"Get off your backside and do your research. What's it like to work there? Can you walk into that company and walk around the site and get a feel for staff morale? Do they look happy and energetic and motivated and informed? What can you pick up?
Look at any media on the company, look at data on employers of choice. Do the research!
If you do apply and reach the interview phase, then ask questions in an appropriate but incisive way. You interview the employer; it's not just a one-way process. Probe the things you want to know about, that are important to you.
A good question to ask is how committed the organisation is to providing professional development for new staff. What would their plan be for your professional development over the next two years? If the employer finds it hard to answer, then I would be starting to get nervous. They should be able to slam-dunk their answer and provide evidence for it. Ask for examples of the way they have supported others. Ask them to tell you about the organisation's key values. If they pause and look a little uncomfortable, a red light should be flashing. Ask them to tell you about some of the problems the organisation is currently dealing with. If they say, "no, it's all good here" then I would also start to get a little nervous. One of the worst sins a potential employer can commit is to give you the Pollyanna version of life in their organisation, when the reality is very different.
Then, all you can do is act on what you've read about them, what you've researched and the sense you got in the interview. Sometimes you have to exercise trust, because the only way to truly judge whether it's the opportunity for you is to take the plunge."
Dr Peter McClenaghan is a Senior Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and Leadership and a Master Coach in Leading Managing and Coaching by Values, based in the Business School at the University of New England. He consults to industry on human resources, strategic leadership, Crucial Conversations, values-based leadership development and team building. He has delivered strategic leadership programs for the Australian Institute of Management (now IML), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the ESADE Business School Barcelona Spain and the School of Economics and Business University of Tartu Estonia. Peter also presents programs in Malaysia, China and Vietnam, as well as a wide range of other public and private sector clients within Australia.
UNE offers a variety of leadership and management courses to suit your individual expertise and future career needs, including the Bachelor of Organisational Leadership, Bachelor of Business, Graduate Certificates in Business, Human Resource Management and Management that articulate into our Master of Business Administration and Master of Strategic Organisational Development and Human Resource Management. For more information, head to the UNE Business School website.
Go back to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6 of this series for more.
