90,000 hours. That’s how much time you spend working in your lifetime. The sooner you find a job you love, the better.
Signing that employment contract is one of the most significant moments in your life. With a quick wrist flick, you are committing yourself to spend hundreds or thousands of hours on something you only have a general idea about.
So, flip the script, and make sure the job is worth YOUR time.
As a director-level employee, I have interviewed hundreds of candidates and often feel that candidates aren’t doing their homework. But it doesn’t take much to get a better sense of what you’re getting into.
What Should You Look For?
You’ll have to decide for yourself what job fit means to you. But I’m probably not far off in saying you want to find a job that:
Matters to you Accelerates your career Empowers you Rewards you Feels fun Fits your life
How To Find a Job That Matters To You?
Finding purpose in your job is a huge motivator that will give you more reason to get out of bed in the morning. When looking for a job that matters to you, there are two main things to look for:
- Do you share the company’s values?
- Do you share the company’s mission?
Values are the fundamental beliefs that guide and motivate you. Doing things against your values can cause friction within you, leading to stress. In fact, most job-seekers won’t even consider a workplace that doesn’t share their values.
The mission is the reason for existence. Companies usually have a mission statement that pinpoints the company’s plans to impact. Younger employees, in particular, have made mission alignment one of the top criteria in a job search.
So, how do you find out if a company shares your values and mission?
The obvious answer is to go to check their website. Company websites often list their values and mission statement under the About or Career pages. In the best case, it can give you great insight. But sometimes, they are a bunch of marketing fluff.
Actions speak louder than words. So, look into how the company acts and behaves and judge their character. Here are some ways to get the scoop:
- Check out Better Business Bureau. BBB is a non-profit that handles complaints and rates businesses. It can be a great place to find misconduct and if the company is going wrong by their customers and partners.
- Read about the company in the news. Sometimes you can find revealing articles that can enlighten you. For example, some search terms might be “[company name] lawsuit” or “[company name] complaint.” See what services or products the company has launched recently and what customers say about them. Search for “[company name] launch.”
- Are the founders with the company still? As companies grow, their old mission statement generally becomes less significant in decision-making. Founder-led companies often keep a more rigid grip on their mission. So, check their website to see who is on the leadership team and check if any of them have a co-founder title. LinkedIn is your friend here.
- Read employee reviews. Glassdoor is a site that lets people rate and comment on their employer. It can be a great source of insight. However, just like reading on the internet, take it with a grain of salt. Employees that have been let go may hold their opinion due to the severance they signed, while others might be overly vocal. Companies also solicit employees to go on Glassdoor to write positive things about them to increase hiring. Also, if the company has many contractors, you might find many comments that have less to do with your role.
- Cross-examine the hiring team. In an interview, remember to ask questions from the hiring team. Ask them how their recent experience has aligned with the company’s mission and values. If you find something questionable online, bring it up and ask them about it to get more context and see how they react.
With all these resources, take it still with a grain of salt and make your own judgment. So don’t believe everything you read.
How To Find a Job That Accelerates Your Career?
One of the most critical decisions in your job search is to find a role that aligns with your long-term career goals. Spending a year, two, or five in a job that doesn’t align with your long-term goals can be a colossal waste of time and effort.
Spending 8 hours a day at a job builds an insane amount of knowledge and skills that a future employer will pay you handsomely. The sooner you get on your long-term path, the better.
The challenge for most of us is to know what your trajectory looks like. Overall what has worked for me in my career is to look ahead and research roles that I think would be a good fit for me in the future and then walk back to see what my roadmap looks like. You’ll also find some tips in my recent post on finding happiness at work.
So, when it comes to your job search, evaluate if the new role builds the skills you are looking for. And don’t make the mistake of just thinking of hard skills like learning a new technology or managing people. Soft skills, like critical thinking, decision-making, or communication, can be equally crucial for your career.
The best way to evaluate your new employer for role alignment is to dig deeper into the role. But the trick is to get a realistic idea of expectations rather than just a textbook role description.
Some good questions to ask might be, for example:
- How could I help you and your team if I got this role? With this question, you not only come off as a helpful candidate, but you will also get an idea of what everyone else thinks you should be doing. Sometimes you find that people you’ll work with have a different understanding of your role.
- What do you think are the biggest challenges in this role? I like to know the dirt before I join a company. Getting specific examples of challenges helps you understand what to expect and what you might learn.
- What do you think I would learn in this role? Ask this question to the hiring manager/your future boss. It helps you gauge your knowledge gap and see what skills you might pick up. The question also helps show that you are eager.
Then, evaluate for yourself how well this role fits into your story. If what you learned makes you feel uneasy, that’s ok. Getting out of your comfort zone can be great for your career. But if you know the role is not aligned with where you want to be in the future, this might not be the opportunity for you.
How To Find A Job That Empowers You?
In a lot of roles, you have limited authority over your work. In the most obvious sense, it can appear as a micro-managing boss but is often masked behind a process or company culture. Tasks get handed down to you, and even the most minor decisions must go through a series of approvals from others.
Empowerment allows you to take ownership of your work and make decisions that impact your job performance. It also allows you to develop new skills and take on more responsibility, which can lead to career advancement and job satisfaction.
During your job search, here are a few things you can do to find a job that is employee-empowered:
- Is the company organization horizontal? Companies that have fewer middle managers are more likely to empower their individual employees. Ask the hiring team how their reporting structure is and understand how many layers of management there are.
