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Asking the Right Questions to a Future Employer?
coronaride asks: "One of the things that always seems to leave me stumped in a job interview is the dreaded 'Do you have any questions for us?' question. I was always taught that while it's great to have the answers, almost equally important is to ask the right questions. When interviewing for a development position, what are some good questions to ask? For you employers, how much weight, if any, do you put on this open-ended question? A few obvious things come to mind regarding benefits, atmosphere, development style, etc., but I'm curious to see others' opinions on not only what is expected, but what is appropriate as well."
One thing you may not want to ask is: "Is there any advancement?" or something similar. While in some cases this may show thay you are eager to learn and work hard, some of the employers may not like this for the following two reasons:
1) They don't want you to steal their job.
2) They need to fill a specific position and want to hire somebody that will be satisfied with working in that position for the next 15 years.
Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
How do you feel about interviewees who take notes during the interview?
When you get to hell -- tell 'em Itchy sent ya!
I went for an interview at a large ISp based in Sheffield. I'd been to an open day a few days before and received a very mixed message of:
"We're cool and reward you well" to "We make you work long long hours, but you don't have to really if you don't want to, but we just all do"
To me the message was mixed because one of the main rewards I want is to get to go home at a sane hour and have some time apart from work and sleep..
The company gave you breakfast if you were there at 7.00am and a cookied dinner at your desk if you were there at 6.00pm (or some such hour).
I liked the company and the ethos, or so I thought, I just needed to get them to say "9 till 5 is OK ! REALLY!"
For me, coding is a highly creative thing and productivity can't be squeezed out of me, I just end up wasting time; when its time to go, I need to go, and think about it on the way home, in the shower, during the blessing on the dinner etc. and I'm all the quicker the next day.
In order to show me how flexible they were they told me a story which went something like this: A coder came in at 3.00am cos he needed to do something important and by around 3.pm he said to the manager that his head was a bit cooked since he'd been in since 3.00am. The point of the story was to show me how generous mangement were when they said "Thats ok, go and drive around for half an hour to clear you head" !!
I asked "What if he'd said: "My head is cooked, I've been in since 3.00am can I go home?" HR in the inteview said "That would be OK, if it didn't keep happening" !! Darn right it would! I'd not come in at that time if I still had to work till end of play!
So I got the idea that they wanted all my time. Some of the "rewards" like karting or paintball you had to do in your own time too. *I* don't have much "your own time" it all belongs to my company or my family, then church and various community groups.
That, combined with the fact that they mislead the agency over the salary really closed it for me.
I since got a much nicer job only 10 minutes walk from home with an excellent boss and colleagues, all of whom have a life outside work.
Another thing my current boss offers candidates is a chance to call one of us so they can get our opinion of the place.
Sam
blog.sam.liddicott.com
1. I always ask if the position is newly created or replacing a departed employee and, if so, what was the reason for their leaving.
2. I also will always ask what are their top 3 priorities for the next 6 months and what my role would be in realizing them.
Answers to these two questions are extremely helpful in finding out if you should accept an employment offer.
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
Good questions, IMHO, to ask are ones that indicate an interest in the company or the position.
I interview a fair number of people at the company I work for. I always ask the applicant if they have any questions. If they don't, I'm usually not too excited about having them work for me. When I'm talking one-on-one with them, I'm trying to figure out their level of enthusiasm and interest in my company and the position I'm offering. Their resume and technical presentation already tell me about their intelligence level so I don't spend too much time asking them technical questions one-on-one. But all the smarts in the world doesn't do me much good if the person isn't interested in the work that I'd be giving them. The world is full of geniuses that don't amount to anything because they don't put forth any effort. I don't want them working for me.
I also want to see that they are starting to seriously visualize themselves working here. I want to know that they've done their homework and have some knowledge about type of work we do here. So I'd like to see them ask some questions about our technical work but also some questions about benefits, company culture, and other things that make me think that they are imagining themselves working here and staying for many years.
