I started a new position with a Des Moines marketing company that I had my eye on for a while. When searching for a job, I'm a believer in searching for a company first, usually within the realm of small local, business, then seeing where they may have a need to hire a person like me. I have acquired all of the positions in my career in this way. I look for a company with a stimulating culture, flexibility, and similar core values.
Culture is how a company feels. Regardless of what the company does and what you do as an employee, it is important to feel the continuity of a goal throughout the organization. Rarely do you find a company in which every single employee has a great passion for their purpose, but there are such companies out there, and let's be honest: passion is contagious.
Many companies today understand the power of flexibility with their employees. Article after article with titles like, "Why Should Your Employees Work Remotely?" and "Companies with No Headquarters" pepper the newsfeeds every day on LinkedIn and in Forbes. The truth of the matter is that employees who are able to meet their personal obligations and are ready and eager to work when on the job will work better and harder for you.
My new position also aligns with my personal core values around the environment. Conservation and waste reduction have become very important to me as I’ve grown in my career. As an English major in college, our department was rumored to have the smallest print allowance in the school. The school itself was progressive in general, but my friends and roommates would always have notebooks, essays, and study guides lying around, while our department tended to keep things online.
My first position out of school was earth conscious and had a strong green initiative with low waste and high recycling. My second job, however, showed me just how important good environmental practices are to me. It was the most wasteful position I had ever been in. People in that company would print their emails and even documents that were on the shared cloud. At my new position, on the other hand, there isn't a piece of paper to be found in all of our open communal workspace. There are no post-its, no disposable coffee cups, no reams of printer paper lying around or a recycle bin full of print mistakes.
Sometimes you go looking for a job and feel lucky to find one that meets some of your ideal criteria; then you find a few extra golden qualities that make it an even better fit than you had imagined. My new position at Blue Frog Marketing is that job. I’m immersed in an inspiring culture, have the freedom and flexibility that enable me to do my best work, and have the ease of conscience that comes with knowing that I’m leaving a light footprint on the earth. I’m excited and proud to be the newest member of the Blue Frog team.