6 Ways to Figure Out a Company’s Culture Before You Apply for a Job

From a business perspective, a company’s culture could be elusive to capture as a lot of it is unspoken. Culture could also include how individuals are promoted in a company.  Organizations with smart leadership can successfully develop a culture that can move an organization’s goals forward. One must know how to figure out a company's culture before he applies for a job in the respective company. For example, a startup that focuses on creativity/innovation could translate its personal value into a flexible arrangement where employees are able to make their individual schedules and can take unlimited vacation time for resting and recharging themselves. A large company could well have a tradition of taking the best possible advantage of their best ideas, irrespective of the fact whether these ideas come from an intern or CEO. A company’s culture could well have a direct influence on your career. For instance, if you are looking for a job that could help you to accelerate your career development, you’ll want to select a workplace that can help to provide various opportunities for professional development. It also has a culture that allows you to take benefit of them. In this article, we will provide 6 ways to figure out a company's culture before you apply for a job.

Do your research

Being a job seeker, the most important thing you can do is to visit the website of the company. Job seekers should focus on getting information regarding the company culture, its values, mission and objectives. They should also evaluate whether the company focuses on collaboration, work-life balance, advancement and growth. Moreover, they should also view the company’s profile and review sites, to figure out a company's culture. It can help them to learn a lot regarding how current, as well as former employees, feel regarding their company and jobs.

Check the News to figure out a company's culture

You should search the organization across different platforms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter to view the company’s current business operations. You should view whether the company has been growing rapidly or have there been pay cuts or layoffs? Has leadership been hired and why? Has the company come under scrutiny recently? Knowing what issues the company has been facing and how well it handled them can help to provide you an idea of how employees could be feeling regarding their jobs as well as the company, this could help you figure out a company's culture. It could also provide you specific things to ask within your interview or other informational interviews you do.

Making connections

After the organization’s personal website, your next valuable resource comprises of individuals who work there. If you don’t know anyone personally, it is essential to look for connections on LinkedIn. You should ask if they can share their thoughts on their work as well as the company. It is essential to keep it professional. You should also remember that whatever you talk about could help you back to the hiring manager.

Asking relevant questions

You should include a set of particular questions when team members that you could interview as well as current or former employees that you contact informally. You should ask questions like:

• What does success look like here?
• Can you give me examples of someone who grew internally, with this team or another?
• Can you give me an example of how this team successfully handled a major challenge?
• How does this team make work-from-home successful?
• Asking relevant questions can help to demonstrate what the company says and whether it is actually aligned with their relevant objectives.

Knowing yourself

When you have done the research as well as have gained an understanding of what the organization is all about, you should evaluate your own requirements. You should also ask yourself what keeps you motivated? Do you want a promotion or want to work collaboratively with an efficient team to improve your career? What really makes you happy? What are the aspects of work-life balance that are the most essential to you and would you get them in this organization? Figuring out how you are able to do your best work and what type of workplace could allow you to grow in your career is certainly the best possible way to view if there’s any positive relationship between the company’s culture and your future career objectives.

Consider team dynamics

In a small organization, leadership could result in creating a company culture that permeates through each and every role. Do your research on the leadership problems of the company if it has any. In a large company, team micro-cultures could pop up. You can pose your questions to the manager when required. You should ask the individuals you’re interviewing for addressing how a manager feels about policies that you have researched. If you are into the process and considering joining, you should ask around if you could join in and also spend a few hours with your prospective team members.