PART I

Preparation for the Interview

Do Some Internet Research

Your hard work and patience have paid off! You’re finally scheduled for an interview with WayOut.com. You’ve read 15 books on “How To Prepare For the Interview.” You’ve got the right clothes, conservative but not funereal; you’ve read all the “Questions You May Be Asked” and memorized the right answers, and, you’ve talked to everyone you know about how to survive this right of passage. You might have even been interviewed before or had a mock interview. Now it’s time to think of the questions you’re going to ask at the interview.

You are an ethical, honest human being who wants to work for a company committed to the same virtues. You have studied the right questions and want to know about mission, values, and corporate responsibility.

You can learn the mission, values, and strategic direction of a company simply by visiting their website. Take a look at Dell.com, for instance1. Click on “About Dell” and you will find “Careers,” “Newsroom,” “Investors,” and “Social Impact.” Scroll down and you’ll also find, “Who we are,” “Our brands,” “Leadership,” and “Sponsorships.” Open “Who we are” and scroll down to “Powering human progress: developing technology to transform lives” and the “Dell Technologies Code of Conduct.” Here you will find some important things to know about the company you may wish to join.

If you Google the founder, you will see that Michael Dell started the company in 1984 with the uncommon idea of selling custom-built computers directly to the customer. Dell Technologies defines itself as having used the power of direct to customers to provide customers with superb value; high-quality, relevant technology; customized systems; superior service and support; and products and services that are easy to buy and use.

When you click on “Commitment,” you’ll find Michael Dell saying: “Integrity matters. It matters to our customers, partners, colleagues and communities. And, it matters greatly to me.” As a result, the company says that it will “…avoid conflicts of interests…engage in charitable contributions and activities…and make values-based decisions,” among other things. It then gives a half dozen or so e-mail addresses where ethics violations can be reported.

When you’re looking for a place to spend at least 40 hours a week of your life, look for this information, among other things:

Mission

Values

Social responsibility

Diversity

Community involvement

Questions that you can find answered on the Internet (or in available company publications, such as the annual report)

If you persevere with your search, you can find just about anything on the Internet, but you should be able to find answers to these important questions readily.

1. What is the corporate mission?

2. What are the corporate values?

13. What is the organization’s board makeup and involvement?

15. How is the organization positioned in the market?

16. How do you define the organization’s market and share of market?

17. Who are the company’s main competitors?

Question to Ask for-Profits

Questions to Ask Not-for-Profits (Nonprofits)

Obviously, the motives of for-profits and not-for-profits (nonprofits) differ around the word “profit.” Both are typically responsible to a board, and both must be well managed and maintained financially, but only one is responsible to shareholders to create a financial return for shareholder investment, although the situation is shifting somewhat with for-profits developing community-minded instincts. (Not-for-profits and nonprofits differ slightly but mostly around the bottom line; nonprofits typically show a zero balance at the end of their reporting year.)

What to Ask at a Not-for-Profit (Nonprofit) Interview

Not-for-profit organizations (or nonprofits) usually have a specific mission and target audience. Think of the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, and many, many other governmental, healthcare, special interest, and public policy-centered groups.

Mission Versus Margin

Most not-for-profits live by their mission. It’s not that they don’t care about the margin; it’s not their very first priority. A health care organization in my city yearly brags of a bottom line in the billions of dollars; its CEO is paid several million dollars a year in salary. Many say that they act more like a for-profit. They may, indeed, but they return none of their equity to any shareholders. They probably advertise as much as any for-profit organization in this state, but, again, they reinvest most of their money in the organization. They don’t pay dividends and have no shareholders.

If you interview with a company like that, ask them the following questions and remember you are asking them to see if the mission and values are ingrained and alive with the employees, or just hot air spouted on their website and other promotional materials:

1. What is the corporate mission?

2. What are the corporate values?

3. What is the corporate culture?

4. What is the organization’s vision?

5. Does the organization have a strategic plan?

6. What are the organization’s strengths?

7. What are the areas where the organization can improve?

8. What is the organization’s financial projection for the coming year?

Most not-for-profits depend on the donations of contributors to meet their expanses. Some depend on the government or agencies like the United Way. Knowing this, you should ask these kinds of questions: “How dependable is your donor base? Will the government support continue into the next year? If your donations might diminish, do you have plans to make up for the shortfall?”

If you are interviewing at a for-profit, many of the same questions apply, but some are different.

What to Ask at a For-Profit Interview

For-profit companies have been gradually changing, but they still focus on shareholder return to the exclusion of the environment, social issues and governance. In fact, they seem to pay attention to these only in so far as they can make a better profit by doing so. Be that as it may, you should ask the following kinds of questions at an interview with a for-profit company.

3. What is the corporate culture?

4. What is the organization’s vision?

5. Does the organization have a strategic plan?

6. What are the organization’s strengths?

7. What are the areas where the organization can improve?

8. What is the organization’s financial projection for the coming year?

9. What are the company’s core competencies?

Fit the Questions Smoothly Into the Interview

Certainly, any of the questions can be fit in the context of the interview. For example, if someone asks, “What has been your experience managing a budget?” And, I would hope an interviewer would ask a potential manager that question. Then, you can cite your experience and insert your question about the financial status of the company.

