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So recently ive been applying for new i.t. jobs. One tech company that wants to hire me and is expirencing explosive growth proudly during multiple interviews proclaims its office drinking policy which makes mad men look like a Mormon church. Even the door man think they crazy and says the college campus inside the skyscraper is the only sober floor. I sat down with him and watched people bring brown bag liqour into the office.....friday keggers too.
For a large company, the hiring policy seems to be hottie women straight out of college in sales and support with high turn over; tech guys like me in the back making the real money along with the execs. Its brotastic to say the least!
I especially like the comment that the most succesful companies drink!
Should i be worried? Most of the other tech companies ive interviewed with just look like a stereotypical tech company WITH AWESOME desks and tons of dudes.
1) How well would you fit in at this company? I'm not prying - how much a person drinks is their own business provided nobody else is harmed - but other than the valid concern you raise about the drinking, do you feel you'd fit in otherwise? From what I can tell, the whole company's culture leaves you unsure of what to do, and if you feel that you'd never be comfortable there, than taking the job - unless you truly need work - may not be the best idea.
2) How is the company doing from a business perspective? Plenty of start-ups back in the 1990's had crazy, fun corporate cultures with parties, drinking, and games... and most of them are long out of business now. Is this a long-lived company that just has an odd, party mindset that seems to be working for it, or is a younger company that is the next "hot thing" but hasn't yet proven itself? Or, perhaps there's the 3rd option - is this corporate culture a new thing? Is this an older company that's been doing well that is now under new management, and they've decided to shake things up? Long story short - is this party atmosphere harming the company or not from what you can tell?
3) What do you want out of this job? Do you just need a paycheck? Then take the job, put up with the oddness, and get what you can from it? Are you looking for a long-term career move? If so, this may not be the place for you. You might not fit in, and, more importantly, if the place is run too loosely, it might not be around in the future.
One final point is that companies with dysfunctional cultures can still live for a long time. My most recent employer was a small, local machine shop. Based upon conversations with the other employees, the place has been dysfunctional for well over 10 years (it was in business for 30 before hitting the wall), and things had only gotten worse as the years wore on. Management was increasingly hateful and insane, customers were less and less happy with the place, the workers hated each other more and more... eventually, the combination of reductions in DoD spending and a series of truly horrible management mistakes killed the place. The end result is not surprising, but the number of years through which the place lingered as a completely dysfunctional small business was shocking.
I think a lot of companies in sales want an attractive face. I know in my job function everytime I had a company call and want to come in to sell me some equipment I needed, I would just assume that the sales team would include an attractive women as well. And most of the time, i was right.
Of course, how beautiful a woman was didn't really influence my need for a $300K peice of capital much, but as a single, 30-something year old male, I didn't mind
As for alcohol...we don't drink at he office in my company, and it's a large, global tech company
I think a lot of companies in sales want an attractive face. I know in my job function everytime I had a company call and want to come in to sell me some equipment I needed, I would just assume that the sales team would include an attractive women as well. And most of the time, i was right.
Of course, how beautiful a woman was didn't really influence my need for a $300K peice of capital much, but as a single, 30-something year old male, I didn't mind
As for alcohol...we don't drink at he office in my company, and it's a large, global tech company
The type of sales they do is rarely face to face. I got the impression theyre all about fun and conviently bring the girls to you with office keggers.
Salary is lower than average for the role....i suspect the women and alcohol was an incentive.
I have never worked at a company, nor known of one, where office drinking was tolerated, much less part of the corporate culture. You are looking at an odd duck.
I have never worked at a company, nor known of one, where office drinking was tolerated, much less part of the corporate culture. You are looking at an odd duck.
I talked to a delivery food guy, he said its more common among media and tech companies. I was an artist before and can believe it....big corporate environments? IDK....from what the doorman tells men, a lot of hooking up since there are a ton ofyoung guys working phones.
I have never worked at a company, nor known of one, where office drinking was tolerated, much less part of the corporate culture. You are looking at an odd duck.
1) How well would you fit in at this company? I'm not prying - how much a person drinks is their own business provided nobody else is harmed - but other than the valid concern you raise about the drinking, do you feel you'd fit in otherwise? From what I can tell, the whole company's culture leaves you unsure of what to do, and if you feel that you'd never be comfortable there, than taking the job - unless you truly need work - may not be the best idea.
2) How is the company doing from a business perspective? Plenty of start-ups back in the 1990's had crazy, fun corporate cultures with parties, drinking, and games... and most of them are long out of business now. Is this a long-lived company that just has an odd, party mindset that seems to be working for it, or is a younger company that is the next "hot thing" but hasn't yet proven itself? Or, perhaps there's the 3rd option - is this corporate culture a new thing? Is this an older company that's been doing well that is now under new management, and they've decided to shake things up? Long story short - is this party atmosphere harming the company or not from what you can tell?
3) What do you want out of this job? Do you just need a paycheck? Then take the job, put up with the oddness, and get what you can from it? Are you looking for a long-term career move? If so, this may not be the place for you. You might not fit in, and, more importantly, if the place is run too loosely, it might not be around in the future.
One final point is that companies with dysfunctional cultures can still live for a long time. My most recent employer was a small, local machine shop. Based upon conversations with the other employees, the place has been dysfunctional for well over 10 years (it was in business for 30 before hitting the wall), and things had only gotten worse as the years wore on. Management was increasingly hateful and insane, customers were less and less happy with the place, the workers hated each other more and more... eventually, the combination of reductions in DoD spending and a series of truly horrible management mistakes killed the place. The end result is not surprising, but the number of years through which the place lingered as a completely dysfunctional small business was shocking.
Good luck.
1. I like it.....im young lol
2. Surprisingly excellent....company has explosive growth for a decade and the regulars love the environment. The sales and support team probablythink different but those jobs have high turn over everywhere.
3. Job isnt my top choice but it hiring me the fastest.
The sales and support team....they make phone calls and bring beers to keggers. Its a call center...,aside from a few superstar salesman, majority will be gone in a few months. Nature of the industry.
1. I like it.....im young lol
2. Surprisingly excellent....company has explosive growth for a decade and the regulars love the environment. The sales and support team probablythink different but those jobs have high turn over everywhere.
3. Job isnt my top choice but it hiring me the fastest.
If it works, it works.
Companies can have very odd cultures, but if everyone is on-board, than it can still work out.
As a guy in my 30's, while I haven't experienced much in the way of strange company cultures, I've heard plenty of stories about how strange places used to be... and we're talking big names (think of the big, well-known DoD contractors, for instance.) And yet, while that was all a good number of decades ago, things still worked out. I'm not advocating drinking on the job or so forth, but even strange things like that can work if it is not illegal, if nobody is at risk of injury, and if the work still gets done properly.
Good luck.
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Its brotastic to say the least!
