A couple of months ago, I got contacted by a top notch recruiting firm for what I still believe would have been my dream job. I’m not looking for anything new but this time, things were different.
The job description seemed to have been written for me. A large corporation was looking for a doer with an important startup experience and mindset to take over their infrastructure. They wanted someone who could bring their old school IT and outdated methodologies to the first century, worldwide. I would have free hands, almost unlimited budget and a large team to achieve my mission. Needless to say there were enough challenges to keep me out of my comfort zone for years. And I would double my salary.
I started the usual interview process meeting the recruiter. We spent 2 hours talking about myself, the position and the company. The more I was speaking, the more convinced she was I was the person for the job. The more she explained about the company and the position, the more doubts I had. There were little to no technical challenges, and I was not sure I would fit in a large company, but there were enough opportunities so I decided to go ahead anyway.
The following weeks, I met 3 execs from the company. Every meeting was challenging. I met smart people who mastered the arcanes of the corporate world. They all had a different view on the job I was applying for. That’s how I saw the first red flags. I was applying for a key position in the company, and there seemed to be a subtle political game around me, every people trying to shape the job and my opinion according to their own corporate interests.
I ended the process meeting the group number 2. She was a smart woman full of energy. I was thrilled to meet her. I had spent the past 2 nights on-call fixing broken stuff and I felt I was at 10%. It was the worst job interview I can remember of, but I learnt everything I needed to.
Being the one hiring me, she told me what the role was about. And she told me about the company culture. She told me how I would have to deal with powerful unions every time I’d want to move something. She told me how it took her months of negotiation to set up a 7AM / 9PM help desk. She told me how political the company was. She told me that “move fast” was not something I should think about, hence “break things”. She told me the truth about the company’s culture, realpolitik beyond the job description.
I left her office and went to the courtyard to smoke a cigarette and think about everything she told me. I realize I’d exhaust myself trying to fit the company’s culture. Heartbroken, I called the recruiter to tell her I’d refuse my dream job because it was not my dream company.
Photo Stefanos Papachristou.
I Refused my Dream Job because of the Company’s Culture was originally published in Fred Thoughts on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
April 15, 2017 at 09:16PM
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