How do you know when you've found a fit at work?
We asked members of the Liftoff community for their takes
How do you know when you’ve found a fit at work?
The rise of remote work has fundamentally changed how people hire and find jobs. The increase in now-global options for job seekers and hiring managers alike has flooded the market with low-quality noise. So many people are sitting through transactional job interviews over Zoom and settling for “just ok” fits, while trying to remember and recalibrate what work should feel like.
Our mission is to help people find their fit. So how do you know when you’ve found it?
While not everyone may have a clear answer to this question, we had a hunch that many connectors in the Liftoff community might, given they’ve been a part of incredible teams across their careers. So we asked a few of you for your takes and loved the variety of responses we received.
Kathrin Nikolussi is a CEO and CMO who has led multiple unicorn health and wellness startups including Thorne, DayTwo, Habit and Wellness FX. She also happens to be a 2x Olympian in downhill skiing. She says:
For me, it’s 100% the people. People are what make companies great, not products. I look for a leadership team that compliments each other well. Leaders who are humble and self aware / know their weaknesses and are willing to balance it by hiring people who fill those gaps. Collaboration over competition or rigid hierarchy. Always.
Michael Fanuele has led Marketing for General Mills, ZenBusiness, Havas and now runs the Lab of Creative Commerce. Michael led the team that created Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man.” He says:
You know you’ve found a “fit” at a company when your tummy flips, but your palms don’t sweat. You’re on a razor’s edge: nervous enough to know you’re trying new, hard things — but not so nervous that you can’t show-up as your wonderful, vulnerable self. Somewhere between a couch and CrossFit. A study from Concordia University concluded Olympic athletes grow the most when they encounter “ridiculous goals and human warmth” — and the same criteria probably fits work as well: super-high bars and super-loud cheerleaders.
Njoki Gitahi is a Senior Creative Leader who has served as a Design Leader at IDEO and a Brand leader at InVision. Njoki has led teams to build brands and products in spaces ranging from Education to Enterprise Software. She shares:
A good fit at work for me is feeling like I'm entering an inviting and invigorating culture where I know I'll grow and my contributions will matter. That can look like a lot of different things in different places, but knowing I have a lot to learn from —and give — to the folks around me has always been a useful measure of a good fit.
When you’re giving advice to others navigating job decisions, what would you add?
This is such a formative question for us as we build a platform that helps people find work and teams they love. We’d love to hear what you think. We’ll continue to feature these topics in future newsletters.
Exclusively for the Liftoff community:
HIGHLIGHTED SEARCHES
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The team at Inato just started hiring for a Sr. Marketing Specialist, Events & Comms. They were recently awarded FastCo’s Most Innovative Companies, and are continuing their mission to make clinical trials accessible to everyone. Their marketing team is a powerhouse and they’re looking for a strong team member who can drive events and comms, broadening to generalist marketing over time. If you know people who could be a fit, feel free to suggest them or reshare here.
The team at BioRender has moved into early interviews for their Head of Product Design, Staff Designer - Growth & Staff Designer - Graphing. Known as the “Figma/Canva for scientists”, they are on a mission to accelerate the world’s ability to learn, discover and communicate science. They are already highly profitable, are at a growth inflection point and expanding their design team. If you know anyone great, feel free to suggest them or reshare via the links above.
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