Cubicles. Supposedly a work station. In this “work station” you are supposed to come up with bright ideas and evoke revolutionary thinking. This revolutionary thinking is supposed to come when the most entertaining thing in your “work station” is facebook. It gets boring pretty quick. Besides the obvious ways to make your “work station” less boring (i.e. pictures of family, a desk garden, or a bobblehead of some famous basketball player you don’t know) there are several ways you can make sure you are not put in the situation of trying to make a square box look interesting.
A desk garde in case you thought I made it up.
It all happens in the interview. You are sitting there, getting grilled with questions you may not even know about yourself. You let the interviewer ask you questions and then the interview is coming to a close and he or she asks, “Do you have any questions for me?” You sit there perplexed and say, “no” The interview ends and you two part ways.
Two weeks later you get the call that you got the job. You are very excited and jump for joy. You show up to work on the first day and find out you have a cubicle for a desk. You think to yourself, “don’t worry, everything will be ok.” Then two weeks later you are bored out of your mind and find yourself caring that your neighbor is painting her toe nails right now and blabbing about it on Facebook.
This could be you, if you don’t take the right precautions. There are certain precautions you should take when interviewing with a company. The first precaution is: make sure you would like to work for the company by viewing their website. Get a feel for the company. Are they interested in the same things you are interested in? What are the pictures on their website of?
After you have researched the company, you should prepare some questions you may have for the employer that you came across in your research. These questions should include the working environment, what a typical day would like like for your position and what are the people like that you would be working with.
You are now ready for your interview. During the interview feel free to jot down any additional questions you may have for the employer. Don’t be afraid to ask questions during the interview as well. When the interview is coming to a close, be prepared for when they ask you if you have any questions. Here is where you should make sure you find out the information that matters to you. Through these questions you should be able to formulate whether you feel this position would be a great fit for you.
Time after the interview should be taken to evaluate whether you would like to work for this company. You should consider this very heavily because your needs are also important. After all, if you are not really interested in the job and your work habits show because of it, the employer may not want you either. This way you will be ready with whatever the employer decides.
Using these techniques could help you avoid a cubicle, or if you want to work in a cubicle, the outdoors. The interview is not just for the employer, but rather for you as well to decide if a job is the best fit for you. Use these tips next time in evaluating your job or internship decisions.
