One of the things about working life that many newbies don’t even know about is company “culture”.  Company culture is often described as “how we do things around here” and often forms the framework for what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. The culture is often created by senior management and often reflects the values and focus of the founder of the company.  There are lots of ways of describing any company’s culture. Essentially though, some cultures are traditional and favour hierarchy (not for me thanks), others are  much more entrepreneurial and encourage risk taking. There’s a saying in some companies that “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission”. If you hear that being said, you know you’re working for a company with an entrepreneurial culture. Some cultures are resistant to change, others are adaptive.

What I’m trying to say,  is that the kind of culture you get to work within will have a real impact on how you do your job and how much you enjoy your work. So, it’s important to get a handle on it before you join. OK, for now, any job might do, but if you do have a choice, this is an important consideration.If you like a stable, secure environment with a focus on process and quality, you probably don’t want to be working in a start - up!

You need to know what kind of culture you’re going to:

1) Feel most comfortable in

2) Be most effective within

So, how do you find out? One tip is to check out the press releases on the company’s website. Press releases are really useful to get a sense of what’s important to the company, what they’re proud of achieving,  whether this is a formal environment or not etc. If you do know anyone working in the company, talk to them about how decisions are made, what goals are set and what managers pay attention to. That will tell you a lot. Make sure you go into that new job with your eyes open.