What strategies can you use to identify company culture and values before your interview?

one can start by delving into the About Us or similar sections on the website to uncover its mission, vision, and core values. Look for testimonials that shed light on the company's ethos. Then, navigate to its social media profiles to observe the content it shares. Pay attention to employee spotlights, community engagement initiatives, or company events, as these reflect cultural aspects. Engage with current employees on platforms like LinkedIn to glean firsthand insights into their experiences within the company. Additionally, seek out content authored by company leaders to understand their perspectives and priorities

Check their website and social media posts to see how they present themselves. Read reviews on websites like Glassdoor to get insights from current or former employees. Talk to current or former employees if you know any to learn about the culture firsthand. When you're interviewing, ask questions like "What's it like working here?" or "What's important to the company?" to learn more about their culture.

Research the company's mission statement, vision, and values on its website and social media channels to understand its guiding principles. Explore employee reviews and testimonials on platforms like Glassdoor to gain insights into the workplace culture and employee experiences. Review any recent news articles or press releases about the company to understand its reputation and corporate ethos. Lastly, reach out to current or former employees for informational interviews to get firsthand perspectives on the company's culture and values.

We can always do a quick research about a company: ✅ LinkedIn > About Section ✅ Careersites > About Section, Testimonials, Employee Reviews, Culture, Evolution of the organization & best practices videos ✅ Ofcourse, Glassdoor & Ambition Box Reviews ✅ Talent Branding - Sometimes we can use this parameter to see how rich a company is in its culture.

The "About Us" section on their website often reveals their mission statement, vision, and core values, offering insights into what they stand for. Blog posts, news updates, and CSR initiatives can further highlight their priorities and ethos. Social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, provide a glimpse into the company's daily life, showcasing how they interact with customers, celebrate milestones, and the type of content they share. This research not only gives you a feel for the company's culture and values but also prepares you to align your responses and questions during the interview, showing your genuine interest and fit for the organization.

I advise taking online reviews (such as those on Glassdoor) with a pinch of salt. Positive reviews can be highly positive and in quick succession, and the same goes for negative. Do look for common themes, as these often turn out to be very accurate and can demonstrate how company values align with employee experiences.

Nervous about online reviews reliability; Positive reviews from ladder climbers; negative reviews often from terminated employees. IMO, online reviews unreliable when the company is less than 5000 employees as the sample size too small.

Check out online reviews and ratings on platforms like Glassdoor or Indeed. These give insights from current and former employees about the company's culture, leadership, benefits, and more. Look for trends rather than isolated opinions, and compare them with the company's claims to get a clearer picture.

Engage with current or former employees on professional networks like LinkedIn or attend industry events and webinars where you can initiate conversations. Ask open-ended questions about their experiences, the company's work environment, leadership style, and how decisions are made. Inquire about their personal growth within the company and the team dynamics. This firsthand insight can give you a nuanced understanding of the company's ethos and day-to-day operations, beyond what's publicly available. Use these insights to assess if the company aligns with your values and how you can contribute to its culture, equipping you with tailored questions and discussions points for your interview.

This is the most effective strategy by far; reaching out to current and former employees on platforms such as LinkedIn to ask their honest opinions of the company will provide a clear and well-rounded picture of the culture and values. However, do remember that these are just opinions, and one person's experience can differ greatly from someone else's, so don't take everything at face value.

In my opinion, If you know someone who works or has worked at the company, reach out to them for an informal chat and form relationships. Ask about their experiences, the company culture, and what they value most about working there. If possible attend events where employee representatives from the company might be present. Engage in conversations and ask questions to gain insights into the company culture.

One of the best ways to truly understand a company culture. Always remember though, its their opinion not necessarily the reality or the same in a different part of the business.

In my view this is the best way to understand a companies culture however there are some caveats. Ideally ask a number of people about their experiences and get some context about their position in the business, e.g. are they similar to yourself in their goals and objectives, does the culture suit them. Team rather than company culture can sometimes be driven by the direct line management of an individual so it isn't always reflective of the wider business, although it's obviously not great if it is negative and this happens. Remember that these are only peoples opinions.