I just gave a talk to some students at the local university here about getting a job and the on-site interview. I told them to think about it as a first date. I realize the concept of a "date" may be a bit foreign to slashdotters so let me elaborate. You want to emphasize your good attributes but stay a bit humble. You also want to show interest without appearing desparate. You wouldn't go to a date and just sit there saying nothing. Similarly, you wouldn't want to monopolize the conversation. There should be an interplay and back-and-forth. You don't have to make the interview your best buddy, but when you leave the room you want s/he to not only respect your technical abilities but also desire to have you as a member of their team.
If you cannot think of some good questions to ask prior to the interview, then you should seriously question whether you are truly interested in the company. A little bit of brainstorming is necessary, but you shouldn't have to strain to come up with questions. If so, then your questions are merely for show and a keen interviewer will see right through them (much like the infamous "My biggest failing is that I'm a workaholic" crap).
Good luck,GMD
watch this
Before you leave, ask to use the bathroom. Seriously. It's amazing how much you can find out about how an employer treats their employees by looking at their bathrooms. That's because it's the one area of the company that's generally available to employees but not the public. If the bathrooms are clean and neat, you can be sure that you're going to be working for a first class operation. If the bathroom is trashed and there's graffiti on the wall, you can be guaranteed that your future employer will screw you because they don't care about their employees. It doesn't matter how well manicured the lawns are, or how nice the front desk is - if the bathrooms are a mess then your employer is a bum.
If you don't want crime to pay, let the government run it.
Firstly come with two copies of your CV printed on crisp 100mg paper. give that over to the interviewers - more likely than not your recruitment agent will have completely bastardised yours. Make sure its fantastic if you do this.
Here is my list of question i keep to use:
Position in the company
1) What role do you see me performing in the company?
2) Is it a client facing role?
3) what would be typical projects i would be doing?
4) what sort of department size is it?
5) What scope would there be for me to lead a project now/ in the future(sort of relates to 1)?
What the company does
6) Which kind of projects are your bread and butter work?
7) Do you have any major project (i.e. high profile ) jobs on the go?
8) who are your main clients - do you get repeat buisness?
9) which areas of the local region/world do you operate in?
10)Which parts of the buisness are you hoping to expand further (a good
question, which they shouldn't waffle on)?
General training
11) will they support you in your X institution training?
12) will they support you in your future academic / part time learning (then ask about course fees and time off, don't get too awkard about this in the interview)?
I sort of used them as bullet points, you tend to find a lot of them get
answered as you go through the interview, they tend to ask themselves two
questions:
i) can you do the job (with a bit of additional training)
ii) will you fit into my team
all the rest are nice to haves
other useful tips are to take a couple of pens/pencils and a pad of paper,
i used to take a copy of all my questions to ask and obviously look down
the sheet, when they ask you..'so do you have any questions?'
As i said easy to use and it shows preparation (you did find out what the comapny does didn't you?)
GOOD LUCK.
Boing boing boing....
When I interview candidates, I generally talk most of the time - in fact, it's about an 80/20 ratio of my voice to theirs in the first interview.
Why? Because the questions you bring up tell me more about you than any questions I could ask you directly.
What questions are good questions? Ask me how I got my job. Ask me (as another poster mentioned) what I like best about the work environment. Ask me what, if anything, ticks me off on a day-to-day basis. Ask me about the team structure, who you'd be working with and what happened to the guy before you.
What not to ask me: During the first interview, I don't want to hear questions about our family-leave or maternity policies - I am hiring you to work, not to hire on then take a bunch of time off.
Neither do I want to hear about your upcoming wedding/vacation/spiritual retreat "that's been scheduled for several months and can't be moved." Got one of those? Then bring it up during negotiations when I've decided you're the right candidate and you have some leverage... because I can tell you right now, in the first interview, it's all about me: My company, my leverage, my needs being met.
If you're female, don't wear an engagement ring without a wedding band, because I will think "OK, she's likely getting married soon and that'll chew up months of productivity." If you're male, don't mention to me that you coach your kids' soccer team because I'll have the same productivity concerns.
Again: You can be more human in the second and subsequent interviews, but the first interview is a screen, and the only criteria really come down to: Are you engaged and inquisitive? Are you utterly focused on showing me the value you bring to the table? And are you of lower risk/liability than other applicants?
"It was a summer's tale: Just a boy, his Linux, and a head full of dreams..."
