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QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POSITION TO FILL
How many employees does the department have?
This is an important question. It will help you have a preliminary idea of the work place. Don’t emit any judgment if they seem too many or too few to you, or if in your company they are more or less in the sector. You don’t know how the situation is really like and you shouldn’t risk an opinion with no facts. You can get a first idea for yourself, but don’t exaggerate. You will have to confirm it later on.
Is the department a business unit?
This question is applicable or not, it depends. Many companies are organized by business units, even in service sectors or with modern cellular organizations. Ask how they are organized, that will let you know your future work place better.
Does the department work separately from the other departments?
If the company is very small, this company is not pertinent and you may only ask with other you should interact with in your daily duty.
Are the functions of the department important for the highest direction of the company?
As you may know, in all companies the degree of importance of a function may be different. Individually, we may think that ours is very important however; don’t it might not be the generalized opinion in that area. Examples: the Human Resources function is, in the specialists’ opinion, a strategic area of the business in a company, whatever its sector may be, but it is not like this everywhere. There are still companies in which the function is reduced to the personnel department. If you were a specialist of the area and in the company where you are being interviewed they don’t value the function adequately, you have two options: either you ask again about the way they expect to develop the function in the future, or you ask for another job. This is just an example, take it like that.
Is the relation between the department and maximum conduction of the company good?
If there is a real problem, maybe the answer is not totally sincere. However, we recommend you to do it anyway because you will be able to deduct information with the answer.
What is the future boss’ management style?
This question takes the same risk than the previous one; they can give you a “manual” answer and not the real one. Evaluate the content of the received information.
Who does the position to fill depend on?
The name may not say anything in it self, therefore, you should get information about the position the immediate superior and, at the same time, who does this person depend on. In certain companies, people responsible for areas are called directors and in others, managers; the same sector in a company is called sub-management and in others departments and so on. The positions are not important for their names, but for their contents.
For future public relations, it will be better if your card says “manager”, but in this moment, when you are getting information of the real content of your future job, don’t let yourself be impressed by position titles. Try to find out what they really represent.
Many times, you hear in the interviews: “I can not accept a position inferior to manager”; they are wrong. What is really a manager? The one who has a position in name or the one who really has the function? There is a lot of confusion in the market.
Who does the future boss depends on?
This question is a confirmation of the previous one. If the previous explanation was very clear to you, it can be skipped.
What are your main responsibilities and functions of the position to fill?
If you replied to an advertisement, it is possible that it already had a first description of the position. If you followed our instructions, you may have already read and understood it very well. Therefore, don’t ask what you already know or should know. Analyze all the available information and ask from there.
Stop in this point and find out now about everything that worries you. If it is the first interview in the advisory, it is possible that the interviewer doesn’t have all the information. Don’t get overwhelmed. Ask your interviewer for the information you need and that may not be available in some other opportunity. Request the option of calling in a few days to know more about the job. Be cooperative in your requests. If you present them correctly they will be well received.
What are the career development plans for the position?
Many times, this question doesn’t have a concrete answer. Asking it has many advantages; you will find out about the plans for the position and you will show that you are a person with worries.
They can tell you that it will depend on your future development, and this is a good answer. They can not guarantee you a promotion if they don’t know what would be your real performance.
You can be in a situation in which they tell you that if you don’t reach a determined expected level, you will be ruled out and that, if you fulfill it, you will get to higher level; everything in its determined period.
The answers can be very different, depending on different companies.
For this question, the comments made in the previous question also apply.
Your interviewer -if you are at the beginning of the search- may not know the information at that moment. If so, propose the option of being informed later on.
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