Interviewing: How to position a company that is terrible to work for?

Question

My current company (<50 person SF-based startup, good VCs/investors) is a nightmare to work for. No product direction, completely absent CEO, passive aggressive in-fighting among leadership, not an enterprise grade product, the list goes on.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to work for a company that was a total mess.

The question, how did you position this in your interviews when looking for your next job?

Accepted Answer

I’ve interviewed hundreds of salespeople in the past few years, and my advice would be to focus less on the negatives of your current company/role and more on what you are looking for in your next role.

A simple, “My current role has taught me quite a bit, but I’m looking for a new opportunity that can provide x,y,z” will go a long way.

Answer

My first sales job was with a company that was notoriously hard work, in the sense it was very 'old school', you weren't allowed a chair until you had done X amount of deals, management had no idea what they were doing, heavy drink and drug culture during office hours etc. But honestly, it put me in great stead for my career, shows I'm resilient, adaptable, definitely gave me a thick skin and made me speak up a lot more so I wouldn't get lost in the crowd. So have a think on how the negatives have had a positive impact on who you are, how you work and what strengths it's heightened! :)

Answer

I said something like "I’m looking for XYZ and I’m not getting that right now.” Emphasize on what you are looking for and keep it brief about you don’t have that right now.

Answer

Unfortunately this happens all the time. That said if you get asked why you want to leave hype up the company you want to go to that’s asking that question. In my next role I’m looking for a solid product along with a great leadership team. Is that what you have company I’m interviewing with

Answer

I told a story about my last company that went a little something like this:

breakfasttaco

Interviewing: How to position a company that is terrible to work for?

10 comments

breakfasttaco

Interviewing: How to position a company that is terrible to work for?

10 comments

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