There is an amazing professor at Wharton named Adam Grant who is the youngest tenured professor ever. More about him later.
He spends an incredible amount of time advising his students. He wrote this in response to a question a student of his asked him about deciding where to work. The one question is “How is this company different than all others?”
The 3 things he talks about are:
- Justice: is this a fair place?
- Security: Is it safe to work here?
- Control: Can I shape my destiny and have influence in this organization?
The questions to interview people are pretty standard, but these questions are interviewing the organization. It’s easy to get focused on getting the offer, but you also need to assess the organization. These factors are going to affect our experiences more than anything else…whether you stay or go, they are worth asking.