What are you looking for in an Employer?

Happy New Year everybody!

As the world has reached 2023, there’s no time like the present to be thinking about your situation. Maybe you’re a student wondering what you should look for in an employer. Or you could not be and just fancied our opinion of what you should look for in an employer. If you’ve landed on this page for either of those reasons, you’re in luck!

Today we’re talking about some of the things which we think you should be considered when it comes to looking at some of the characteristics of what a “good” employer should have.

What might you look for in an employer?

Entering your chosen field and finding an employer can be overwhelming. When faced with a large number of choices, it is important to find somewhere that suits you. A healthy work environment that allows you to grow and encourages you can make all the difference in your attitude towards your career. So how do you know what to look for? The topics below are some good points to consider when evaluating employers to find your correct match.

A good website to utilise while researching is Glassdoor or LinkedIn’s job search, as it provides insights into companies that may have been previously overlooked.

Find an employer that agrees with your values  Every employer will have a different set of values and beliefs. These values may affect your work and its environment, so try to find a company with similar beliefs to yours! Most larger companies will include their core aims on their website which is an easy way to compare them to yours early on.

The importance of sharing values realistically is it helps you climb the ladder. As an employee of a company, one of your duties could be as simple to demonstrate company values like collaboration or giving back to the community. And for some where this may not be as important, it can make getting to the position that you want that much harder.

Thinking about employee retention

Something to look at when joining a company is how often people join and leave. For example, many people may leave a company in a short amount of time or may not spend very long at a company. Granted, there are many factors which can contribute towards someone leaving, but it may not hurt to ask what would cause this to happen and if you could be one of the people shortly leaving.

Additionally, with a platform like LinkedIn, you can see how long someone has spent at a company, their engagement with its brand, and more. This information can act as puzzle pieces to find out how your experience may be.

Furthermore, if you personally know an individual on the platform that has worked at a company you may be interested in, you can ask for their experience! Though it is advised that as someone’s experience is personal, they may not be comfortable sharing such information and it is not recommended to pester and respect their decision.

Ensure the employer values you

 You are a person as well as an employee and a good employer will recognise this. Your employer should value your time and skills no matter what point you are at in your career. This doesn’t necessarily mean being paid a six-figure salary in an entry-level job. However, your employer should ensure to listen to your opinions and treat you respectfully no matter what stage you are at.

This means that it’s good practice to consider if you’re being heard. Nobody is always 100% right, but that does not mean that a “lack of experience” means you’re always wrong. A good way to see if your voice is heard, you will get an explanation of why something may not be correct or if something isn’t taken into consideration. Remember, an answer shouldn’t ever be wrong “because it’s wrong”. With this, a good employer should treat you with the respect of explaining (potentially not instantly, but at a reasonable point in time).

Encourages personal development

These overlap with point 3 slightly, an employer that values you will encourage your personal development. Employers should push you to grow career-wise but also as an individual, including helping you develop attributes like soft skills. This could be done by encouraging further education, pushing for new opportunities, volunteering events and networking events.

At most companies, you should have regular (monthly, quarterly…) meetings to talk about your performance and personal development. These meetings would typically be in a formal place to talk about how well you’re doing, provide constructive feedback and talk about how you can grow to the level. If you find that you’re only getting the first two, you may be in a position where personal development isn’t a concern of your employer.

But why may an employer want you to stay in the same position? That can have a simple answer! It can keep you as a cheap resource. By not expanding your skillset, you can be stuck doing the same things and keep your value to the company the same, keeping your base salary the same. Though this may not be the only reason for a lack of personal development, there’s potential it is and understanding your value and your ambitions can help you stay happy in your career.

There are of course many other things to consider when applying for a job such as work-life balance, salary, and further opportunities but the points listed above serve as some good areas to consider when looking at employers. If you find yourself reading this and would like us to cover more points or would like to share your opinion on this post, please leave a comment, or email us at contact@projectpioneers.org and we’ll see what we can do!