Most of us have worked once in our lives and although some have moved up and became employers, a great majority still remain employees. I bet that you can agree with me that prior to landing the dream job that you have right now, you had thoughts about it ending up a nightmare instead. Whether or not you ended up with a dream or a nightmare, we all went through a job application process and we have our own stories to share about it.
Job application probably is the hardest part of the employee life cycle: Recruitment, Employment and Separation. The entire process of searching for the opening, getting an invitation for interview, to answering an array of assessment questionnaires (which for the most part takes at least an hour minimum to forever), to more rounds of interviews (interviewers range between one to infinity, pun intended) until you get a job offer or not. After you leave that building because of you either did not make the cut or you refused the offer, the cycle will repeat itself again and again.
However, this never-ending cycle of the application process can be avoided, if we do this very, very important pre-application step: CHECK ONLINE COMPANY REVIEWS! Yes, it sounds simple and seemingly dismissible, but for the most part, in our excitement for finding that job that fits our skills, we tend to forget the question, “Will this company be right for me?” Sure, we prepare by browsing the internet for common interview questions, how to answer the interview questions professionally, etc. Yet, we fail to check the company profile, their mission and vision, core values, etc.
Do Some Research On the Job, Search Online
While we settle with the fact that the job description fit us and believe we are highly qualified, we must also consider the company culture. Before even sending over that perfectly-crafted curriculum vitae, it may not hurt to at least maximize Google’s potential and research on that company you are eyeing for. You will be surprised as to what you can discover from the reviews and comments made by the employees, both current and former. And who knows, it might save you from falling on the same pitfall – applying for the job, getting hired then finding out that you don’t fit in the culture or vice versa, which in no time is a guarantee that will bring you back to the job applicant bucket…again.
Doing a company check is one way of ensuring you land that dream job of yours. Also, you might not notice that applying for a job is very costly – transportation, food allowance, document preparation. You will find that it can eat a huge portion of your budget, which is probably what remains of your funds from your last employment that is. Hurts a lot though.
So the next time you browse jobs before you click “Apply”, go ahead and do your company profile check. After all, companies also do employee profile check. So the feeling is mutual (again, pun intended).
Good luck. Thank me later.
