Criteria to select the best fit company for u?

Question

I'm wondering what are the criteria that u, guys & gals, use to select the company u want to be in.

I think that there are several ways to see this thing and I hope to have your ideas on it.... which will be greatly appreciated...

Thanks everyone ! :D

pelihu · Answer

I think there are many important factors. I don't have a strict breakdown of which is most important, but I'll be considering the following:

Location
Pay
Long term opportunities
Exit opportunities
Type of Work
Work Environment
Stress Level
Hours
Travel

Personally, location is very important. I'd much prefer to return to the West Coast after school, but I'm equally fine with SF or LA. Location factors into pay (lower than NY) hours and stress level (both better than NY).

I can imagine working long hours; I've done it before and I'm OK with it. I think I'd have a lot tougher time being on the road 4-5 days a week. I also wouldn't want a long daily commute either. Downtown SF is a great place to live so a job in downtown SF would allow for a lot of nice places to live nearby. Downtown LA sucks, but the West Side is nice. Many MBA employers are around Beverly Hills & Century City which works pretty well.

squali83 · Answer

For me the work I will be doing is the most important factor. I have worked in a sector I hated and will never go back to a job like that, even for extreme comp. After that it is lifestyle then money. I am still in search of the job for me, I have been reading and I am almost sold on working 85 hours a weeks as long as I do not travel. So, I think I-banking is for me.

lepium · Answer

I recently finished the CareerLeader tests which HBS requires all students to take before registration. After navigating a long set of questions which made me choose which factor between two was most important to me (eg: opportunities for extraordinary compensation vs. work/life balance, recognition vs. managing people, etc.) I was shown to a screen where I had to choose yes or no answers to the following question: 

is   an important factor to you in your job?

I ended up answering yes to all questions. I guess I either have very big hopes on the options I'll get coming out from B-school or the extent to which those factors are important to me are less than what the market provides (eg: compensation is important to me but I'd be happy with 100+k, so I won't have very narrow prospects).

To conclude: all factors are important to me. The extent to which I will be willing to compromise some to get others, I'll have to figure out while at B-school.

L.

riverripper · Answer

I would say top would be career satisfaction. If you love what you do then working 60+ hours a week at it is a lot easier to take than working 40 hours a week doing something you hate. I have figured out money isnt everything and coming out of any top school you are pretty much going to make a very comfortable living...so for me its not about making millions a year. There are enough people I know who work to afford their house, cars, kids private schooling, and all sorts of other luxuries but in the end they can't enjoy those since they slave away at a job they hate to afford their BMW M5 and McMansion. To many people see a big paycheck as a sign of success, I would much rather have a happy home life.

I would base satisfaction on:
The job I would do, is it interesting, challenging, doing something positive I can feel good about...
The hours and location I would work...no 90 hr weeks and traveling for months.
Growth potential, as much as you can love a job you probably wont want to do the exact same thing for the next 25 years.
Compensation package, salary/bonus, vacation time, health insurance, a total view of what they provide.
Oh and not having to wake up at 430 am like I do at my current job...I hate mornings. A nice 8-9am start might be nice.

bsd_lover · Answer

As I have mentioned before, career aim is to be a trader. Since I would already be displaced from home, location wont matter . Having said that, almost all key IBs and Hedge Funds operate in and around NYC, I will most likely end up there. 

Pay does matter to a certain degree (Graduate degrees don't pay for themselves you know), however not the be all and end all for me since I realize that I am a baby in the woods in my first 2-3 years at the job.

What I would really really appreciate is a place where I can find a suitable mentor to learn the dark arts from.

vikramjit_01 · Answer

That's easy! I'll go for the one that offers me an Audi Quattro :wink:

To the baffled - The art and science of making a selection this way is called Figonomics :-D

In case Figonomics can't be applied (ie no company's offering an Audi), go for the company that allows you the maximum free time that you could spend with your family.

paddyboy · Answer

Ha ha... but you've forgotten about the moolah! In my book - Type of work (The greater the variety the better) Pay (and perks :lol:

) Work Atmosphere (Yes, more important than work pressure) Work Pressure Travel (Love loads of travelling) Location (Not that important now, but at some time in the future it will be)

Fig · Answer

... I was not aware of such a science

... and, one of the best place to have a greater chance to drive everyday an audi as your company car is at Luxemboug... The first sold brand there and for sure because of the compagnies' addiction to it

More seriously, I'm willing to create a methodology serving to analyse a company with a banch of criteria both subjective and objective... Ideally, it would help me to focus my energy on the ones that are the most attractive

.... and so, to go behind an intuition or said things about a company

Criteria to select the best fit company for u?

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