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OK, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. It is NOT easy at all to spot a good (or bad) boss during the hiring process. But worry not. Here are 5 questions to help you spot a good one (or a bad one!) in your next interview in 2024: 1. "Of all the people who worked for you, how many have been promoted and how did you help them get there?" This can reveal a lot about how they develop and support their people. The best managers out there will have specific examples of how they did this. _________ 2. "Can you share a time when an employee gave feedback on something that can be improved or changed?" This can reveal how they accept and implement feedback (or not). The best manager make people feel: - heard - understood and - respected when accepting feedback. __________ 3. "How do you maintain the balance between achieving results and caring for the well-being of your team?" This will give you an understanding of their approach to managing stress and pressure within the team. ________ 4. "How do you handle mistakes or failures within your team?" This can shed some light on their attitude towards failure and whether they use it as a learning opportunity or a reason to reprimand. The best managers understand that mistakes are inevitable and use them as coaching moments. __________ 5. What kind of leadership development opportunities exist here?" This one is not just for you. The answer to the above can reveal how the company invests in its leaders. Remember You are NOT choosing a job. You are also choosing a boss. Choose wisely. And with that dear high flyers, I wish you all a Happy, Healthy & Successful 2024! #aviation #leadership #newyear2024
New jobseekers inexperienced at interviewing need to see these questions. I have been in a few interviews where the interviewers would have been shocked and uncomfortable if I had asked these questions. I’m talking about a public community college position. The interviewers were so concerned that they follow all the rules to ask the same questions to all candidates (to be equitable and follow policies) and were unwilling to answer any of the questions I had emailed ahead of time, just to get more info about the role, until the very end of the interview, and the hiring manager read them aloud to the group. (I might have had other questions at that point). Lots of red flags. Having the questions handy that were in this post would have helped shift the focus a bit and been empowering: they were interviewing me, but I was also interviewing them. I had prepared questions about the role, not about company culture. Or the boss’s leadership approach. I was offered a second interview, but since I was unavailable at that specific time, they said I would no longer be considered.
my comment on a repost: Good stuff and I like Pete’s honest dialogue. Interviews are usually set up like interrogations or The Spanish Inquisition where candidates are grilled by rapid-fire questions of impressively dumb questions—what is your spirit animal and what weaknesses and horrorscope would your animal identify with?—rather than information exchanges. A conversation is the preferred method; it’s hard as it is unlikely that you and the interviewer (note: singular) have ever met, much less developed enough trust to be honest (and honestly, most organizations drum honesty out of folks in favor for listen-and-say-yes). You will hear folks say to research the organization and the hiring manager, but you as a candidate are unlikely to be able to do much useful research. Thanks for sharing, Bryan. And thanks for posting, Arpad.
Interviews are never a one way "transaction", how interviewers interact with candidates is also under scrutiny....can tell a lot about a company this way....and yes choose wisely. NB: Interview I had for a role not that long ago, Interviewers insisted Interview be conducted via Teams...and I was in the same city, they were only 12 kms away...!! and here's the kicker, via Teams all they asked was behavioural questions that were given to them by HR, not face to face, but remotely...reading them out like robots...and they did not ask one question about my expertise, achievements etc...I was convinced they themselves didn't understand the questions they were asking...reckon they had a checklist they ticked off if I said the "right" words. So many alarm bells for me it wasn't funny!!
There are dozens (hundreds?) of websites, newsletters, blogs, and books telling jobseekers how to answer questions during job interviews to portray themselves in the best light, regardless of what the actual, unvarnished truth might be. I'm sure the same applies to employers.
Great questions. But in my lengthy experience, my hiring manager would normally be replaced in about 2-3 months. You are not getting hired by a hiring manager but rather by a company. Make sure you like the whole package.
Sound advice, indeed! I've met hundreds of managers during my career but there are few I would describe as excellent leaders. I posted recently on why people resign from their jobs - they usually leave their boss, not the company.
No one ever ask questions like this on an interview. I guarantee you won’t get the job. I know have asked questions before. One recuiter after the interview called me out on it.
What is the little secret please? Why would anyone ask these questions in an interview unless they wish to be disqualified?
Good advice Arpad Szakal, ACC. In past experience of asking tough probing questions like these in interviews it often goes two ways. Firstly they have no idea how to answer questions like these, or secondly they get very defensive and push back. On rare occasions when they do answer with genuine well reasoned answers observe their body language. Body language will tell you for sure if they actually believe in what they are saying.
Enterprise Risk Senior Manager @ Robinhood
10moI really love this, but how do you ask these questions without appearing cocky in the interview? As a hiring manager, I would absolutely find these questions bold and interesting if someone asked me, but the reality is that many hiring managers would find this over the top. Candidates should recognize that good or bad bosses come and go, and the candidate should be looking at the bigger picture to assess if they have a future in the company, which is what #5 gets at. If you are having a good interview that is more like a natural dialogue than an interrogation, there are ways to get to these questions in a more natural way. The problem is that so many people just don't know how to interview a candidate in a way that is natural and really gets at the underlying character of a potential employee, so interviews basically become a Q&A session. Thanks for the insightful post and food for thought.