How to Work on Your Dream Company (and be happy about it)

By Pedro Cadima

Google, Nestlé, Natura, Itaú: these are some of the companies of the dreams for the young professionals and leaders of middle management in Brazil, according to a research of the Cia de Talentos. Since I work in the Technology market, I add others that I recognize as attractive too, like LinkedIn, Facebook, Uber, and Netflix.

Not by chance, these are also great brands, carefully built using top-notch Marketing and Communication efforts. Nevertheless, it raises the question: does this desire be to work for the company or for the brand that exists around it?

My goal is not to make you give up your job in your dream company. But if I can contribute in any way, I recommend that you understand what reality is and what is part of the collective imagination about a particular company.

My suggestion, then, is to follow the steps below:

1. Evaluate the culture of the company

Talk to people who already work there, understand their daily lives, and figure out the good and the bad sides of the organization. More than that, stop thinking about how much these people are “your bunch” and how much fun (or suffering) it would be to work with them.

2. Do not go for the money

Usually, dream businesses also offer salaries and amazing benefits packages. But you should not do something you do not like, suffer for three hours commuting everyday or work with people you don’t get along just because of the financial benefit.

When you are physically and emotionally well, working with satisfaction, money is a natural consequence.

3. Find your values

Even if it is not shown on the mural, every company has values that are followed every day. If they are very different from the ones you follow in your personal life, you will hardly be happy in the long run.

4. Remember that you work with people, not with brands

The company can have an incredible brand and a culture that suits yours. Even so, your boss can be a jerk and make it all go downhill. During the recruitment process, you should assess who will work with you.

5. Companies also choose by cultural fit

Over the years, I met some professionals obsessed with entering a particular company suffering from the recruitment process. Many have forgotten that companies also select by appropriateness to the culture – the real one, not the one that is in our imagination.

So if you have all the technical skills required and can not get into your dream business, then maybe it is not for you.

6. For a better world

The last point to consider has to do with the world in which we want to live. When choosing a place to work, I suggest you think what this company is doing to the world. What does this company promote, to what interests does it serve? What do the tobacco and firearms industries tell us? And what about tourism, sports and culture sectors? Therefore, by choosing your workplace, you can connect to additional energy and contribute to a better world.

It is important to remember that the brand is part of the world of ideas, not always projected in the real universe, the one you will need to attend five days a week, eight hours a day (at least!).

It may be that working in the dream business ends up being really fantastic, or you might go the other way. Ultimately, build my own company and put in it what I learned best in the places I worked was perfect for me.

Pedro Cadina is a businessman, journalist, and specialist in organizational communication. Founder and CEO of VIANEWS Hotwire, he has been a communications and marketing entrepreneur for 38 years.