Pay close attention to the job description and application process. They often drop clues about the company's vibe. Look for how they describe the role, responsibilities, and expectations. Check out how they communicate with you during the process and handle your queries. The length and complexity of the process can also hint at their values.

Don't judge a book by the cover (job description) but be cautious! If the JD sounds a bit formal and you can't get much about culture there - it's probably a template that recruiters can't influence too much. Don't worry then and dive deeper into other points raised in this article. If a Job Description is too flashy and sounds quite like a sales pitch - be wary! If there is any mention of a ping pong table - run away! 😅 The true focus should be on the interaction with everyone in the hiring process, starting from the recruiter to the hiring manager to peers. How do they come across, and how long is the time between any communication, how complicated is the interview process? Focus on people and on what is important to you.

The job description, application, and interview process speaks volumes about a company culture. If job descriptions are vague, full of buzzwords, and are not specific; expect the day to day operations to follow suit. If the application process is repetitive (upload resume, then type out all your experience), expect the internal operations to not be optimized. If their interview process is more than 3 steps, expect many levels of approval to change process or improve operations. Try to confirm your hunches by networking with current or previous employees before jumping to conclusions.

Honestly this is the piece of advice I'd value the least - sometimes JD's will have a glaring red flag, but a lot these days are boilerplate with the same culture buzzwords strewn in and it can be tricky to get a sense of if they actually mean it.

Craft questions that prompt detailed responses about the company's day-to-day operations, decision-making processes, and how they handle challenges. You could ask "How does the company support professional development and work-life balance for its employees?" These inquiries not only demonstrate your interest in understanding the company's ethos but also encourage the interviewer to share concrete examples of the culture in action. Tailoring your questions to elicit specific scenarios allows you to gain deeper insights into the company's values and how they are manifested in its practices, helping you determine if it's the right fit for you.

Before your interview, make sure to come prepared with thoughtful questions and scenarios to discuss with your interviewer. This shows your genuine interest and helps you understand if the company's culture aligns with your values. Ask about their core values, approach to collaboration and innovation, conflict resolution methods, performance evaluation, and how they adapt to change. This will not only help you gauge if it's a good fit but also demonstrate your research and engagement.

Asking questions about the company during an interview not only shows your genuine interest but also helps you gather important information to make an informed decision about the job and the organization. Some relevant topics to ask about are: ➼ Company culture ➼ Team dynamics ➼ Role expectations ➼ Career development ➼ Performance evaluation Inquiring about these topics will help you make a more informed decision and ultimately help you succeed in your career and job search!

Trust Your Gut: During the interview process, pay attention to your instincts and how you feel about the interactions you have with company representatives. Sometimes, your intuition can give you valuable insights into whether the company's culture aligns with your values.

Antes de considerar as empresas, é importante que você entenda o que faz sentido para você! Quais são os valores que você acha essencial que a empresa tenha; Quais são os segmentos que você tem interesse e quais são tem interesse em atuar; O que você busca de cultura em uma empresa; Quais são os passos que você quer seguir na sua carreira e o que a empresa precisa ter para que você alcance. Ou seja, o autoconhecimento é essencial para ter sucesso na identificação da cultura e valores da empresa, pois fazendo essa reflexão você conseguirá identifica-los de maneira mais assertiva.

In the end it won't be either one or the other approach. It's the mix of all mentioned steps. The biggest mistake could be to place all decisions on only a few voices, especially if the persons are not happy in their job. Ideally you prepare first all of your questions, make concrete assumptions and then formulate questions based on the assumptions withouth influencing the persons you speak to, too much. Be open minded. It'll be most probably only during the trial period that you really feel the match in values and culture. Be brave, if they don't align, that's what a trial period is also there for. Quit and start your search again.