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Recon your new job

How much time and energy do you put into finding out what it’s really like to work at a company before you head to an interview? If it’s “not much,” be careful.

The what-it’s-like-to-work-there factor will affect whether you’re dragging your butt out of bed or raring to go to work.

Many people go from bad to worse employment situations because they don’t do enough snooping.

Before you accept a job, consider the following factors:

How do they treat you when you contact them?

If a company greets you with a barbed-wire-laden phone tree, that tells you something right there.

If a company treats you like it doesn’t care, think of how it’ll treat you when you work there.

What do people who work there say?

Online news stories often allow readers to post comments, so if you spot a report on a company you’re snooping on, see if any former employees have left behind insight.

What do observers say?

Recruiters can offer perspective on culture and where a company stands in the marketplace, so if you’re working with an outside recruiting firm, it doesn’t hurt to ask about a prospective company’s culture.