If you jump into a job without checking out what you’ll REALLY be doing, who you’ll be working WITH, who you’ll be working FOR, and all the other particulars of where you’ll be spending 8 or more hours a day, there’s a great chance you’ll regret it. I know it’s hard to find work. Sure, you’ve got to work, and you’ve got to survive. You have to support yourself, but a bad environment with negative, suspicious, or abusive co-workers and supervisors is going to drain your spirit.
You want a paycheck, but not with a load of negativity attached to it. You want to make a contribution, develop confidence, and master your position. You don’t want to get involved in office politics and interoffice drama, being forced to pick sides and wasting time on endless gossip.
Environment is also huge in your development.
Look for a company with character because working in a bad company can corrupt you. At the least, they can sour your enthusiasm. The right company culture will allow you to flourish. You’ll be encouraged to learn new things, try new things, and make yourself more valuable.
In the right environment people are emotionally stable, confident and generous. They’re focused on growing the company, and happy to have you making contributions that help. That gives you the chance to make profitable friendships and to be provoked and inspired by other motivated people.
You need mentors.
And they should be positive, not negative. You need people who can look out for your best interests. People who have already been down the road you are headed and can warn you of potholes, show the right paths to take, and introduce you to others who can help you.
You aren’t going to find that at a company staffed with neurotic complainers. Growing up, your environment and mentors were at home. Maybe there were others, but your parents had the main influence. They wanted you to do well. Ok, I get it, they weren’t perfect, and they didn’t always say the most encouraging things. In spite of that, most of you had a home base that gave you a place to be nurtured and receive some positive reinforcement – at least before your teenage years anyway. And on the other hand, if that wasn’t the case and your home life was full of negatives, it’s even more important to find a good business to work in.
Your new company is going to be like your new home.
