The Blog Post Litmus Test for Prospective Employers and Clients
I use a simple test with every prospective employer or client as an aid to determine their culture:
- Find a public article written by an interviewer (and potential colleague) at the prospective company
- Write a summary of the article and some additional insightful comments based on prior related experience
- Tell the interviewer her article was interesting and email the link to the new blog post
- Observe and gauge her reaction
Responses range between two extremes:
- Engagement with your ideas and an appreciation that you took time to add to the conversation
- Direct feedback or intimation that you couldn’t possibly add anything of value
This is where it gets interesting. It’s a good sign if employees are interested in your outsider viewpoint and want to talk further. They care enough beyond their day to day tasks to discuss a topic related to their company or industry and actively seek outside perspectives. It’s similar to how there’s a correlation between better software developers and programming outside of work.
Proceed with caution where there is apathy or hostility towards your viewpoint. Even if you’re incorrect in what you wrote because you don’t have a clear picture of the company or industry, you should never be belittled for taking the time to write down your perspective.
That’s my litmus test for prospective employers and clients: do the employees care enough about their company and industry to actively engage me before I perform work for them? Do they value my input and my commitment to their mission? Will they view me as a respected peer or a butt in a seat they order around? An affirmative answer to these questions is critical to the success of highly motivated employees and can be found in part by performing this blog post litmus test.
