Page 168 - John Kador - 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview-McGraw-Hill (2002)

QUESTIONS FOR SUPERSTARS

13-16
Assuming I’m current with my work,how many days could I not show up
at the office each week? Could I miss a day without your advance per-
mission? What percentage of the people in this position telecommute?
Has anyone in the group been allowed to take a month off (unpaid) to
fulfill a personal interest?
If personal autonomy is important to you, get it on the table and deter-
mine if there is precedent for what you want. It’s much easier to follow
precedent than to create it.
13-17
Give me some examples of the decisions I could make in this job with-
out any approvals. Can you show me the degree of autonomy and control
I will have in this position?
This is another way to ask how the company values personal autonomy.

13-18
How many hours a week do you expect the average person on your team
to work? How many hours does the average person in fact work? Are
there work-life programs in place to promote a healthy work-life balance?
As a superstar, you are prepared to put in the hours—you just want to
know what they are.

13-19
How will my performance be evaluated? What are the top criteria you
use? What percentage of my compensation is based on my performance?
Is there a process where the employees get to assess their supervisor? If
I do a great/bad job in the first 90 days, how, specifically, will you let
me know? What are the steps you would take to help me improve? How
do you discipline team members?
The answers to this complicated set of questions should tell you how the
company evaluates and motivates performance as well as how it corrects
lack of performance.

13-20
What is the first assignment you intend to give me? Where does that as-
signment rank on the departmental priorities? What makes this assign-
ment a great opportunity?

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