I like:
"Based on my resume, my experience, and my interview; are there any concerns that I will not be the right person for the job?"
Gives you a chance to head off any concerns or possible misunderstandings. I have never used it (same company for several years), but my wife has with great results.
Jason
"FORMAT C:" - Kills bugs dead!
As a hiring manager, I like to get questions about our product. The tougher the better. During the interview I give an overview of what we make. I like people to pay attention to my overview then follow it up with questions about how it's done and why we don't do it some other way. In fact the best thing a candidate can do in a interview with me is pretent to be a venture capitalist and really drill me. Figure out my department's weaknesses and show how your strengths will compliment the team.
On the flip side I can't stand questions about parking, benefits, flex time, working from home,etc. Especially if they are the first questions. That's what the HR dept. is for; I'm interested in talking shop.
Yes, I like making people who are potentially going to offer me a great job feel really uncomfortable too. It's really funny to see them squirm. Briefly.
Having said that, I did once ask a similar question, but the *other way around*. I asked what they really *enjoyed* about their jobs. For a brief moment, I could see the little cogs whirring, them thinking "Oh my god, I can't mention last weekend when I had to code all bloody night to hit the deadline!". Then they realised that there were some pretty good things about the company, and they felt good telling me about it.
In fact, they opened up considerably once they got over the initial shock of the question. They even told me about some of the less ideal stuff, which I was quite happy to accept - all jobs have aspects that you don't like.
They offered me the job, I took it, and it was one of the best jobs I've ever had.
Did it ever occur to you that an interview is a two-way process? If my credentials have impressed you enough that I'm worth your time to interview and you're considering employing me, why wouldn't you want to impress me in return so I'd consider taking the job? I can and do judge prospective employers from the moment I arrive at the premises for a first interview. Many of the questions I'll ask silently, but I'll be asking them all the same.
For example, the first thing I check for as I walk up to the building is the nature of the cars in the car park. I'm not saying everyone with money likes to spend it on flashy wheels, or that I'd be suspicious of a company with nothing but 10-year-old bangers outside. Something I would find suspicious would be all the directors having reserved parking filled with executivemobiles, but everyone else having 10-year-old bangers.
Then we go inside. Am I greeted properly or made to wait around for a long time? Am I offered a drink while I wait for the interviewer to arrive? How is the office laid out? What's the level of conversation like: silent, mild friendly chatter, focussed technical discussion? Do the guys making a coffee in the kitchen look like they're enjoying a short break or like they're under pressure to be right back at their desks ASAP? How does the interviewer introduce him/herself when he/she arrives? Do they pronounce my name properly, or politely check the correct pronunciation if they aren't sure? Depending on the nature of the job/company, have they made an effort to be presentable?
I've taken all of that in before I even sit down with you at the table. Then comes one of the acid tests. If, as you suggest, the interview is treated as essentially a grilling and I, the interviewee, am treated as some sort of expendable cannon fodder, then I will not be impressed. We'll never have that other discussion you mentioned, because I will rate your company as not worth working for for any amount of money.
If, on the other hand, I'm immediately invited to ask questions as we go through the interview, and when I do so I'm given honest and straightforward answers, I will think much more highly of the prospective employer. I will, quite deliberately, ask polite but honest questions about things like working conditions and remuneration at some appropriate moment. One of my acid tests, though I usually leave this until the contract stage, is IP: does my employer expect to own any rights to anything I do outside of work (in which case, they will never be my employer)?
If any employer won't discuss these things honestly with someone they're interviewing, particularly straightforward and objective things like typical working hours in a week, then either they have something to hide (probably) or they have some overly rigid policy about how interviews are to be conducted that doesn't place sufficient value on me. In either case, it's unlikely either of us would be happy with me working there, and I will not regret asking the questions. No employer worth working for really thinks you're there purely to help they're company, so I just dispense with the bull up-front.
So far, I have never yet worked for an employer I wasn't happy with, and I've never been short of job offers when I've been looking. Equally, assuming I can take colleagues' comments and my formal performance reviews at face value, my employers have always been happy with me, too. So apparently my interview policy works for both sides. I wonder how many good people you lose because of yours.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.