On the eve of Valentine’s Day, we at InGame Job decided to talk about the love for work. After all, it’s wonderful to love what you do every day.
In this article, we will provide brief advice and confess our love to our partners.
Before submitting your CV for a job vacancy
If you find yourself at a crossroads and experiencing a professional crisis, it is often advised to recall who you wanted to become in childhood, around the age of 10. This question needs to be revisited periodically, especially if you feel that you are engaged in something that no longer motivates you. What activity brought you the most pleasure in childhood? What could you spend hours doing? Writing, drawing, solving math problems, sewing, organizing outdoor games, reading, inventing toy storage systems, chatting with friends? Anything at all. Write it down and compare it with the present: what have you ultimately become, are you currently doing any of these things?
Also, think about what problems you enjoy solving now. It may not be related to your professional activities. For example: “I love turning chaos into order,” or “I enjoy making the unclear understandable,” or “I like explaining things to others that they don’t understand.” Within your job, are you dealing with similar tasks that are enjoyable for you? If not, consider how you could adjust the desired range of tasks. When considering a new job, keep this in mind. Often, the job description can provide clues about whether the position is more about managing people or hands-on work, communications or in-depth research, process building or quantitative results. When communicating with a recruiter or hiring manager, clarify the specifics of your tasks, inquire about the proportion of different tasks, and discuss your expectations, outlining the desired direction of your career aspirations.
This is the starting point.
Define the terms
Determine the conditions in which you will be most comfortable working. When it comes to salary, consider it in conjunction with other conditions and bonuses. What is important to you? A flexible schedule, remote work format, or, on the contrary, a cool office in the city center? If you suffered from a long commute to and from the office in your previous job, got stuck in traffic, and didn’t get enough sleep in the mornings, consider offers that do not involve such conditions.
Evaluate the bonus and compensation system, sick leaves and vacation days, offered by the company. Highlight the points that are important to you. Weigh them against salary, project, and the overall volatile situation in the market. Something from the list will be critical in your choice, while something may not significantly impact the overall picture.
Define your core values
This needs to be done in order to find an employer with similar values. It is in such alignment that the happiest work stories unfold.
Our values and motives determine the choice of profession and career path. They may change over time as experience accumulates. If we do not align ourselves with them, it brings us discomfort (for example, a successful specialist who has reached a managerial position suddenly discovers themselves unhappy).
For some, it is important to help people; others feel comfortable in a team, while some value independence and personal recognition. Some feel that life is meaningful only when sharing their knowledge with others. Some values are obvious and surface-level, while others are hidden and require effort to recognize.
Remember, a successful career is not a sprint up the stairs. In this rush, your values are easily forgotten. As long as we habitually measure success only by job titles and salary levels, we will continue to talk about burnout and a loss of purpose for a significant number of professionals. Success is more multifaceted and means different things to different people. But if a formula is needed, here’s one option: success is a combination of factors such as income, health, work-life balance, a positive environment, personal development, education, love for what you do, and a sense of purpose in what you do.
Research the potential employer and look for a match
First and foremost, find out if everything is okay with the company. Read industry news: have there been recent layoffs, are investments and the product in good shape?
Research company reviews online (Glassdoor, Indeed, Boost InGame Job), check the news about the company. Talk to acquaintances who are current employees or ask for recommendations through recruiters in agencies (recruiters from agencies typically have a good understanding of the market and companies).
Check some red flags during the interview process
During the interview, pay attention to how the hiring managers communicate, what they say about their company, and how they speak about employees or a former employee in the role you’re applying for. We can’t guarantee that this will reflect the company atmosphere 100%, but it can give you food for thought.
Observe how both the recruiter and the hiring manager communicate with you, both in writing and during the interview. If you are criticized negatively during the interview or receive devaluing comments about your experience, it likely reflects the communication norms in the company.
If during the interview you sense that the company representatives are skeptical about values like work-life balance, it likely indicates a culture of overwork in the company more than their Company Mission description on the website..
Try to notice the condition of the interviewers themselves: are they openly tired and burnt out? Not a good sign.
Is it a stress interview? Run away if it’s not your thing.
Another red flag is a significant reduction in your financial expectations during salary negotiations or when the offer is presented.
Pay attention to manifestations of sexism; such attitudes often surface in spontaneous speech. If interviewers refer to colleagues as “girls” or express bias by stating that programming is a male profession, or if there’s a lack of diversity among managers, it’s a red flag.
We wish you to find your dream job and a team where you will be happy! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Also, we’re offering everyone a 40% discount promo code until the end of February 2024 on all InGame Job services – promo job listings, partner service packages, banner placements, and articles! Here it is – HAPPYVALENTINE. (For payment via invoice from your company’s account, contact katya@ingamejob.com.)
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