One of the things that many job seekers don’t consider is the environment they’re going into. Sure, when times are tough, we tend to be less choosy. Ideally though, we want to have a good feel for the way in which our future employer operates. I’m not talking about your individual boss, I’m talking about the “culture” of the company - how things get done in that environment.
There are lots of ways of describing a company’s culture - here are just a few. Some companies are entrepreneurial. So the culture will be about getting results, doing everything now (if not yesterday), the sales team will be the kings as they’re generating new business and quality is not on the radar. Customers will often be disappointed with the service received. Others are traditional environments. These organisations have been around for a long time and pride themselves on that. When you walk into reception for an interview, you’re greeted by a bronze of the founder. Here, the hierarchy is sacrosanct, meetings are tedious and filling your forms in correctly is important. Others tend to adopt a culture based on what they do. So many engineering companies will have very functional (not flash) offices. Technical skills and mathematical ability are more important than how you dress and present and expertise is highly valued. Others are party environments. The advertising industry and similar such as events management and hospitality firms are known for the late hours and partying. There’s always the wine to be drunk that the customers didn’t get to! Then there’s the business in which one person provides strong leadership and everyone follows (often blindly). I know of one banking business in which the CEO used to wear Micky Mouse ties. Strangely, his top team started to do the same! Strong leadership is not always the best thing though.
So, if you’re ever in the fortunate position of having more than one choice, think carefully and research the cultures of the companies offering you a job. You might find that one of them is a great fit and the other is not - even though the jobs themselves may be very similar.
Let’s forget the stereotypes for now though. The one thing that stands out among the Accountants I know is how they all have a great grasp of business principles and have used this to real benefit during their careers. A big part of the training often involved auditing of different companies. This is a great way of getting exposure to all sorts of different sectors and business types. By the time your average nerd (sorry accountant) is 25, they have been exposed to more types of businesses than most of us will come across in our working lives. Cogitate on that for a mo!
