Jobhop Jobhop's blog : Make Sure To Interview Your Potential Employer.

An interview can play out like this:

The interviewer will chat all about the company, the role they're employing for, then they’ll ask you questions about yourself and your skills, ending on the question "do you have any questions?" This is your chance to interview your potential employer, but how many do?

Companies now need to fill positions with good people and they're increasingly having difficulty finding them, so before you allow the interviewer to control the whole conversation, think about how much they need you. Once you've worked that one out then think, why should you work for that particular employer?

Here are some questions you can ask at the interview to determine whether they’re the right fit for you.

What is their why?

Why do they create the products they do? What's their bigger picture? Are they aiming to change the world with their product/service? Are they truly passionate about it, does it fire them up?

Do they chat regularly online about what they do? Have they got a tribe of ambassadors who are just as excited as them about their product?

What's their company culture like?

Ideally you’d want to work for a company that feels right. Does the company feel right to you? If you’re someone who’s best work is always produced in a flexible, creative environment then perhaps a rigid, clinical environment isn’t going to do it for you. If you’re someone who likes to socialise and really get to know your colleagues over a pint after work, then perhaps a place where everyone keeps themselves to themselves isn’t your thing. You may be someone who likes to complete your work before you leave but the culture is that everyone just stampedes out of the door when the bell rings.

The person interviewing you may tell you that they have a healthy culture at their company but to really find out what it’s like you’ll have to find out from their existing employees. If you’re hesitant it’s better to ask for a trial session before leaving somehwhere else, starting at the new company and then finding out a few weeks later it doesn’t fit your personality at all...This happens a lot!

Are they an ethical company?

For example: If they were a clothes company could they say the clothes were made in an ethical way, do people get paid a fair wage for the work they do?

A food company, are you comfortable with where the food was manufactured, how livestock was being transported or perhaps the amount of additives being added?

Does the company invest its money and do they invest in something that goes completely against your values? Let’s put it like this, if you were a non smoker and believed smoking kills but were happy that the company you wanted work for took a lead role in campaigning against smoking but then found out that they’d invested £44m in tobacco firms, that might make you think differently about working for them. Many companies and even councils invest in the tobacco sector, remember this if you have strong ethical values.

How many rungs on the career ladder?

How fast can you climb the career ladder? Or perhaps that should be re-worded, how fast are you allowed to climb the career ladder within the company? If you’re expected to do the same job role for years because the only way of climbing a rung on the ladder is when “good old Joe retires” then you should be notified of that at the interview. If you’re career hungry you’ll want to know about all the fabulous training they have to offer, who are the successes within the company and how fast they got to climb the ladder.

What’s their company story?

Not having a company story is like a company without a heart. Does your interviewer know how the company started? When you ask that question, do they look vague or rush through it like it’s irrelevant? Everyone in the company should know where they’ve come from and where they’re going, it’s about being proud of what’s been achieved and excited of what’s ahead of them. Take a company like Betram Books, U.K’s leading book supplier to retailers all over the U.K and overseas, a company who revolutionised book distribution in the U.K, their humble beginnings started in a chicken shed, what a story!

A story like that should never be lost everyone in the company should know the story.

So when you’re asked at the interview “have you any questions?” make sure you use the opportunity to really find out what makes the company tick and dig deep to find out if they’re worthy of your talent.

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Julie Bishop Jobhop.co.uk

Pic credit GangplankHQ

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