Choosing a company

Choosing a company to work in is fraught with problems for some people and as easy as falling off a log for others. So for those who have trouble falling off logs, here is the definitive guide to which company to choose.

Choose the one with people you like to work with. Of course you will be pulled towards working with the company that has the best career advancement opportunities, or the best health-care or pension plan, and they are important, but the most important thing - the one that will stand the test of time - is to choose to work with people you like to work with.

I don't recommend that you try to characterize these people. I don't think it pays to say to yourself that you want to work with nice people, or kind people, or honest people, though these might be exactly the qualities you find in the people you like to work with.

And I don't think it pays to want to work with fast people, or racy people, or people who are 'going somewhere', because you've got to work with them - and if you don't like working with them you are going to spend a lot of energy compensating for that fact.

And when all the reasons for you becoming an engineer rather than a painter or a chef have faded into the distance, you will still be working, then that is the time know - on your mid-morning walk from your desk or bench to the coffee machine - that you like to work with these people.