Getting to Know Your Employer Accelerated Learning Resources

Getting to Know Your Employer

By Diane Borhani

Life is all about building relationships. So, too, is a career—any career. So why does the recruiting process often consist of one or two on-campus interviews and maybe a half day on site at a company’s offices? You meet a handful of the people you might be working with, and chances are you’re nervous and self-conscious. How is anyone supposed to build a relationship out of that?

Believe me, that paradigm is as frustrating for potential employers as it is for the potentially employed. So we’ve been experimenting with the recruiting process, thinking outside the interview room. Instead of just telling students what Deloitte’s values are, we’re giving prospects a chance to live those values with us, to see who we really are. And yes, we get to see who the prospects really are as well, so when we make an offer we have a high level of confidence that this is someone who will grow and thrive at Deloitte for the long term.

Thats why we offer interested students an opportunity to take an “Alternative Spring Break” that we call Maximum Impact. Instead of partying on a beach, students can spend a week volunteering, from rebuilding a hurricane-damaged community in 2008 to helping out inner-city kids this past spring.

When we went from 644 applications the first year to a total of 1,415 this time for roughly 85 spots, we knew we had identified a real need in the college community. These young people work for a week alongside Deloitte professionals, coaching young people through the college application process, tutoring middle-school students in math and renovating schools. Though this is far from the typical project setting at Deloitte, we get to see who the students are as people, how they interact with others and how they work together. It gives everyone a chance to really get to know each other. The past four spring breaks have brought Deloitte dozens of satisfied new hires, with dozens more in the pipeline, and they’ve given students an opportunity to make a real difference in communities that need their skills.

One student who participated in the initial program—and who is now in her first year with Deloitte as a tax consultant—told us, “I constantly hear companies talk about their commitment to the community, but with Deloitte, I saw and I participated.”

That’s the real message of Maximum Impact: For the best fit, build a relationship with your potential employer.

Now, it’s not always possible to go off on a weeklong community-service project together. But do the best you can to use every interaction with an employee of your target company—whether it’s a recruiter or a professional working in the area you’re considering—to get to know the company, its people, its priorities and its values.

If you have the opportunity to visit the company’s offices, pay attention to the way employees interact with one another: Is each person treated with respect, regardless of his or her job title? Check the walls for posters advertising upcoming community-involvement projects: Do they give employees the opportunity to do hands-on work, or are they just feel-good/look-good projects? How progressive is the company when it comes to diversity? Does the culture feel inclusive of women, men, and different races and nationalities? Are there others in positions of authority who look like you?

You can also do some of this research remotely, even before you set foot in the interview room. Check the company’s website to see how closely the rhetoric you’ve been hearing matches the reality of the company’s operations. Make a list of the things you care most about finding in an employer and see how well each company you’re interested in stacks up against them. Don’t just rely on the company’s website, either. Do a thorough search of the Internet and the news media in this country and abroad (even if you’re not thinking about working overseas, it’s a good reality check to see how your target company is viewed in other markets). Arm yourself with questions to ask your interviewer, to clarify anything you may have concerns about or to delve deeper into one or two areas that are important to you.

Students receive a lot of messages from potential employers. It’s sometimes hard to sort through the hype and the talk to find the reality that lies beneath. That’s why programs like Maximum Impact that give students a longer exposure to an organization and its people and see its culture in action work so well for everyone involved.

So don’t just look for a firm to interview you; look to build a relationship. Because, ideally, both you and your future employer are in this for the long term.

Editors note: This post has been modified since it was first published on Hire Education.

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