Hey Job Seeker: Stop Looking For The Right Company & Look For THIS Instead
Two words that have been on everyone’s mind over the past 3 years now: job security.
It all started in 2020…I don’t need to remind you of how insane that experience was, but that’s truly when the business world started to shift.
People left their jobs, businesses down sized, work from home became the norm and the economy hasn’t really been the same since.
With so many changes happening in the workforce, as you enter the new year, you may find yourself taking on the role of a job seeker for the first time in a while.
Maybe your company is among the many implementing layoffs.
Maybe you’re seeking a work from home job so you can experience the benefits that come with it.
On the other hand, maybe you’re tired of working from home, so you’re seeking an in office role.
Or maybe you’ve decided it’s time for a change and you simply want something new.
Whatever the case may be, there’s one main thing that I want to caution you on as you embrace your job search.
Too often I see people falling in love with big name companies, like Apple, Meta (Facebook), Amazon, etc., and they create a vision in their head of what it would be like to work for them.
They’re choosing a company INSTEAD of choosing a leader - and it should be the exact opposite!
I understand why it’s easy to fall into this trap. It’s easy to think that the big name companies that you’re so familiar with would be a great company to work for or have on your resume for future opportunities.
We assume that because they’re so large and well known that they must have their systems in place, their employees must be well taken care of and they surely value and appreciate the work that people do.
But that’s not always the case…
In fact, research has shown that 72% of job seekers say they’ve started a new job and almost immediately felt regret when they discovered the role or the company was much different from what they originally expected.
I’m willing to bet that the reason for this is because the majority of those people are looking for the “best” company, not the best LEADER.
What matters more than the company itself are the leaders inside those companies.
Why? Leaders drive the culture. And the culture is what keeps people around.
In recent years, people have gotten the word “culture” twisted and have started believing that it means having ping pong at the office and company happy hours each week.
While those things can be fun perks that an employee receives, those things do not ultimately create the culture.
Culture is about the values and beliefs that drive the company - and typically those values and beliefs come directly from the leader(s) themselves.
The culture will embody the overall mission of the company and it will directly affect the way people feel about the work they do.
Free lunch at the office might be cool for a week or two, but what about when you’re a year in and still haven’t received any sort of raise or promotion?
What about the day that your kiddo is sick and you feel like you can’t take the day off for fear of losing your job?
Or what if your job is going great, but you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and ask for help - do you have a leader that values you enough to help you find a solution or do they brush it off and make you figure it out?
Friend, the point here is that how a company looks on the outside is not always equal to how they are run on the inside and as someone that will be on the inside of things, it’s important that you seek out leaders who drive a culture that matches what you’re truly looking for.
And I know what you might be thinking - “Lindsay, I hear you, but HOW do I find those leaders?!”
Well, I’ve got good news for you - it’s not as hard as you may think ⬇️
How To Find Great Leaders On LinkedIn
It really is as simple as it seems: search for them! 🔍
This is one of the many reasons why LinkedIn is so powerful. It’s a search engine disguised as social media that helps you find people that you have common interests with.
When you find a company that you think you might want to work for, it’s time to do some digging.
Did you know that when you search for a company on LinkedIn, all of the people employed there (as long as they have an updated LinkedIn profile) will be publicly displayed?
When you click that “people” button highlighted in red, you’ll see something like this:
From there, you can search for the direct titles for people in the department that you’re interested in working for and usually be able to find the specific leader for that team.
When you find them, you can view their profile and - assuming that they use LinkedIn consistently - will be able to see what they’ve recently posted, shared or engaged with which will give you a pretty solid idea as to what they value and what they believe.
(Ahem side note for leaders: THIS is why utilizing LinkedIn to create a personal brand is so crucial. Current and future employees want to see what you stand for and when it isn’t easy to find, you could potentially miss out on a candidate that could add tremendous value to your team.)
When you do this search process as a job seeker, you can either:
- be reassured that the overall company is a good fit for you and you can move forward with applying for specific positions under certain leaders that align with your personal values
- gain clarity on the company and the leaders that shape the culture and decide that it’s not a good fit and be better equipped with what to look for elsewhere
The overall key is that you seek out the leader first and the company second, so that you limit the chance of you becoming among the 72% that regret their decision.
GREAT leaders are out there, friend - and YOU have the ability to go find them. 👏🏼
