How do you tell if a job is a good fit before working there? | INFJ Forum

How do you tell if a job is a good fit before working there?

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Jan 31, 2011
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The main question of interest is the one in the title: As you go through the application/interview process, what signals do you use to determine if the job is a good fit for you?

I have already signed a job offer to begin at a company in the fall, but in the meantime I have been doing interviews here and there just to get practice explaining my skillset, understand what people need from someone with my job title, and get an accurate read on my "market value." (This way of putting myself out there doesn't come naturally to me, but after studying the economics of job markets, I came to realize that a big cause of people staying in a bad job is risk aversion/inadequately exploring the pool of potential other jobs they could pivot to.)

Last night (time zones), I interviewed with a tech startup that was looking for someone with basically my exact profile, although perhaps a little more experience. I'm not sure if I will get a job offer from them—I would put the odds at 30 or 40%—but as an intellectual exercise, I'm trying to imagine what factors would motivate me to accept a job offer if one came through and I weren't already committed to the other company.

From speaking with the interviewer, my overall sense is that this company's success plan is to invest upfront in hiring a lot of people with shiny credentials from famous universities, and then see what those people build and try to monetize it down the line. They have a specific technology that they want to center this around, but the technology is very much conceptual, and they don't appear to have delivered much in the way of actual products to customers.

The company isn't, like, a hologram—they have raised lots of investor capital, and just like any tech startup, there is a small chance that they will burst through and start making real money in the short term. So if (unlike me) you like high-risk, high-reward opportunities, it might be appealing to hitch your horse to a company like this, grab some stock options, and enjoy the ride.

But I haven't spent enough time researching a variety of startups to know whether this company is more or less promising than others. Like, I want to criticize them for flexing the credentials of their employees rather than the fundamentals of their product in their marketing materials, but maybe this is just par for the course in Silicon Valley (not their actual location), and it's unfair of me to dock them points if this is an expected practice for a young startup?

On the other hand, while I'm not a marketing genius, I think that if I were applying for a company like Dropbox in 2009 (before it took off), I would have been able to see the innate value of such a product for everyday people, whereas this company's current set of offerings is much more ... hypothetical. But then again, hindsight is 20/20?

Anyway, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts not just on this particular idea of working for an established company vs. a startup and, in the latter case, how you assess its growth potential, but also on the larger question of how you extract information about the quality of the job from the interview process.
 
I would want to know what the CEO's track record and history was, and how that relates to these hypothetical benefits being delivered successfully.

Startups are always a gamble.
It's best to look at the job from the perspective of your own potential for growth.
 
I'm running on the intuitive end of the spectrum during job applications. As far as my experience would tell, I've mostly followed the opportunity whenever it arises. I haven't counted salary size so much in this equation. I tend to believe that when my gut is right, i'm on the right path. What I have been careful about though is whether or not the job offer would be aligned with my passions. If I can cull out some fulfillment from the job, I hardly ever decline. As long as it covers my bills and some savings, I'm usually good to go.
 
I don't have much experience with this. If management connects well with me during my interview, the job requirements aren't crossing any lines, and my bank account says its green then that's enough for me.
At an earlier age I'd have avoided high-risk setup too, given a chance. But now that time's passed, it's more appealing to me.
If something looks like it could contribute to my long-term goals that's great too, though the best contribution most jobs can give me is better income without wrecking my health.
 
I don't live in a reality where turning down a well-paying job (especially with benefits) would be a choice if they offered me the position. I don't see that reality for most other people these days, either, unless they are senior staff in a specific field and have a lifetime of experience without the danger of being in the "retirement years" zone.
 
I don't live in a reality where turning down a well-paying job (especially with benefits) would be a choice if they offered me the position. I don't see that reality for most other people these days, either, unless they are senior staff in a specific field and have a lifetime of experience without the danger of being in the "retirement years" zone.
That's a good point, and I appreciate the reminder. This wasn't my situation either until recently, and the fact that I have some wriggle here is more attributable to the luck of having chosen a specific field at a specific time than any specific character trait of mine.
 
It is a given that most jobs are going to be crap regardless of type of work and income class usually due to poor management and office politics. If all else just dive in to give it a shot and if it sucks too much then move on so even if things were decent having options is a life safer especially in the Biden era economy.