But first, are you experienced? Or have you ever been experienced?

The tag line of this blog says it’s about finding a job, so I wanted to talk a bit about one of the main things that always comes up when looking at job listings or during an interview: experience. I’m very picky with jobs I’d want and jobs I apply for, and to be honest in most cases where I do apply from a job listing I don’t necessarily meet the exact experience “requirements” set out in the listing. I don’t apply to these positions to be obnoxious and waste people’s time, but only if/when I actually believe I can do the job well and be an effective member of the company’s team, but if you’re using a search firm…yeah, I’m probably headed to the junk pile. And for the record it’s not always that I don’t have enough or the “right” experience, I’ve been told that I’m overqualified for more than one position I thought might have been a good fit.

If you look at my resume I’ve been a corporate lawyer and done business development for a restaurant consulting firm, among other things, but that’s just the basics so here’s some of what I’ve learned from my work experience that I think applies globally…

People

At its core, it’s always about the people. I’ve always been very good friends with co-workers, even if the job itself wasn’t to my liking and I think that’s important. Some of my best friends today are people I met at my former law firm. When I’ve been the one making hiring decisions, or just deciding what job to take, my first question is always whether I want to spend a lot of hours in close contact with these people. Sense of humor, thoughtfulness, intelligence, politeness, comraderie…these are all important to the success of any workplace.

On the bad side I’ve also had the experience of losing trust in a business partner to the point that I felt compelled to leave a company I had sacrificed a lot for. There’s no way to completely avoid what you call co-founder risk/issues in the startup world, but I can tell you that my experience is part of the reason I’m now so picky about who I work with and a big part of the reason I will always strive to be open and honest with everyone I work with.

And it’s not just about employees or co-founders, but also other companies or contractors you work with. If you’re doing BD you can’t think any deal is a good deal. The right partners mean everything and are the key to success.

Culture

Obviously this is related to having great people, but culture comes from the top down. There were tons of people I loved at my law firm, but the culture…not so much. And for a startup especially, it’s not just about having a cool loft with a foosball table, it’s about founders who set the right example. If the people at the top aren’t working hard, aren’t open to new opinions, don’t give feedback, don’t care about their employees lives (or even think of them as employees more than colleagues, partners, teammates, friends) and don’t hold themselves to the same standards as everyone else, then your culture suffers and your company probably isn’t somewhere I want to work.

I’ve had experiences with a business partner who wasn’t putting in the effort others were, and it led to a loss of respect across the company. I’ve worked at a big firm where the top people didn’t show any empathy or interest in the lives of the more junior employees and it hurt morale, lead people to quit and reduced efficiency and creativity. People expect to work hard, but if they have to work hard and aren’t respected for it or don’t respect people above them it just doesn’t work.

What you need is to strive for a meritocracy as Shopify’s Harley Finkelstein put it in a great post for Fast Company. And you need to help people understand your company, your vision and your journey like the guys from Warby Parker explained in a recent interview with TechCrunch. Follow the lead of Warby Parker and don’t just give new hires a 100 page manual and a branded t-shirt and send them to work, but give them training, show them what makes you unique, give them something fun and/or interesting that helps them understand your company better and feel like a part of your family from the start. You need to create an environment where dialogue is open, feedback is given regularly and not just in some formal annual review, outside interests are encouraged and where everyone feels a part of a team with the same goals in mind. If you allow people to live and learn and bring their personality and experiences to the workplace, you foster innovation, you learn from others and you end up with a better result than you could have imagined on your own. And yes some of this just sounds like corny new-age workplace hippie culture speak or whatever you want to call it, but the point is that in my experience (and that’s what this post is purportedly about) the old school approach of having junior people who work hard and never speak unless spoken to, where seniority rules and with a formal annual review that doesn’t really tell you anything just isn’t good enough, not even if you pay people enough that you think they should put up with it. It sucks for them and maybe more importantly, it’s shitty business for you too.

Work Experience

Obviously relevant past experience is helpful. When I helped open a new restaurant I wanted experienced servers for example. But we also focused on personality and the culture we wanted to create and hired one person with no experience because he was passionate and proved he wanted to learn. Within a week he was one of our best guys because he gave a shit. He was grateful for the chance, worked his ass off and made himself into a star. I like to think I can do the same at any job I might take. I’ve always been a quick learner, I’m smart, as I said I’ll only take a job if I feel like the people and culture are a good fit and if I’m passionate about helping the company achieve its goals. Experience can be great, and I think my experiences of working with C-level people at huge companies and banks, as well as with managing others in a small business and jumping in on everything from dishwashing, to social media management, menu planning, staff training, contracts, finances, etc. help me deal with any situation I find myself in, even if I might not have “2-4 years prior experience in a consumer facing technology company” or whatever other nonsense you dreamed up for your job listing. You need some people with that prior experience, but you also need people who are just plain smart, dedicated and who bring a different viewpoint that adds diversity and leads to innovative solutions.

So yeah, I don’t blame companies looking for a specific set of prior experiences but any place I’d want to work would I think also be open to going outside that comfort zone and finding someone with the mindset, interests, skills, passion, and yes, experiences, that can add significant value to their company. My work and life experiences have taught me the value of being open in that way and have lead me to seek out the experience of working with likeminded people and companies. And now I’m tired of writing experience so much, but hope that made some sense. Let me know…