What I’m Looking for in a Company

I’m going to preface this article by sharing a LinkedIn post that I created only a day ago now! I’ve received some awesome feedback from a number of people, but what I really haven’t heard anyone talk about is my experience and what they perceive when they take a look at me on paper (I.E. My Resume, LinkedIn, and website).

Hey #LinkedInFam David Peterson here and I wanted to share a bit of my experiences over the past 4 years — applying for jobs at various companies — some fully remote and others physical in New York City and Connecticut.

I can tell you that it has been an absolute roller coaster ride! (Mostly huge downward slopes.)

I’ve met with start-ups, well established companies, and no one has taken advantage of my experiences and talent! What gives? I’ve tweaked my resume over and over, my professional appearance and interviews are polished! (Is their such a thing as being too polished? Do I intimidate the executives and recruiters I’ve met with?)

I believe that I’m full of enthusiasm, intelligence, energy, and loyalty! Which you don’t find in my millennial cohort these days.

I’ve literally worked for two companies (For clarity sake: 1.) NMS and 2.) Trilogy Software — it’s subsidiaries Versata, Aurea, and Crossover.) in my entire professional career, where I was promoted a few times! How many other employers can say there millennials stick around and not jump ship when they find greener grass?

Chat me up regarding an opportunity you know of!

P.S. I’ve been freelancing successfully through my search!

What A Company Means to Me

Fortunately I’ve been apart of a number different start-ups/ventures and of which 4 have been my own. They’ve spanned software & technology to the entertainment and media industries. In the start-up space I’ve learned what a company is and isn’t. Businesses and companies should not be used synonymously in my personal opinion. They are not the same thing, and it bothers me that people really use them interchangeably today. A company is supposed an organization of like-minded people who are striving to achieve similar goals or objectives. I can’t stress or make it any clearer than that. People should be able to work and function together and bring their specific talents to the table. Leadership teams are supposed to enable those individuals no matter their skill-set, background, orientation, race, color, age, etc. to perform at their best! Leadership teams should not just try to extract as much value as possible out of an individual and treat them as a commodity. We’ve moved into this space where companies talk about valuing their human resources — but let’s be frank — I don’t think much of that really happens — when you have investors or partners looming over you to make critical financial decisions to enable your business to generate or acquire more wealth! The last thing you’re thinking about is whether or not the 100–10,000 employees you have are doing okay! (Thinking about your existing employees and future talent should be at the forefront of any leadership team members mind!) A company should be a cohesive unit/a community if you will where everyone contributes and everyone makes a difference!

Values My Employer Should Have

I want a company that values me as an individual — not a numerical statistic. Not a financial obligation that has to be paid: weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or annually! I’d like my experience and skill-set to be tied to specific goals and objectives that are actually recognized. (All employees should be tied to some sort of numerical metric — that way you can gauge whether or not the investment in them is proper and just — and then they’re actually doing something beneficial for your organization. The data shouldn’t be arbitrary.)

Let’s take a very specific example from my past. Here’s the backstory: I was working in Enterprise Software managing a global channel business unit — doing business with a government contractor to sell software to the Department of Defense (DoD)’s — Department of Veteran Affairs. I was told to not even pursue the deal in the first place by my superior who happened to be our company’s Chief Technology Officer. He told me that the deals are complex and there was a lot of red tape involved. I pursued the deal with our government partner because I believed in our business, software, and that we would genuinely provide a better offer than a major competitors like IBM. My company’s contribution to the $2 Billion Leidos deal was around $10MM. Leidos won the deal and our company subsequently won our portion of it obviously! Do you know that nothing ever came of that for me? I proved that I was able to tackle what was a seemingly un-winnable deal in the eyes of my superior and leadership team. I didn’t even get a thank you e-mail for making it all come together! It was really eery and made me take a real hard look at how I was being treated as an employee — and that all that mattered was that I produced a deal that had a huge up-side (in terms of profit-margin). I didn’t see not a penny from the deal on commission or anything like that.

The talents that I possess are unique to me and I deeply believe in my abilities and capabilities. (Everyone is unique in their own individual way and companies need to learn how to embrace that.) Companies need to harness talent just as much as they do someone’s skillset. (Those two words are not synonymous either in my opinion.)

I want a company that is proud to have an individual like me on their team! Someone who is extremely talented, has core values, a number of skills, and is truly dedicated! I’m looking for a company who believes in a mission that I can align myself with! Whether it be a service offering, a SaaS product, a mobile or even web application — I want to a company that believes in the principles that their business was founded on — not just for financial gain. (The money is important — it keeps the lights on and the employees paid — but there has to be more to a company than just that!)

A company that operates like a community of like-minded people who understand the mission, the goals, and the objectives that have been set for accomplishment!

Values are at the core of what I’m looking for in the next company that I decide that I want to be a part of. I’m not going to settle for just any old business that will have me based on my experience and skills. They have to value me as a whole. (And vice-versa in this situation.)

I am completely open to discussion on the matter because I think there should be a renewed focus on TALENT and COMPANIES. The relationship between the two is completely misaligned in my personal experience and I’m sure many many others! We need to work on that together — globally!

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.