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There’s a tremendous amount of pressure on someone when it comes to choosing the “right” company to work for.     

After all, no one wants to go straight from the frying pan into the fire do they?

But in reality, how do you ever know until you start working somewhere? It’s highly unlikely during your interview process, the panel take you to one side and whisper “run while you still can!!!”

Of course you can use employee feedback websites (accuracy is questionable), Google or the good old rumour mill of ex employee’s…. but for us, the jurys out on whether that that helps you make an informed decision.

Recently though, we’ve been chatting to candidates who have interviewed at companies where BEFORE the initial interview takes place, they get the opportunity to talk to a member of the team they’d be working with.

NOT someone who is part of the interview process.

NOT someone who’d be directly managing them.

But an equal, another team member for a completely off the record, no holds barred chat about:

Whether the role is accurately represented by the job spec

If the company’s claimed values and ethos actually transpires in real life

The realities of the challenges the role presents

What a “day in the life of” might look like

And according to those candidates, it’s been incredibly beneficial in determining whether they actually want to proceed to interview stage.

Is it risky on the businesses part?

Could they lose great people because of something a disgruntled employee might say?

We believe that any company who is confident enough to offer this as part of an interview process must be pretty convinced they’re a good place to work.

They must also be committed to making sure they’re a right match for every potential employee, offering them the chance to really find out what it’s like to work there with an “all cards on the table” approach.

And hopefully, they don’t hold that employee accountable should the prospective candidate choose to walk away…

For any candidate offered the chance to do this we’d say go for it but just bear in mind a couple of key points:

The person you’re chatting to IS NOT YOU. They don’t have your life, your commitments, your personality. So still, whilst they may wax lyrical (or not) about the company and the role, it’s still got to be a decision that YOU are happy with. Not everyone is able to separate personal opinions from facts…

Avoid questions that could be seen as too personal – ie probing about their salary. If the information is offered, then they’re happy to discuss it, if not, leave that for the interview.

People thrive in different environments. And the person you’re talking to may feel somewhat pressured to give you a more biased opinion in the hope you’ll take the job.

So yes, use this as PART of your decision making process but don’t make it the sole factor.

Trust your own judgement, think how you’ve been treated through the entire interview process and gather as much of a whole picture as you can before you make your decision.