A reader commented after seeing my post on Hiring Good People: 

This was an interesting article. And I’ve seen lots of articles about what employers should look for, but what about employees? What should job searchers be looking for in employers? What should they be asking (without getting weeded out) to ensure that they’re going to click with a company?

In other words, how do you find the right fit?  My experience in working with clients is that the right fit begins with knowing more about yourself–your values, talents, and passions.

Values are those things that the more we have in our life, the more satisfied we become. I use a worksheet with coaching clients that gives a good description of values:

In coaching terms, values represent who you are and what is essential to you. They are not universal morals, nor are they standards of good and evil. They are not things that come and go, or principles that you develop over time. Values represent that which, if honored fully, will bring immense fulfillment to your life

One of my values is creative self-expression. It’s captured in a phrase, "I get to have the whole street to myself," which comes from my Sunday morning bike rides in Boulder, riding down a large hill in a residential neighborhood, not worrying about running into cars or people, living full out. Another value of mine is called, "If you can get it for less, it’s good." This refers to my penchant for finding great deals on everything from filing cabinets to clothes to airline tickets. Take me to a Salvation Army in a ritzy neighborhood and I’m in seventh heaven.

So what would both of these values have to do with finding the right job?  Putting the two together would mean that working for a start-up, on a tight budget, where titles mean less than great ideas and employees are encouraged to "come as you are," might just work for me. Knowing your values can guide you in one of the less tangible parts of a great fit, whether the feel of a company is right for you.

Before you even have an interview, you can find out alot of about the values of a company on their website.  I’m not talking about their stated values, which sometimes can be as distinctive as a gallon of milk at the grocery store. I’m talking about the values that are revealed by how people behave, what gets talked about, what gets priority. What’s the tone of the copy on their website?  Formal? Intimate? Light-hearted?  Take a look at this posting on a local Boulder company and from my observations of their website, see what their values might be.

Walking into an interview, be the keen observer.  Notice what’s on the bulletin boards and in the break rooms, how the receptionist greets you, and signs of company initiatives and goals. In the interview, ask questions about the culture. What are three words that describe this culture?  Ask questions about the most respected people in the company, independent of their title or position. What are the characteristics that describe those people?  Who gets rewarded and why?  These are all clues to the real values of the company.

The initial questions that triggered this posting talked about asking questions without getting weeded out. When it comes to your values, there is no free ride. You either stand by your values and honor them, or suffer the consequences. My suggestion is that job seekers get clear on their values and ask away, knowing that to enter into a situation that goes against your values will only bring trouble. If I had to work for an employer where I couldn’t be creative, where everything is already defined and the only role for me was to fit into a groove that someone else made, I would go crazy.  I’d thank an interviewer who saw this and rejected me on the spot. They’d be doing me a big favor.

I’ll talk about talents and passions in separate postings, as I can see I have more to say about this topic of finding the right fit than I realized. 

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