Re: Perks (was phone interview)
I never suggested that it did. But if most people at a company regularly eat at their desk, it does say something about the corporate culture. The atmosphere may be oppressive, or employees may simply be enthused about their work and dedicated.
In other words: it says NOTHING about the corporate culture.
That's too big a jump. It says something, but you can't look at the answer in isolation. In the context of an interview, it can help you to make logical interences - that's all.
> Yes and I would disagree. I see the difference in relations as a factor of
"cleanliness." Employer-employee relations are a lot "messier" because both
sides bring a lot of weaponry to the table.
In many ways, your talk about a "cleaner" relation seems another way of expressing what I mean, so no real argument there.
But I do wonder whether you phrase the idea in this way to ignore the the power relation - which is a perogative of those at the top of the hierarchy,incidentally.
I felt much the same when I stepped in front of a university class for the first time. I didn't think that the fact that I was the instructor should lend extra weight to my opinions, or affect my normal interactions with students. But,however much I tried to minimize the authority my position invested me with, I could never quite do it. The student's expectations - and, no doubt, their previous experience - ensured that the hierarchy remained, no matter how much I tried to eliminate it. It wasn't important to me, but it was inescapably part of the students' baggage.
Same thing when I had a management position in a startup company. The management team tried very hard to get input from everyone, but many employees didn't take advantage of the effort, and even resented it - they didn't want to worry about such things.
For better or worse, the hierarchy remains. I'm reminded of a Doonesbury cartoon, in which a CEO of a startup is standing around with a cup of coffee, saying how much of a family atmosphere his company has. His partner tells him to walk around the cubicles, and he comes back with a horrified look on his face, gasping, "Dilbert cartoons!"
Not really. If somebody says "I eat bread and water everyday" are you to assume
they are all prisoners?
If they all wore a uniform and sat chained to the wall, then you would be justified in making the assumption.
However, if they were all overweight, then you might assume that they were all dieting. If they had a large banner announcing "Bread and Water Week," then you could assume that they are contributing to a charity. As I said, context is everything.
All I'm suggesting is that you can use the pattern of observation and inference fictionalized (and exaggerated) in the Sherlock Holmes stories to gather useful information in a non-confrontational way.
I am way more interested in bigger issues, like how much money
they have and who is the competition.
And you should be concerned about these matters. However, once you find that the company is sound, then you should think how you can fit in to the corporate culture if you plan on staying around for a while. Your ability to affect the culture will vary tremendously depending on your position and the state of the company.
If you're CEO, or the company is small,then you can do a lot to change it. But if you're junior assistant tech-writer, or the company has 2000 employees, then you can't - and the question becomes whether you can endure what's already there.
To repeat: you don't take the single answer to a single question and apply it to a simple key that will give you all the answers. You add it to what else is said, and what you can observe.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
"To purchase a clear and warrantable body of truth, we must forget and part with much we know."
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Re: Perks (was phone interview): From: Andrew Plato
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