Testing the Waters: Office Culture

No one ever tells young college students such as myself to think about what type of "office culture" we would like to work in when we get out of school. It may sound obvious, but many young graduates jump at the first job opportunity they get and then find themselves in a working environment that they don't quite fit into.

Sterling Communications visiting Deutsch and Ruder Finn in NYC!

At Susquehanna University, I am involved with a student-run PR firm called Sterling Communications. This past semester, we went on a field trip to NYC to visit Deutsch, Inc. (an advertising agency) and Ruder Finn (a PR firm). This was a great opportunity to see two completely different office cultures in action. At Deutsch, it was a very open and welcoming environment. Everyone was dressed pretty casually, pets were brought to work, people were eating lunch outside on the balcony enjoying the gorgeous view, and everyone smiled at us as we walked in. I completely fell in love with the company and knew this is the type of place where I belonged.

That thought was confirmed when we visited Ruder Finn. We were welcomed by very intense sculptures and other artwork displayed throughout the office. The offices were very closed off, and the people working there were not as friendly. It had a very professional and serious tone. I'm not saying at all that this is a bad thing, for many people that is just what they prefer. They are a very powerful private PR firm and the tone of their office may add to their credibility from their client's perspective. It just goes to show that everyone is different, which is why you should try to check out as many different office cultures as you can before settling in somewhere.

Earlier this week, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to shadow Emily Collard at Edelman in NYC, which is the largest PR firm in the world. She gave me a tour of the floor she works on, which was a completely open floor plan, where no one had their own "office", which I loved. The majority of people working there were 20-something year old women, which I thought was cool too, and many of them seemed to have become good friends with their co-workers. The vibe was very friendly and upbeat. I got to listen in on some meetings between Emily and people on her various teams, and between her and a client. I had no idea what was going on of course, but to just see the interaction was a great learning experience. I couldn't stop smiling and definitely felt like I could see myself working there.

I also had the opportunity to have a video meeting with Sarah Fudin who is the Director of Inbound Marketing at 2U, Inc. She told me all about what her and her marketing team does, which involved getting the company more visible on the internet through search engine optimization (SEO), which is exactly what I have been working on during my internship. She actually asked me what type of office culture I was interested in, and luckily by now I had a straight answer. She said her office culture is exactly how I described, and she loves it. She said that when she was looking for a job after college, she ended up taking this sports marketing internship in Maryland. She said it was terrible: she was the coffee girl, the paper filing girl, and learned absolutely nothing. She said at that point she learned she never wanted to be in a work environment where she felt like they didn't care about her. She said where she works now they really want you to learn and they take the time to teach you, which I thought was great.

So, before accepting a job offer....

• Try to shadow people at companies you might be interested in working at and see if you could see yourself working there
• Talk to as many people as you can about the culture at their office
• Think about your personality and what culture you might fit best into
• Make sure the company giving you the offer wants you to learn and grow-you should even ask questions about this and the culture at the interview

Dana