Friday 12 April 2013

Step 15 - 6 Tips for Organizational Fit in PR

Are you Fit Enough for Organizational Fit?

What I would like to talk about today is something relevant to any Public Relations grad starting a career. This topic was once thought of as a trend in HR, but it is more important than I think most people give it credit. I rediscovered its importance when looking to start my career. So without further ado let's talk about job fit and organizational fit.

First, you may not know that these 2 things are indeed distinct and separate. Here is what they boil down to. JOB FIT is when you demonstrate the skills, knowledge, experience and abilities to excel in a specific job. For instance, in PR some people are more suited as an account director while others are more suited to an account executive. The differences in these jobs are what make them unique and what makes fit important. ORGANIZATIONAL FIT is when your values, attitudes and expectations align with those of the organization you work for. As an example, if you love the environment it might irk you to work somewhere where they cause needless waste and don't bother to recycle. Working somewhere that allows you to live by your values is the most rewarding.

Quote about Dreams
So how do you know if you have these two things - especially before starting the job? The fact is your socialization process with the job and organization begins from the very first contact. Think of brands. Every contact point with a brand helps you develop an opinion on a company. This is relevant in job searching. This is why so many people will tell you to apply to a company - rather than apply for a job.

Knowing the job fit is pretty straightforward. Do you have the technical skills? The soft skills? The experiences? You will need to look at the key responsibilities and list of duties to truly understand what you will be doing in the job, while you will need to look at the qualifications to know if you've got what it takes. Remember all qualifications should serve a purpose - they are there for a reason, which is setting you up for success in the job. Organizational fit is far more abstract, but here are some tips from my own experiences.

6 Tips for Organizational Fit

1. Company Correspondence: Right from the get-go do you like the way the company corresponds with you? Are their emails friendly, informative, long, short, rude? This will tell you something about the personality of the employees of the organization - which all leads back to corporate culture.

2. Job Interviews - Small Things: A lot of young people forget that job interviews are two-way communication. It isn't about just selling yourself, the company also has to market itself to you. So if at the interview the environment, the people, their speech or their questions put you off, then beware. You might not think that the way the interviewers dress is important either, but it is. It shows you how they express themselves at work, something you would need to do without clashing with those already there.

3. Job Interviews - Big Things: Now on to what you learn about the organization in the job interviews. There is a reason why people recommend that you ask lots of questions at the end of an interview. I did this at my last few interviews and it really helped me gain insider knowledge that let me get a handle on whether this was a place I could fit in.

4. Career Goals: Your personal goals are so important in figuring out if an organization fits your needs. If you goal is to work in healthcare and the organization focuses on finance, then maybe the fit isn't right.

5. Gut Intuition: Information gets to be daunting. You might forget something they said about the company or you might get incomplete information. Nothing is better than your gut. It will tell you what you feel about the company more than anyone could.

6. The Job Offer: I can actually say what it feels like to get a job offer and consider it, because this happened to me a week ago when I secured myself a great new job. You will want to really look at every detail of the offer to determine if it fits. This is a business deal so take time to reflect and talk to people who know you and know your goals. They will help you see things that you couldn't on your own.



Once you have figured out if there is a fit, congratulations you will be a happy employee! A lot of people feel lucky to think about fit, or that it isn't as important as the money. But to be truly satisfied in a job and in a company, a size too big or a size to small just won't work. You want to find a fit that is just right.

What do you think about organizational fit? Is it important to you?

P.S. I love PR!