NOTE: You should act professionally at the interview. You should act interested, confident, mature, and serious. You are not at the interview to establish an antagonistic relationship. You do that and you have better-than-average chances of being passed over for the job. No one likes to interview disrespectful or derisive candidates.

Suppose you are asked the techniques you use to resolve conflict. Again, I would hope as a potential manager you would be asked that question. If you are asked, you have a perfect, and legitimate, opportunity to ask questions about how the company communicates with its various constituencies, handles crises, and recognizes people.

I suggest you pose these questions in a subtle or straightforward manner, whatever your personality. This means you should be yourself. Don’t interview and pretend to be someone you’re not. If you get the job based on a false persona, you will eventually revert to your “real” self and either you and/or your new employer may become very dissatisfied.

If a potential employer is intimidated that you ask some legitimate questions, you should seriously consider whether you want to work there. Remember, don’t take a job simply to have a job. It’s the worst thing you can do. You will find the right job. Persevere. Even in the Great Depression, 70 percent of the workforce had jobs.

Prioritize Your Questions

What happens if you don’t have time or chance to ask several questions? What should you consider the most important question?

The answer to this certainly depends on your interview context and the personality of the interviewer. That said, I believe the most important questions have to do with your actual job duties and the evaluation of your performance. Therefore, if you can ask only one question (or one group of questions), I advise you to ask, “Does the organization require employees to write goals? How are employees evaluated?”

Never accept a job without a clear definition of your duties. Never stay in a job where you have no specific, measurable, and negotiated goals to perform and with which to be measured by.

Too many employers and their supervisors fail to use specific measurable goals and work plans and fall victim to the “I like him/her. Let’s give her/him a raise. She/he’s doing a nice job.” That’s fine, as long as your boss likes you. However, if your relationship with your boss becomes challenging, with measurable goals and evaluations, you cannot be denied a raise if you meet them. In a worst-case scenario, you cannot be fired for arbitrary reasons. Management must demonstrate that you failed to meet goals that you both agreed upon. In either scenario, having measurable goals to measure your performance against is important to your long- and short-term success in a job.

Ask the Most Important Questions

5. Does the organization have a strategic plan?

8. What is the organization’s financial projection for the coming year?

25. What characteristics does the model employee of the company possess?

26. What skills are valued most?

30. What opportunities exist for training and staff development?

37. Does the organization require employees to write goals?

38. How are employees evaluated?

39. Does a job description exist for this position?

44. How many people are you interviewing for this position?

45. What is the process for selection of the final candidate?

49. How did I do in this interview?

50. When will I find out that I have been chosen?

Ask the HR Representative These Questions

Human resource (HR) people know a lot about company policies, employee relations, hiring and firing, and benefits as well as specific job responsibilities. They have formulas for interviewing. They’ve taken courses that tell them how to identify good and bad characteristics. They can stereotype you right out of a good job. However, most job interviews begin with HR, and most organizations depend upon them to screen out inappropriate candidates.

You must be very careful interviewing with HR people. You can’t show up on either end of the scale, either too aggressive or too passive. You must perform in the middle for them. By all means, ask them questions. They like engaged people. And, they like the big, broad questions: “Does the company value diversity?” They like that question because they are charged, largely, for creating and maintaining diversity.

You might ask the HR people about union activity. I say might because they are often anti-union, as they are charged with dealing with grievances and negotiating salaries and benefits, areas of concern to unions. Tread cautiously with this one.

You can ask HR people about retention rates, profit sharing, training and development, even recognition programs. They’ll love it! And, speaking of salaries and benefits, HR people are consumed with salary and benefit knowledge. Ask about the 501 c (3). They’ll love you! Questions related to benefits and dress codes are specific to HR; these questions should not be asked during interviews with managers, they waste time and managers are often unsure of the answers.

Here is a list of questions from which you can choose if you are interviewed in the company HR department.

12. Does the company value diversity?

14. Does the company have programs to develop and promote minorities?

20. Is there a union at the organization?

21. What do the workspaces look like in the company?

22. How would you describe the company environment?

23. Is there a corporate dress code?

28. Does the organization have a “Recognition-Rich” environment?

29. What is the organization’s retention rate?

30. What opportunities exist for training and staff development?

31. Does the organization have profit sharing, gain sharing, an ESOP?

35. Is the organization parent-friendly?

36. Does the company provide a new employee orientation?

37. Does the organization require employees to write goals?

38. How are employees evaluated?

39. Does a job description exist for this position?

41. Have there been any lay-offs recently?

42. What techniques does the company use to increase morale?

46. What is the salary range for this position?

47. What is the benefit package, and is it negotiable?

1 https://dell.com/en-us

..................Content has been hidden....................

You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.
Reset
44.200.249.42