If you're an executive looking for a job at a new company, you want to check on cultural fit before accepting an offer. An executive search is expensive and involves many people, which is why you want to make sure you fit in with your company before coming on board. Discover how to determine if your values align with your future employer's values.
Reasons Why You Need Cultural Fit
Your philosophy should align with a company's culture for several reasons. First and foremost, you want a job that keeps you happy and fulfilled. You also need to have a similar passion for the job as the people around you, knowing your job and everyone else's job fulfills the company's mission. Finding the right cultural fit early on in your job search alleviates taking unnecessary risks and ensures you want to stay with a new employer for a long time.
From a company's perspective on an executive search, finding someone with the right philosophy follows different criteria. Hiring an executive who exudes the company culture helps the organization move forward as a cohesive unit. Hiring for culture also reduces turnover rates. A bad hire may cost a company up to 60 percent of that person's annual salary to find a replacement.
How to Show You Align With the Corporate Culture
A company may not understand if your executive skills are a perfect cultural fit until the job interview phase of the hiring process. That's because it's hard to identify fit through a resume or by calling references or contacting network connections who recommended you for the job. Start researching the company culture by investigating the company website, social media and LinkedIn pages. You may discover several basic things doing this research, such as how a company puts customers first, why it exists and whether the type of atmosphere at the office is one where you want to work.
Knowing if your personal brand exudes the right cultural fit is the second key to showing you're the perfect person for the job. Compare your LinkedIn profile or social media to other people who work at the company. Get in touch with your networking contacts to get a feel for what it's truly like working there.
Preparing for the Interview
Companies look for someone with the right fit by asking certain interview questions. The overall goal of these questions is to find an intelligent and thoughtful candidate who can motivate teams to get the job done. Look for behavioral questions that delve into how you think when presented with certain situations, such as how you solved a specific problem or handled arguments on a team, or what you did to affect the company's direction. Be ready to share personal anecdotes of your previous experience that relate to the position at hand.
Your interview answers should demonstrate four basic skills that employers look for in an executive. You must be willing to learn, motivate employees, see the big picture of long-term goals and show you're a team player.
Ensuring cultural fit pays huge dividends for companies and their executives. Knowing if you're the right fit beforehand goes a long way toward making the correct choices when it comes to a career move.
Photo courtesy of the_chan at Flickr.com
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