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I have a third interview with an amazing company. I've had two phone interviews, one with HR and then another with the hiring manager. The third interview will be a face-to-face with HR, then the hiring manager, then her boss. I was not looking for a job when this opportunity presented itself so I'm still a bit surprised and now very excited. Any recommendations on what kind of intelligent questions to ask the boss and her boss? And any recommendations on what NOT to say? I've been through so many interviews in my life, but could always use some input from others!
Hoosier - I don't know what type of work you do so I hope these apply to you as they have applied to me:
I ask what short-term projects are planned (say 3-6 months down the line) and what your role would be in these projects. This will establish your mindset as to what will hit you short-term, as well as provide you an opportunity to bring up more of your strong points or relevant experience.
I also ask what long-term projects are planned for the department and then for the company. This usually gives me a vision for their direction and for my (in this case yours) opportunities for career advancement.
I ask what type and extent of interaction they have with other departments within the company. This would allow you to gauge which other departments you would touch in your day-to-day activities and would provide you a networking venue, another place to move into later, if you feel this current position is not for you. What you learn on this job you can easily port into the next one since you have already touched some portions of the overlapping work.
I ask, if not yet volunteered, for an explanation of reporting hierarchies, matrix relationships, so you know who can pull the strings and plugs of what your department is working on. The previous paragraph may refer to peers...this is about who calls the shots above your boss.
Hope these help, and best of luck!!
Last edited by BagongBuhay; 01-31-2008 at 10:48 AM..
Reason: spelling
The more info you gather, and the more you make them think, the better the question. Being in the game currently, I like to ask what type of support to expect? Who/what/where will help transition the candidate? And how senior are they?
If not already indicated, find out what daily/monthly accomplishments are to be made, and how are they rated? (this sometimes gives a great idea if it's a new position, if it was demanding and the prior quit, or if there is backed up workload)
And usually toward the end I try to push for a hands-on demo time to sit/discuss the company/duties with various departments. This is the best indicator of the stability of the company, as seen from front line employees.
But again, I tend to be leery of duties, seeing that job ads and even hiring managers can fluff the truth. I like to get the whole picture, and opinions up front. A great reverse method is doing a search on "hate my job" and dig up dirt on the company, if any exists.
Matrix relationship (a not too new corporate buzzword) is a dotted line relationship to someone. Your boss for example reports to (hypothetically) the SVP of Marketing and has a dotted line relationship to SVP for Strategy. What that really means is while the SVP Marketing cannot fire or hire someone like your boss, he/she still has to run projects by and can be helped or stopped by the Strategy honcho. Does this help?
Matrix relationship (a not too new corporate buzzword) is a dotted line relationship to someone. Your boss for example reports to (hypothetically) the SVP of Marketing and has a dotted line relationship to SVP for Strategy. What that really means is while the SVP Marketing cannot fire or hire someone like your boss, he/she still has to run projects by and can be helped or stopped by the Strategy honcho. Does this help?
Dont you mean can't hire/fire the SVP of Strategy?
I would bet that the SVP of Marketing could fire a manager in marketing.
Dont you mean can't hire/fire the SVP of Strategy?
I would bet that the SVP of Marketing could fire a manager in marketing.
No. Poster's boss reports to SVP Marketing. Poster's boss has matrix relationship to SVP Strategy. SVP Marketing can hire/fire poster's boss; SVP Strategy cannot hire/fire poster's boss.
I ask the interviewer to describe what a typical day looks like in your future work area. This should give you an idea on whether the department works on a fire-drill basis regularly or work is pretty routine, any cyclical work toward month-end, quarters, year-end, overtime, weekend work.
Then you can ask, if there are peaks and valleys of work load, how he ensures that work continues...does his staff bring work home, do they stay later at work, is telecommute an option. This would prepare you appropriately to make arrangements in your personal life to meet the demands of the position...no surprise to you nor to your manager, and it becomes a win-win situation!
Thank you all very much for the questions. I have my interview tomorrow so this will help me sound even more professional and put together. You all ROCK! Thanks!!
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