Why a Job Seeker Should Always Look at How a Company’s Employees Interact

If you’re a job applicant, it’s easy to forget that the hiring process is a two-way street. Companies are evaluating you, but you’re also evaluating them—probably on salary, benefits, commute and the like. You should also look at how the company’s employees interact with one another because finding the right fit goes a long way toward your satisfaction and productivity. It’s unlikely you’ll have free run of the place to make notes on employee interactions, but even limited information from interviews will tell you a lot.

Are your interviewers respectful to each other or one another?

Regardless of if you have a panel interview, multiple interviews or small-group interviews, you can get a feel of how employees treat one another. For instance, do they interrupt constantly during panel interviews or talk over one another? Are eye rolling and snide comments common in a series of one-on-one or small-group interviews? What do managers or supervisors say about employees, and what is their body language like? A person who freely gossips about the manager might be prone to gossip about you as well.

Who speaks when and how?

You’ll get a sense of hierarchies by how your interviewers proceed through interviews. For example, who sits where, who speaks first, who speaks how often, who people defer to, who might abruptly end communication and so on. Depending on your preferences, you might be more comfortable in a role where you clearly follow and defer to someone, or you may want an atmosphere that is more peer to peer. Your interviews can help tell you the tone of a place.

How do the interviewers treat you?

The way in which interviewers treat you is often indicative of how they treat others. For example, an interviewer who criticizes many things (people, situations and the like) and who focuses only on your past mistakes without seeming interested in your successes may be difficult to work for.

Image Source : John Benson