the crew all worked together as a team and made the environment peaceful

That they believe in there workers

Hey Jobcasers,

This is a post that I think will be of use to both the employers and the employment opportunity seekers of Jobcase, because I want to go into probably the most fundamental mistake we make when it comes to hiring: Caring more about the Resume than the Person.

Now, if you're like me, your resume holds a special place on your hard drive and sometimes, late at night, you open it up just to look at it and smile (okay, so maybe I'm a little more excited about resumes than most), but the matter of the fact is that as beautiful as your resume may or may not be, it's not the most important thing when hiring. Some would say your credentials are or your experience, but I don't think those things are sufficient reason to hire someone. I'd argue they're necessary, but not sufficient. There's one other thing that's necessary to being a good hire that I think a lot of companies overlook: Fit.

Imagine you have two candidates in front of you for the CFO position at your startup, XYZ Company.

One is a Harvard-educated MAcc/CPA with five years experience as a Controller for F500 companies.

The other is a State School grad with his CPA and a few years as a Staff Accountant at a small business.

On paper, the Harvard grad is a no brainer. He's got an advanced degree from an Ivy League school, he's got experience in senior accounting positions at F500 companies, he's really everything you could ask for. The State School grad simply can't compare on paper; it's a harsh reality, but it's true.

So when we bring them both in for interview, we're already looking for a reason to bring in the Harvard Accountant, because he's the much stronger candidate, but he's stiff. He's used to playing the Big Leagues and while he does see this as an opportunity to advance his career, he's not really enthusiastic about XYZ Company.

Then we have our State School grad who is enthusiastic, he's excited, he's actually been tracking XYZ's progress since they first launched, because he loves your product line and not just that, he loves the fact that you guys do pizza parties and go out for beers after a long week of grinding.

Still a no brainer about who to choose? I think so; I think the State School grad is the clear choice and here's why.

I. He's actually interested in what you do and cares about it; the Harvard Grad is only interested in moving to the C Suite (even if it is in a small company).

II. He gets your company culture: he wants to be a part of it and be there for pizza parties and bar trips. The Harvard Grad is stiff and doesn't really fit in with your XYZ's values.

III. He's got relevant experience. This may be the most controversial point, but being the Controller/CFO of a startup is a different ball of wax than being the Controller/CFO of a F500 company. He's used to dealing with small businesses and likely knows how to get ahead in this kind of environment. Does the Harvard Grad whose entire career has been spent in F500 companies know the challenges that a small business like XYZ faces?

We need to focus less on hiring for raw qualifications and more on hiring for fit, because employees who buy in to our Why, are a lot more willing to invest themselves into what we're doing over someone who is just in it because "I needed a job" or "It's an okay career move."

Does this mean we shouldn't care about qualifications?

No.

If you're hiring a CFO without a CPA, I'm a little concerned about your infrastructure, but that's your prerogative, but I do think regardless of who you hire, you need to remember that this is someone who will ideally be with you for at least 3-5 years. Think about that when you're determining who gets the offer, because there is time, money, and effort expended on every hire that may not be recouped if your new hire leaves after six months because "I just don't feel like I belong here."

And to those on the other side of the Offer, think carefully about this company's values align with yours.

If you're a live and let live, free spirit kind of person, is the 9 - 5 with strict dress code and grooming policy right for you?

What about if you're a firm believer in everything having a right and wrong way to be done? Does the company that prides itself on "Creativity, Inspiration, Innovation" feel like it aligns with your core values?

I'm not saying you should or should not take any job offer with any company; I'm saying that when you take an offer, you are joining somebody's family. Think about that carefully and ask yourself if you can deal with all the baggage attached to the family you're about to join.

Thanks for reading,

Gage Cherry

All jobs can be stressful, but I've found that teamwork, encouragement, and a positive environment helps tremendously. It can make a stressful job enjoyable! Toxic, passive-aggressive work culture results in less happy workers and less work being done right. When employees have a healthy environment to thrive, they will indeed thrive. Not only for themselves, but for the entire business. Unhealthy work environments are draining, and people are less likely to care or try out of frustration. Work doesn't have to be draining, it can be empowering. That's what I look for in a work place.

