I was once asked, during an interview, what would need to happen for the company to “convince” me to work with them. The common interview process goes something like: first talk to recruiters, then talk to management (screening and whatnot), then technical interviews, then HR and endless negotiations. This structure, while effective for companies, can distract people from their big picture and what’s important for them.

This question could be answered with an endless list of things that would go from the stability of the company, its future, to personal goals and desired. Considering that interviews have a limited time, I narrowed it to 3 things, which assume other basic aspects (like the company being financially healthy) are a given. Here’s the answer I provided, which I think is still valid today after putting some extra thought on it:

  • Culture: this is absolutely non-negotiable and the hardest thing for me to asses during an interview process. One cannot learn a culture in a 1h interview and cultures are not a static thing. We can’t predict the future but experience teaches us what cues to look for in order to understand when a company’s culture may be going the wrong path.

  • Challenges and Responsibilities: The job must be challenging, new, and provide the set of responsibilities that I’m looking for. A set of tasks that would help me grow, force me to think out of the box, and try new things.

  • Money: We are often skeptical to admit money is an important factor in this process. It’s an implicit known that we are often scared to bring up until the very last moment. I’ve appreciated interview processes that have started with conversations around salary bands in order to set expectations right from the very beginning. It is good to have a min and max margin that would help us decide. For example, not accepting offers for more than a 20% salary cut or not less than a 20% salary increase. It really all depends on the job, the company, and the current situation people are in.

More things will likely be taken under consideration as changing jobs is not a simple decision. The goal of creating such list is to find the 3 things that we don’t want to compromise on.