|
Lets
face it - no matter how tight it gets, you'd never want to work
for a boss whose idea of work revolves around making your professional
life miserable. Whether through sheer incompetence, utter cluelessness
or just plain meanness, a bad boss will definitely make you regret
taking that job no matter how down and out you were before signing
on to your company-from-hell. I don't think anybody ever thought,
"Thank God I now work for a boss that doesn't respect me in a company
that's got me underpaid". It's a good thing, though, that most bad
bosses and their equally crappy companies can be detected earlier
on even during the interview stage (that's right - seeing how the
personnel jockey made you wait 3 hours AFTER your appointment to be
interviewed stands for something). To help you out, we rolled out
a few helpful tips on evaluating whether the company you're applying
to is worth all the work you've put into getting in.
|
| |
| HOW'S
THE TONE? |
| Check
the general mood of the people you see in the company. Are the workers
there generally cheerful and light, or do they look like they've been
toiling at a slave bazaar for some time now? Take a quick glimpse of
how the people's attitude and tone make out, since you just might be
one of them soon. |
| |
| HOW
DO THEY HANDLE OTHER PEOPLE'S BOO-BOOS? |
| Sometimes
mistakes happen; so the HR manager who set you up for an interview today
TOTALLY forgot about it, and was out of the office for the day. Or maybe
the interviewer inadvertently scheduled you AT THE SAME TIME he or she's
got another affair going. Or maybe she's just late. Are the people in
the office helpful to you, scurrying about trying to get in touch with
the forgetful HR, getting you rescheduled on another time? When mistakes
like these happen, people around a good, people-oriented company know
that each and every employee (even potential ones) are worth their time
and energy - and when something like this goes wrong, they know it's
top order to fix it up. When they don't care and let you wait in the
hallway helplessly for someone (or perhaps something) else to help you,
thinking the problem will "fix itself", then you may want to re-think
your application. |
| |
| MANNERS,
MANNERS |
| How does
the HR Manager conduct the whole interview? Does he or she antagonize
you, playing trick question after trick question just to see you squirm?
Do they ask inappropriate questions, the type you're not sure is relevant
to the job but might possibly get you a few points off anyway? Interviewers
who know their manners speak highly of an organization that knows how
to respect the rights and dignity of their workers - and usually the
opposite can be said of their less fortunate and obnoxious counterparts.
Be wary of the company that keeps crabby HR people-be even more suspicious
of the ones that allow them to interview you. |
| |
| CHECK
THE PACE |
| Do the
people move around like the wind at NASCAR, running around hurriedly
as if working on work due yesterday? Or does the general air of the
office feel like the lazy old farm in the afternoon, with people lazing
around like kings? You may want to see how busy the people are at the
company and see if it's a good match to your own personal working pace.
Also, does the noise level, smell and general feel of the place show
you a kind of working environment you'd like - or at least, one you
can tolerate with ease. |
