ideas that come to mind to get a better feel
for a company. The nice thing about both of these is they benefit both the
employer and prospective employee.

1) The best way I know of is if you're referred to a company by someone you
know and can trust enough to tell you about the warts beforehand.

2) Failing #1, if you find a company you're interested in and who's interested
in you, ask them for a contract-to-hire position with a 3-6 month or so
contract. It's a great way to really get to know the culture without a huge
commitment. They'll do it if they want you, but if they balk you should be
able to convince them it's in their best interest as well. Just don't do
anything drastic like relocating until you're fulltime.

Anyway, good luck.

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big_co
I agree with coderheed. A few months ago, I interviewed with several companies
-- startups and large companies. The interview process is the same; it's
broken.

And the way I ultimately picked my next job was to speak to people within the
firm, who are not part of recruiting or management, and ask questions. You'll
be surprised how honest the responses can be, especially from folks that are
relatively new to the company (they're more empathetic since they were in your
position a few months ago).

Keep in mind, an "awesome company culture" is largely a personal opinion.
People instantly associate unlimited food, scooters and free gym membership
with an awesome company culture. That's false. All the perks in the world
won't matter if the job you're doing is not satisfying, or if the company's
values don't align with yours.

Imo, one of the few companies that get "company culture" right is Zappos. They
go beyond just offering perks and really do unique things to foster strong
relationships within the company. Still, it doesn't mean Zappos is a fit for
you. Not a lot of people are keen on going through "culture training" the
first month on the job.

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codeonfire
There's no way to pick the culture you work in before you start working.
First, job opportunities are basically random. Everyone just interviews at
random places until one randomly hires you. The secret is to continue job
hunting after you've started, don't sign anything, and be prepared to walk if
the culture turns out not to be something you can tolerate. And I say
tolerate, because there will never be a 'good' culture. It's a job and your
exit strategy is to not work any more. People are going to say their company
is different, it's awesome, but they don't even know what makes it such a
horrible environment. For instance, any culture that has a strong affiliation
with kids stuff sucks to me: scooters, bikes, slides, candy, games, nerf, etc.
It really says that they see adult employees as introverted children who are
stupid enough to do real work so they must like candy and scooters. Other
people like this kind of stuff, but that same company is going to have
something else seriously wrong with it that they won't like. Just pick some
place you can tolerate until you save up enough cash to escape wage slavery.

