Will Your Boss Be a Jerk? 4 Questions You Must Ask in a Job Interview
Part of the job interview process involves the interviewer attempting to figure out if you would be a good fit for the organization. However, another (very important) purpose of the interview is for you to decide if you like them and can see yourself at the company for longer than a couple of months. Don’t wait until you’re actually hired to start deciding whether you can work well with your boss. Ask the right questions and find out now if you’ll want to poke your eyes out after spending time with your supervisor. Here are some questions you should ask a potential boss in a job interview.
1. What is your management style?
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The answer to this question will let you know what you’re in for. Depending on how the interviewer responds, you’ll be able to see some glimpses of your future boss’s personality and expectations. The answer will tell you if you’ll be getting a micromanager who won’t let you breathe without approval from him and three other departments, or a Bossy McBoss Pants who expects you to get him coffee in the morning, pick up his dry cleaning, babysit his kids during your lunch break, and meet all your deadlines without so much as a peep. Pay attention to how much emphasis is placed on check-ins and going above and beyond the requirements listed in your job description.
2. What resources will be available to help me do my job?
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How the manager answers this query can show you some things about the current state of the company as well as what he or she values. A boss who is only interested keeping his budget fat won’t be pleasant to work with. This is because a miserly boss won’t provide you with the resources and support you need. If you find that you’ll have to pay for your own training, travel, and office supplies, you may want to rethink your job choice.
3. What are your expectations for the first 90 days?
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If your future boss mentions a crisis the company is experiencing and how he expects you to fix it in three months, be afraid. Unless this is why you’re being hired, alarm bells should be going off. He may be planning to use the new hire as an inexpensive means to address a company crisis that has been ignored for way too long. There may not be enough money in the budget (or he may be too stingy) to hire the appropriate help, so you might just the next best thing (in his mind). Cutting corners usually doesn’t end well when it comes to crisis management, so be leery about accepting a job offer in a situation where you’ll be expected to be the company’s savior.
4. Why is this position open?
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The manager may not be forthcoming with the answer, but it doesn’t hurt ask. If you know someone who works for the company, you may want to do some digging around and ask them why the employee before you left. Also see if you can find out the average turnaround time for employees in that position as well as most employees who work for the company. You may find out the manager is a horrible boss who can’t keep employees due to his bad behavior.
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