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Questions for Superstars > The Job and the Department
The Job and the Department
- How many approvals would it take (and how long) to get a new $110,000 project idea of mine approved? What percentage of employee-initiated projects in this job were approved last year? Ask for examples. If you want to be part of a nimble organization, this is a great way to ask.
- How many days will it take for you (and the company) to make a hiring decision for this position? The superstar might as well have said “hours.” Organizations these days know they have to move quickly to snag the best candidates.
- Who are the “coolest” people on my team? What makes them cool? Can I meet them? Who is the best and worst performer on the team, and what was the difference in their total compensation last year? Sell me on this team and the individuals on it that I get to work with.What makes my closest coworkers fun or great people to work with? A complicated question, but all focused on understanding the makeup of the team you will be joining. These are the people who will determine whether you succeed or fail.
- What is your “learning plan” for me for my first six months? What competencies do you propose I will develop that I don’t currently have? Which individual in the department can I learn the most from? What can he or she teach me? Can I meet that person? Does the company have a specific program to advance my career? These questions pin the company down on resources for advancing your portfolio of skills.
- Assuming I’m current with my work, how many days could I not show up at the office each week? Could I miss a day without your advance permission? What percentage of the people in this position telecommute? Has anyone in the group been allowed to take a month off (unpaid) to fulfill a personal interest? If personal autonomy is important to you, get it on the table and determine if there is precedent for what you want. It’s much easier to follow precedent than to create it.
- Give me some examples of the decisions I could make in this job without any approvals. Can you show me the degree of autonomy and control I will have in this position? This is another way to ask how the company values personal autonomy.
- How many hours a week do you expect the average person on your team to work? How many hours does the average person in fact work? Are there work-life programs in place to promote a healthy work-life balance? As a superstar, you are prepared to put in the hours-you just want to know what they are.
- How will my performance be evaluated? What are the top criteria you use? What percentage of my compensation is based on my performance? Is there a process where the employees get to assess their supervisor? If I do a great/bad job in the first 90 days, how, specifically, will you let me know? What are the steps you would take to help me improve? How do you discipline team members? The answers to this complicated set of questions should tell you how the company evaluates and motivates performance as well as how it corrects lack of performance.
- What is the first assignment you intend to give me? Where does that assignment rank on the departmental priorities? What makes this assignment a great opportunity? You want to know if you will be immediately contributing to an important, visible project.
- How many hours of your time can I expect to get each week for the first six months on the job? How often will we have scheduled meetings? You want to know how much face time you will have with your manager.
- If I were frustrated about my job, what specific steps would you take to help me overcome that frustration? How about if you were frustrated with me? Can you show me examples of what you have done for others in your group in the past year to overcome any frustration? This is a supremely confident question that is frank in assuming there will be occasional frustrations. The bigger issue is what services are in place to help resolve frustrations.
- What are the wows! of this job? What are the worst parts? And what will you do to maximize the former and minimize the latter? If I asked the incumbent what stinks about the job, what would he or she say? Can I talk to him or her? This balanced but nevertheless threatening question asks for the good, the bad, and the ugly. Every company is made up of all three qualities. The bigger issue is whether the hiring manager has the spine to be up front about it.
- What will make my physical work environment a fun and stimulating place to spend time? If the physical workspace is important to you, ask. This general question is better than asking about air hockey tables or company masseurs.
- What inputs do employees get in departmental decisions? In hiring and assessing coworkers? You’ll want to know about all-important team processes. Make sure you ask for specifics.
- Could I get a chance to see the team in action? Can I sit in on a team meeting? Shadow someone for a day? Is the interviewer willing to make the company more transparent to you? This is a good way to find out.
- What are the biggest problems facing this department in the next six months and in one year? What key competencies have you identified that I will need to develop in the next six months to be successful? Here you’re looking for the hiring manager’s hot buttons. These are the issues against which your initial performance will be evaluated.
- What do you see in me? What are my strongest assets and possible weaknesses? Do you have any concerns that I need to clear up in order to be the top candidate? What is the likelihood, in percent terms, that you will make me an offer? This is a bold and confident bid-for-action question that also asks for any objections.
- What is the best/toughest question I could ask you to find out about the worst aspects of this job? How would you answer it? If you were my best friend, what would you tell me about this job that we haven’t already discussed? A last-ditch attempt to reveal negative information about the company.