Well my name is Shawnna Running Shield. I am a very hard, dependable, dedicated, out going, easy to get along with, a real go getter. At the end of my shift each day I love leaving my place of employment, satisfied, and very happy knowing my customers, boss, supervisor, and company are proud to say I'm there employee, friend, aquaintance, or LOGO.

Hhhh I went and weld tested yesterday,welded great got good feedback.but didn't get the job because of a cultural gap.wtf does that even mean.

follow all the rules, collaborative, clean, friendly!

Horrible place to work ... Storage is very old the district manager overdosed and was found dead staff in corporate office kept it a secret only told ppl who they felt mattered it’s family owned so it’s their way or NO way and if Janine feels you can do her job better than her she will manipulate your work turn over rate is high

I don't believe people leave bad jobs but rather bad bosses and owners. It's been my experience that in order to run a business successfully you not only have to have a great team of employees but a great boss and/or owner that truly appreciated their employees. For without this people who can be amazing assets are pushed away and told they are not good enough, or that they can never succeed in life because they are not worth it, these people are never going to know their worth and will eventually believe the lie because they have been so broken they no longer believe in themselves.

I don’t recall how I joined this site and forum. I started passively searching for new career opportunities while still working with my current employer so i haven’t been actively using this site and forum - but I have been seeing the email notifications come through and reading how so many are suffering in their situations. I thought I would share some words for comfort / wisdom / support / advice - you can choose.

We watch a lot of super hero movies these days and they are really fun to watch but I wonder how many people realize the super powers we have as humans. First of all, we make those movies lol. A lot of people doing different things, working together, make the movies we watch and admire while wishing we had super powers.

Check this - our brains are such crazy powerful tools that we can close our eyes and think about something and our bodies physically react to the images in our our mind - you can spark your own anxiety, fears, happy tingles, love, sadness, and relaxed states just by thinking and projecting images in your own brain - that’s actually crazy if you think about it.

So who is to say you can’t spark your own feelings of confidence, success, and motivation?

Here is my story which I hope will spark some motivation (because reading in general helps you put these images of success in your brain - if you read the right things).

I am a male Hispanic born in a third world country which means I came into this earth and definitely into this country (USA) with disadvantages I personally had nothing to do with. However, i’m in my early 30’s and I’m well into a 6 figure salary and feel i’m only scratching the surface of my career. I didn’t stumble into this and nothing was handed to me.

My parents started their lives in the US as dishwashers at a restaurant. They patiently worked their days away earning enough to barely make it and studied their nights away learning english. They both eventually went through the arduous legal process, took an exam about US history I probably wouldn’t pass, and became citizens. I was around 12 at the time so as a minor I was naturalized and became a US citizen myself.

I never knew college was an option. The way my parents spoke to me about it since I was toddler made me think that it was the same as changing from elementary school to middle school or middle school to high school.

So I grew up up in a predominantly white city and state - I spent a lot of my youth mastering the art of fitting in which now looking back was really the building blocks of some very important skills like adaptability and strategizing. As a kid I never thought of people as black, white, Hispanic - I mean I knew I was Hispanic and my was still very connected with my family and culture but I didn’t see my path as affected by any of it. I saw people were doing things to win or get the next step and I was good at recognizing what things made someone a winner in the eyes of people who have the power to take you to the next level. And I adapted.

I am now as an adult choosing the steps in my career. Someone in an interview is asking me questions but I actually enjoy the process because I think of it as someone figuring out what I already know and it’s like a game. I haven’t done a whole lot of interviewing in my career but in the past If I’m thrown off by an interview and I consider it “bad” I wasn’t actually upset because I realized I didn’t consider the job long enough to realize it wasn’t for me and it showed.

JOBS ARE LOOKING FOR YOU. So treat it like it is. Stop obsessing over the search and what you lack and start obsessing over how you can present your best self on paper and interviews. You are package made up of a lot of skills, experience and value - work on being the best package in the aisle. Have people fight for you. Spark confidence every day in your head, it’s literslly a human super power.