How to cut through the BS of interviews and get real insights as a jobseeker
Just like with resume advice, the internet is awash with tips for job seekers on how to ace job interviews. Interviews are a crucial part of the recruiting process for both candidates and employers. It provides a way for both parties to get further information on job responsibilities, culture, state of the company, benefits and if the job is a match for both players. However, recruiters have been known to tell a couple of lies and even toot their horn too much during hiring. It is, in essence, a marketing role anyways right?
What most candidates forget however is that they hold as much power in the interview room as the employer. That is why the salary is termed compensation. It’s an exchange of certain benefits for your experience, skill, attitude, and time. It’s for this reason why we thought we’d highlight how to get real information about your potential employer, away from the BS, that can help you evaluate your career move.
First off, have a list of potential questions to ask the interviewers during your meeting. You can ask some of these as the interview goes along depending on what’s being asked. Just be polite and don’t interrupt an interviewer every 2 minutes. Be an active listener and pay attention to what’s being said and not being said. You want to come across as a candidate who’s really keen on their career choices and is asking questions because they want to make a sure decision based on facts. So apart from the normal questions you can ask, here’s how to get recruiters to really open up.
Insist on real numbers & examples
Just like most folk, recruiters are also very good with words. We sell the company. It’s what we’re paid to do. But most hiring team members are not trained on interviewing or don’t believe what they’re selling. This is your chance to separate fact from fiction by asking for real numbers & examples in your questions. For instance, instead of asking “Does this company believe in career growth?”, ask instead one of the interviewers “How have you grown in this company in the last 6 months? What do you personally like best about working here? What other kind of support do you provide employees?.” Putting a time period to it also forces the answer to be SMARTer. Recruiters tell us to use the SMART(Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-based) method when answering interview questions, use it on them too.
Research ahead of time
The primary advice for interviews is always BE PREPARED!. Base your questions on research and facts. People can’t argue with that. Quotes from reviews in sites like Glassdoor or news releases as well as social media pages can provide good content for real fact-based questions. LinkedIn is also a source for content you can get on current & previous employees, organisational structure or company updates. For instance, if a recent Glassdoor review from a previous employee cited critical issues such as racism, sexual harassment or pay inequality, you better get that cleared up during the interview and not just ignore it. A question here could be, “I saw a Glassdoor review dated 2 months ago from a recent employee complaining about sexism during promotions. What’s your practice around promotions?” Get data on employee retention, company growth rate(economically), leadership, or media headlines like corruption. Read more on the power of social proof here.
Focus on the job & supervisors
Ask meaningful questions to the people you will be working with from day one. Since most teams will introduce themselves at the beginning or even before the D-day via email or call, use the opportunity to ask function-specific questions that may affect your day to day performance. Such questions can be “What does the department look like at the moment?” or “What challenges are you currently facing in the department that you hope the person taking up this role can address? What are the success metrics for the role? How is the reporting structure? Is this a new role? If not, what happened to the last person that held it?” “How would you describe your team culture & processes?”
Test their company knowledge
To get the real feel of an organisation, most Millenials will enquire about social impact as much as company numbers. Yes, knowing how many staff or offices are being served is important. But the real test for the recruiters will be if you enquire more on numbers they have especially posted on their career pages or content. A good question may be, “So you mention in your Twitter page that your work has supported thousands of farmers across Africa. Could you share more on that?” Another is “What are your long term goals?”. This is also a great question since like we mentioned at the beginning, most staff don’t really know company-specific numbers, which they should. So test their company knowledge too.
Ask follow-up questions
After every answer, if something isn’t clear, follow it up immediately. For instance, ask “How much time do you spend with the farmers? How much financial support is provided to them? Why is this mission important to you as a company?” But the most important question of all here is “What do you mean by that? or Could you explain that further?” This forces the recruiter to dig deeper from the hype words to real facts that you’re looking for.
The NPS score
There’s a reason why the NPS score is still one of the most important metrics in marketing. This is the usual “Would you recommend this company to a friend?” We highlighted some in our earlier post on social proof. So why not turn the normal “Why should we hire you?” question around to “Why should I work here? What makes this a great place to work for?”. Make it personal. This is definitely a punch that will turn the tables around and give you stronger bargaining power.
Further questions?
What happens if you have further questions? A good hiring team should provide avenues for further communication until they say so. If they haven’t, make sure to ask as you close. Remember to thank everyone for their time and for answering your questions as well as reiterate your deep interest in the role & the company.
These principles apply to startups as well. Here are some interview questions by Jeff Morris Jr.
- What’s your path to profitability?
- How much fundraising is required to get there?
- How much will employees get diluted?
- What’s your burn?
- How much runway is left?
Probing is something most job seekers don’t do and is bound to make you memorable(in a good way!) after the interview.
Got any more interview tips for jobseekers? Share them below.
Still looking for more tips? Check out https://medium.com/jobonics/what-you-can-while-still-job-searching-72fcad793448 or https://medium.com/jobonics/how-to-identify-a-bad-employer-early-on-all-the-red-flags-you-shouldnt-ignore-f7d2f86f1277
