Compare and Contrast Your Company to Meatloaf

New jobs spark many emotions, curiosity's and "OMG did I make the right decisions," which I call "job-bers remorse." If you're like me you expect a lot out of your job, get bored quickly are always looking for the next best thing and just can't, for the life of you, figure out how to determine whether or not a job is right for you. How do you select a company? How do you say yes to a position? What trade-offs are right for you (there is ALWAYS something)?

Obviously, I am no expert on selecting jobs based on my history of dissatisfaction, searching, switching, going back for more, ongoing interviews, etc., but what I will say is this: Your company AND your job have a lot more in common with meatloaf than you may think.

1. Meatloaf is made with a shape in mind, companies are too--everything from the exterior of your building to the type of toilets in the restrooms was constructed to fit a certain shape. The term "shape" here refers to the attitude, aura and energy as well as the walls themselves.
2. Meatloaf is made of a variety of ingredients and you hope they work well together, but sometimes the mixture and the "baked together" nature turns out better than you expected, perhaps a little more volatile than you anticipated, just right or OMG I did NOT expect that (good or bad). This is similar to hiring. You think you have a master plan in place for the "culture" you want to build and the "type" of personality that is equipped for the job and while they may all be amazing individually, the combination is extraordinarily unpredictable.
3. Meatloaf can be EXTREMELY bland and dry or can be unbelievably flavorful and juicy--think about your company in this light...it's the same.
4. Meatloaf has a smell and I guarantee right around 12:30pm your office does to and it's shockingly similar to the smell of ye ole loaf. It's that smell of cooked togetherness totally overheated in the corporate microwave. YUM and VARMIT.

So there are just a few reasons to believe that, while you may think you hate meatloaf, it's part of your life whether you know it, like it or not so get over it and go get some.