What Are Company Values… and Why You Should Know Your Own, with Dave Mayer

🎙 About the episode

Meet Dave Mayer 🇺🇸! Dave is a founder and CEO of Technical Integrity, a boutique recruiting firm famous for its culture-first approach. TI has worked with big companies like Twitter, as well as many mid-size startups. In this episode, you'll get a glimpse into the other side of recruiting. Dave explains his culture-first approach and why it benefits both you and the employer. You'll learn why it's important to know your values and how to make sure you find a company that aligns with them.

Dave explains why you shouldn't feel desperate if you don't get a job in a company that was your first choice and how to probe into a company's values without sounding disrespectful. From the recruiter side, Dave reveals how looking for a culture fit can backfire and why it's much better to look for a "culture add."

Dave and Alex also talk about recessions (Dave has lived and worked through three of them already!) and how to stay focused on what's truly important. 

🔗 Connect with Dave

• 🐦 Twitter
• 🌐  Website
• 👨🏻‍💼 LinkedIn

⏰ Timestamps

• Dave's path as a recruiter: from a traditional approach to focusing on finding a long-term fit between a developer and a company (01:44)
• What is company culture, and what makes someone a good fit? (03:19)
• Should you share your company's values? (06:15)
• Find your own values first (07:24)
• How can you verify that a company truly embodies what they claim to be their values? (12:10)
• Ask your interviewer: What does success in your company look like? (16:45)
• The importance of technical vs soft skills (18:12)
• Don't care who's hiring, find out where you belong (20:08)
• Why integrity matters (23:39)
• Challenges of recruiting, and the difference between the quantity-first and quality-first approach (25:53)
• Advice for developers who are thinking about approaching recruiters (30:01)
• We're in a recession. Now what? (33:14)

🧰 Resources Mentioned

• Blog post: The Best Engineering Team Values Statement We've Ever Seen
• Simon Sinek's "Start With Why" Ted talk

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