Interviews

I thought I would do a video today that talks about things you should be looking for on the interview. They're going to reveal things about the organization that you're meeting worth. I just know it's an underutilized resource when people interview so I just want to bring to your attention a couple things. So, I'm going to count down from number five.
Number five. Mental toughness. Now, I'm not saying that they need to be rude but you want a resilient group. One of the questions you can ask them is, obviously, not everything goes smoothly. How do you get bounced back from things that don't quite go your way? It could be family or with the organization or with the business depending upon who it is that you're talking about and the nature of the role. So, number five is mental toughness.
Number four, are these people who are trying to get better at what they do or are they kind of do the same thing over and over robotically. So, one of the questions that you might ask is, "what does the organization do to help you perform at a higher level? Are you expected to pay for everything yourself? Are they going to contribute anything?" Don't just ask your hiring manager that. Talk to the people on the team because they'll tell you more about what the reality is than what the hiring manager may tell you. The hiring manager . . . I've heard so many hiring managers say things along the lines of, "Well, things that are job related we'll pay you for." Then, you discover it's things that are job related that are under $500 that can be taken in one day and at night, and they have unreasonable conditions as to when you can do training. So many of you discover it's not really the price that you think it is. So, ask the team, "you know, if I'm trying to get better at something that relates to my job, are they going to pay for it or am I expected to reach in my pocket?"
Number 3. What's the attitude of the people you'd be working with? Are they kind of bored, tired, worn out? Is the energy in the office kind of depressed? Do you want to work in a place like that? You know, the money may be good, the hiring manager may tell you how we've got a great team of people, but your eyes are telling you something different. Don't just listen to the hiring manager.
I know when there was a job that I wound up walking out I should say walking out. I went to to bird dog at a firm before I joined an organization. This is going back quite a few years ago when I still did recruiting. I was seeing people who were out of the office for hours at a time. Ywentou ask them where they went and they went shopping. Now, this is a sales office. How does that help me? How does that benefit me that they found hours of time to go shopping? And this has an impact on my performance. So recognize that there's an attitude in the office, that there's an energy in the office. What's it like? Is it tired, worn out, depressed or is it something that is alive and energetic.
Number two, and this one, I was not sure whether to make this number two and number one. So let's do this. Number two, what is the hiring process like? Are they engaged in a hiring process that really can determine what it is, you know, and how you can contribute? Is it so superficial . . . Have you done this? Have you done that? How do they measure whether you've done this or that? Do they ask you follow up questions to find out if you know what you claim to know?
Again, think in terms of what it's going to be like for you to be on board and be at risk of the impact of a bad hire. Are they challenging in the interview or are they easy going. In challenging, you may like the idea that you have to meet certain standards. So, recognize that that's a big part of how you look at things.
Number one, what are the people like on the team that you'll be working with? This is a fun one, because it's not just energy, but it's what do they look like? Are they all all old people and you're 22 or are they all young people and you're 62? What are they like? Are they all white people? Male? Is it a diverse work environment?
Now, you may like the idea of working with homogeneous group. Think about it for a second. Does that really serve you? Who are the leaders in the group? Who are the staff leaders? Because, yes, there's a manager but, often, they rely upon people more closely for input. So, who are the leaders in the group because they are the ones that are often whispering in the hiring managers ear, telling them who to bring on and who to pay attention to.
I worked at one firm where one of the people in the organization had the ear of the manager and the owner. That's what they chose to do and the impact was many of us felt isolated because we weren't heard. They were doing their own thing and doing it for their reasons. We got hurt.
Just find out and, as you meet with the team, you might just simply ask, "who's got the ear of the manager here? Who do they really listen to? Why? Why do they have that ear," and just go exploring.
So, again, these are five things that you can do in an interview in order to find out whether this is an organization that you should pay attention to regardless of the money or not.