In business school, and throughout the course of my career, I run into a lot of people looking for jobs, considering offers, making decisions about which job to take. People often worry about the position – “will it be interesting?”, the company’s prospects – “is it hot/prestigious/successful enough?” , their compensation- “I just want to get paid”, their title, etc. While those are worthy considerations, I always ask about the people :
1. Did you meet the team you would be working with AND for?
2. Do you think they are people you can learn from?
3. Are your potential supervisor (person) and future employer (organization) going to be invested in your growth and development?
4. Are these people you feel good about working with day in and day out? Do you trust them?
5. How focused are they on value creation? Are they marking time and collecting a paycheck, or are they all on the same page about the value they want to deliver every day?
I’ve found these 5 questions to be helpful in both large and small company settings, established or startup-businesses. Jobs aren’t about companies, or paychecks – they’re about people that you see everyday, spend more of your waking moments with than your loved ones, so it’s vitally important that you play for the right team. People who’ve got your back, who won’t waste your time with petty politics or passive- aggressiveness, and who you feel comfortable being your fullest self with because that’s how you can be successful at your job. And when you are with a team that allows you to be successful, you will find yourself learning, smiling, getting paid and generally kicking ass!
Questions 5 is a tough one to figure out, especially in the context of professional services, because there seem to be a lot of people who enjoy competing, and winning, and they will work hard to win you over at the expense of their competitors, but I’ve found that liking to win does not necessarily equate to believing in value creation.
So take the time to talk to people at the company. Do some back channel diligence on the principals. Are they good leaders and mentors? Were they good followers? How do they react to conflict?
What are some other questions folks have found helpful when deciding on job opportunities?
nice one shiyan. important questions to try to answer before signing on the dotted line for sure. #3 and 4 are hard to answer during the interview/evaluation process though, more of a hypothesis & conclusion that gets played out over time (and hopefully hypothesis is not proven wrong).
By: ak on 07/12/2010
at 09:07
Great questions, Shiyan! I think an additional twist to #4 might be how inspiring it would be to work for/with the potential colleagues.
By: EY on 07/12/2010
at 11:43
Very timely Shiyan right as graduation hits…
thanks so much
By: Danika on 07/12/2010
at 14:29
#6: Trust your gut instincts
By: RY on 07/12/2010
at 17:42
Damn. I did not ask any of these questions when interviewing for my current job. I wish I had.
By: Maintenance Man on 07/13/2010
at 00:51
#6 – Great question/comment from a Hacker News reader (ja27)
“What happened to the person that had this job before me?
It doesn’t apply to all positions, but I’ve asked that a couple of times. When I’ve asked, it usually flusters the interviewer and they can’t give a good answer. That’s a bad sign. If it’s a quick “his wife took a new job in and he needed to move,” that’s better. Today with LinkedIn, there’s a good chance that you can find that person and ask them directly.”
By: ShiyanKoh on 07/13/2010
at 01:32
Question #6…
Does the job position bring me geographically closer to the future intended location of my cul de sac?
By: Vickie on 07/13/2010
at 01:59
Nice post. I’ve found that meeting with people you will be working with, not just for, can give you a feel for what the day-to-day climate will be like.
By: doemiso on 07/13/2010
at 13:07
[...] 5 questions to ask before taking a job [Shiyan Koh] Tagged:careerjobsoffice culture [...]
By: Consider Your Future Coworkers Before Taking A Job | Lifehacker Australia on 07/13/2010
at 14:26
[...] I saw a post (via LifeHacker) on Shiyan Koh’s blog: 5 Questions to Ask before Taking a Job, and it covers some pretty good and salient points, many of which I would echo. And there are some [...]
By: Things You Need To Know in Technical Interviews | Joshua Rhoades on 07/13/2010
at 15:41
[...] you walking the walk? 14 07 2010 I got a lot of great feedback on yesterday’s post about the 5 questions one should ask before taking a job – and questions on what I was doing [...]
By: Are you walking the walk? « Shiyan Koh on 07/14/2010
at 02:29
Thank you, Shiyan, for your thoughts on this subject. I am at a point in my career where I have clearly outgrown my current position and am looking around for other opportunities. Asking myself your 5 questions, however, gave me a completely different perspective on that search and made me reconsider the diamonds in the field in which I am currently standing.
Thank you, thank you for your timely thoughts!
By: Russ Wilson on 07/14/2010
at 12:38
I usually ask a mean one: “What are the things you don’t like about this company”. If I get a negative reaction I correct myself and say something like “OK, then what are the things you would like to change…”
I’ve interviewed once with McKinsey and an interviewer obstinately refused to answer (it was asked during a group interview and her boss was watching
).
I think it’s an interesting question and I’ve had many good answers. Furthermore, the reaction to it may tell you a lot about the person you are facing.
By: Gim on 07/14/2010
at 14:18
[...] of the people who you’ll be working with and how they influence job satisfaction. Koh suggests five questions you should ask before taking a new [...]
By: Right Brain Resource Blog » Blog Archive » 5 questions to ask before taking a job on 07/14/2010
at 17:36
Hi, I’m a friend of Grace Tan who showed me this site…good post! One question I always ask is, “Do I want to be like the people I’m going to work with and for.” There are two parts to this. First, you spend a ton of time at work, and the people and job influence your personality. The current team’s personality may be reflective of what kind of person you’ll end up being and what type of work you’ll be doing. Second, if you want to be like the people you meet, chances are you’re a good fit culturally which is hugely important for day-to-day transacting.
I’ve seen too many people really hate the interview process and those interviewing them only to ignore that data point in their decision making and take the job because of firm brand, the position title, or other.
Good post! Keep it up!
By: Jake on 07/14/2010
at 20:07
I wished I did this some 8 years ago when I took a job in Gap’s sourcing office in Miami. Lesson learned.
For what is worth, I recently accepted an offer for a position where I went as far as finding out the person that had the job before (he’s no longer with the company). His feedback on my soon-to-be boss, subordinates, coworkers, etc. was very helpful.
By: Micho on 07/15/2010
at 11:45
Are these questions to ask when they ask if you have questions? I would feel very awkward asking to meet the team before getting hired which means I couldn’t answer question #2. When the interviewer offers the position, I doubt he/she will allow you to talk to the staff about all this. People usually say yes or no right then, sometimes “can I get back to you?” I don’t believe any of these questions can be answered unless you’re actually working there. These are things you learn over time as an employee, not someone who hasn’t even started working there.
By: CS on 07/15/2010
at 15:55
[...] about the people in that workplace. So, from It’s all about the ecosystem, here are “5 Questions to Ask Before Taking a Job.” They focus on the people in the prospective workplace. I do find the questions intriguing; [...]
By: Thinking some more about jobs and the workplace « Alchemical Thoughts on 02/16/2011
at 17:02
Particulary stirring blog article.
By: Cherrie Bevelle on 07/26/2011
at 19:16