- What are the interests of your executive? At the organization’s top, a team of executives decides on the big picture. Sometimes you might find that the team you report to goes under a weird umbrella. This can make it hard for you to get buy-in for your ideas. At worst, you might have to constantly defend your role and working methods. Ensure you know who your future executive (the c-level title you ultimately report to) is and that their focus area aligns with your role.
- Who prioritizes your work? To be empowered, you should have a say in what you work on (or at least how you work). So ask the hiring team how priorities are set and how you can influence the priorities.
- How are decisions made? Few things can be as infuriating as going through a bureaucratic process to get anything done. Don’t get me wrong, no one should make decisions in a silo. But optimally, most decisions can be made in small (3-5 person) groups. Ask the hiring team about their process or a recent project and what approvals were needed from whom.
- What stands in the way of getting their job done? This question, in particular, is excellent to ask from more junior hiring team members as you are more likely to get honest answers. You can also ask if the role is a backfill (meaning they are replacing someone who quit or was let go) and ask why the role opened up.
How To Find a Job that Rewards You?
At the end of the day, most people work to pay their bills. Everyone should be fairly compensated for the work they do.
Your salary is likely the most significant part of your compensation, but in some roles, like in sales, the commission might bring the bacon home. Some companies may also offer an annual bonus or equity (shares of the company) to incentivize you.
Don’t forget about benefits, either. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, benefits totaled 31% of labor costs in September 2022. For example, some companies pay the entire health insurance premium or give a safe harbor retirement contribution (meaning, they put free money into your retirement account regardless of your contribution).
So, do this during your job search:
- Know how high-paying the company is. Some companies pay less than others. Knowing your worth and seeing if the company is paying you fairly is essential. Sites like Glassdoor can help you see the typical salary range for your role. Remember to include bonuses and equity in your analysis.
- Ask about benefits. Ask about the company benefits like 401k and HSA match and at what rate they cover health care premiums. Check the company’s career page for their benefits information or ask the recruiting/talent team for it. Remember to ask how the company can support you with expenses like student loans, childcare, eldercare, legal costs, or expensive prescription drugs.
- Know your salary range. Companies generally have an approved salary range for each role they hire for. It’s good to know that it is often difficult for your manager to give you more than what the range is. Being at the high end of a range can make it difficult to negotiate more. It can also make it challenging to get significant raises later on. Companies are often tight-lipped about their salary bands, but asking doesn’t hurt. In fact, some states require companies to list salary ranges as part of the job ad. If you’re hitting the top, try negotiating a bonus, equity, or vacation time instead.
How To Find a Job That Is Fun?
What makes a job fun? Many people make the mistake of focusing on perks like free lunches, pool tables, and so on when finding a dream job.
But what will likely make you happier is the company culture. Culture is the way things get done at a workplace. It supports the company’s values and consists of the employees’ behaviors.
At the center of it are the people. And it is your co-workers that will make you love or hate your job. Just look at the numbers. According to DDI research, 57% of employees have quit their jobs because of their bosses. Another survey found that 1 in 4 left their job because of their co-workers.
So, interview the hiring team for “cultural fit,” just like they will interview you. To find a job you’ll love, here are a few things that can help in evaluating the company culture:
- Can you trust your manager and team? Having trust goes a long way in enjoying your job. Trust is based on integrity, vulnerability, and honesty. Pay attention to their communication style, transparency, and if they take an interest in you as a person. Ask your future boss to describe his/her role as a manager and what he/she thinks an ideal direct report is like.
- What is the employee experience like? When you have an interview with someone who has been with the company for 3-5+ years, ask them how the company has changed over time. They often share great insight into what’s been going on! For the newer employees in the hiring team, I like to ask about their onboarding experience and what they like about this company compared to their previous one. Look for specifics and examples. Don’t forget to also check employee reviews on Glassdoor and talk to any friends of friends who are or used to work at the company.
- Get to know interviewers as people. The people in your hiring team are most likely the people you’ll spend the most time working with. Show interest and find out what they are like as people. Ask them what they like to do in their free time. Ask them how they celebrated their most recent win at work or have them give an example of how they dealt with a stressful situation.
How To Find A Job That Fits Your Life
Everyone wants to find a work-life balance. For some, it may mean a strict separation between work and personal time, while for others, it might mean finding ways to integrate their personal and professional lives.
The goal is to set boundaries between work-life and free time while reducing friction in your life. For example, cutting down a teeth-grinding daily commute or balancing working hours with picking up kids from school.
So, think for yourself what those friction points are in your life and what a work-life balance would look like to you. Before you sign the job contract, be honest and direct with the HR manager and your future boss to see how they can support you in those areas.
- Discuss flexible working arrangements. Is your manager understanding and supportive of you leaving work early or working from home on some days? What would that look like, and what do they expect from you in return?
- Negotiate a generous paid time off. Paid time off, sick leave, parental leave, and personal days are some of the most obvious benefits you should ask about. But remember that you might be able to negotiate more vacation days.
- Understand benefits and perks. Driven by more employees working from home, companies are now offering more childcare or eldercare benefits than before. These benefits can, for example, make it easier to discover facilities or get backup care when plans fall through.
Summing It All Up
Remember, you are worthy of a great job! If your priority is something other than work, such as family or hobbies, that’s perfectly fine. But that doesn’t mean you should suffer 90,000 hours of your life.
All jobs have their challenges, so don’t expect the grass is always greener on the other side. But aim to find a job that matters, accelerates your career, makes you feel empowered, and rewarded, is fun, and fits your life.
If you can check off those boxes at the end of most days, you’ll have a much more satisfying work life.