Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 12, 1994                   TAG: 9407070002
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: F2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

YOU SHOULD INTERVIEW COMPANIES AS MUCH AS THEY INTERVIEW YOU

A: Evelyn Bradshaw, director of the Career Development Center at Roanoke's Hollins College, recommends that "job candidates remember they are interviewing the company as much as the company is interviewing them. Each organization has a culture and you need to ensure you and that culture are a good match."

Bradshaw suggests you consider everything from company ethics to regard for employees. Research enables you "to ask questions which get to the heart of company culture," she notes.

Bradshaw recommends several approaches, beginning at the library. For local companies, ask the reference librarian for help. Local newspapers and business-oriented magazines are good sources of information. Additional information can be found in Dun & Bradstreet, Moody's, or Standard & Poor's Report.

For graduates of area colleges, Bradshaw suggests revisiting the college career center. Most maintain extensive files. A direct approach that works is calling the company and requesting an annual report.

You needn't know a lot about the company, Bradshaw says, but you "need to let the interviewer know you've done your homework and know something about the company."

Q: I've heard only one in five people are happy with their jobs. There are parts of mine I hate. Can I realistically expect to be happy with my job?

A: Susan Riggs, a licensed professional counselor working extensively in career counseling, sees more people who are unhappy with their present jobs than folks who have lost jobs through layoffs. Jobs may include aspects we don't enjoy, but Riggs suggests our work day is too encompassing to hate large parts of it.

Riggs, at The Counseling Center in Roanoke, has found that evaluating jobs relies on three variables. The first, she contends, is to "have fun and like what you're doing." The second is to earn enough money to pay bills with, ideally, only one job. Riggs stresses that while this may not always be possible, holding more than one job decreases time available for such necessities as cultivating friendships, tending family relationships and developing ourselves.

The final variable is to ensure your work is something you're "potentially good at. Work is better if you are in your area of talent and competency." The stress of working outside one's competencies brings constant concern for failure, Riggs says.

Evaluate the variables using a positive/negative check list. Riggs has found that many have "nailed two out of three variables, but that isn't enough for most people." Spending the majority of our day unhappily signals that it's time to consider change.

Q: My company recently downsized. I survived the cuts. Why, then, am I feeling depressed and having trouble sleeping?

A: An emerging body of literature on the "survivor's syndrome" suggests your feelings are normal. They are a result of major change, grieving for the loss of the old company, adjusting to a new work environment and work load, and concern about preparing for the future. Reduction survivors miss the daily interaction and rituals they shared with friends no longer working for the same organization.

As old work rules no longer apply, company loyalty may not be enough to ensure lifelong employment. This adds to the confusion workers feel.

Symptoms of depression - lack of energy, change in eating habits, change in sleep patterns, increase in alcohol consumption, withdrawing from family and friends - are strong signals to seek help from a qualified therapist. A counselor can help you explore and resolve feelings about recent changes.

In addition, consider this the time to develop employment and personal potential. David Noer, author of Healing the Wounds, writes that many of us base our employment on a tap root concept: one deep attachment. If a strong force is applied, the tree is uprooted. Alternatively, developing networks, friendships and family relationships and upgrading skills is analogous to creating a root system. Systems take a great deal to uproot and damage done to one part is minimized by the presence of the others.