Career Planning:

Interviews
  

 compliments of FutureVisions^SM

You will know a job is wrong by thoughtfully applying the Four Vital Questions. If you're prepared and you know you're ready to tackle the job, there aren't many reasons why a job may be wrong for you-but any single one of them can bring your interview experience to an unexpected close. Here are the most common issues:

1. The chemistry between you and the manager isn't right. There isn't much, if anything, you can do about this.

2. The job is different from what your research suggested it was, and you can't really do it. The only option here, other than bowing out gracefully, is to reconduct your research about the job right there in the interview. Find out what the manager needs. If he is willing, you may be able to come back for another interview, once you have prepared for it.

3. The job is “broken” (see below for more on this).

4. You can do the job, but decide you don't want it. (Your reasons may include learning that the growth path is not to your liking.) Bow out gracefully..

If you find yourself interviewing for the wrong job, no matter what the reason, end the interview. There's nothing wrong with saying, "It seems this job may not be right for me. You want to hire the best candidate to suit your needs, and I want to find the job that will make the best use of my skills. Perhaps we should end this interview." The interviewer will respect your integrity.

Broken Job

Every now and then, you will run into a really difficult interview situation. Even after you've done all your research and prepared yourself in every conceivable way, you will encounter a manager who is conducting interviews to fill a job that doesn't work. The job is broken. There are many such jobs. If you apply the Four Vital Questions both before and during an interview, you will avoid getting hired to fail at one. You will also avoid wasting your time sucking canal water. That's what happens in an interview when you sud­denly get a bad taste in your mouth because you suspect the manager doesn't know what he's talking about. If you let the interview continue on such a track, you will be floundering.

One of our clients (let’s call him Ed) applied the Four Vital Questions in just such a situation-and saved himself from a broken job. Ed was a highly qualified candidate interviewing for the position of manager of research operations for a major pharmaceutical company. At the time, Ed held a similar position with a competing firm. He interviewed with the executive to whom the position would report.

Ed was conquering every aspect of the interview, and it seemed the executive was on the brink of deciding to hire him. In spite of the reinforcing feedback Ed was getting, something was bothering him. He sensed that something wasn't right at a critical level of detail. When the man who would be his boss asked Ed if he had any other questions, Ed leaned forward in his chair.

"I want to make sure we understand the job the same way. It might help if we work through an example together. Could you lay out a live problem for me-without divulging any proprietary or confidential information, of course-a problem that you're facing right now and that you would want me to tackle if you hired me?"

The executive sat back in his chair. Clearly the interview had just shifted gears. Ed was struck by the profound silence as the manager across from him sat thinking. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but a few minutes went by. It was easy to see that this man was con­sidering Ed's question very seriously. Finally he looked up at Ed. "I really can't think of one," he admitted, seeming surprised at himself. "I just can't think of one."

The meeting ended amiably. Nonetheless, Ed left the executive's office feeling disconcerted and confused. "We discussed the company's mission, the philosophy of the research department, and we even talked about some of the work the last guy in the job had done." A week later, Ed called his contact at the company - the person who had introduced him and arranged the interview - to ask if she'd heard anything about the job.

"Oh. You don't know? They decided not to fill the job after all," she replied. "Don't feel bad. From what I heard, it didn't have anything to do with you. They just decided the position was unnecessary.

Ed called us shortly afterwards to say that now he understood exactly what we meant by a broken job. "I don't know for sure, but I think I helped the manager realize there really wasn't any specific work that needed doing."

What went wrong? Sometimes a manager is in such a hurry to fill out his head count that he doesn't stop to consider whether any specific work needs to be done. Or, a desperate manager tries to throw more bodies at a problem he doesn't really understand him­self. For whatever reason, he ends up creating broken jobs because he is not really thinking about the work. Henry Thoreau once said, "It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things." It takes a desperate manager to create a broken job, and that's not smart.

A job is broken when no clear goals have been established for it. No one seems to know exactly what tasks the worker is supposed to accomplish. The work is usually so disorganized that it's impossible for the manager to measure your performance. Anyone who tries to do this type of job will fail. But it doesn't stop some managers from filling the job anyway. In Ed's case, the employer came face-to-face with his folly during the interview.

Interviewing for a broken job can be daunting for the candi­date, because the manager can't really describe the work. Oh, he can outline the "position." He can say what a "challenge" it is. But he will avoid actually talking much about the specific work. And, unless someone asks the Four Vital Questions, neither the employer nor the candidate will realize that the job is not doable. You see, the Four Vital Questions cut two ways: the employer must have answers for them, too. If an employer cannot describe the work in detail, or is not interested in seeing how you would do it, you must make a choice. Do you want to work for such a manager?

How do you know whether a job is broken? Your gut will probably tell you that something is wrong. If the interview gets confusing and you know you're not causing the confusion, go with your gut. Ask for the manager's version of a written description of the job, as well as written goals and milestones that are to be achieved. Most important, find out how your performance will be measured and on what basis you will be reviewed for promotion. You will quickly discover whether the manager has really thought this out.

There is one another option, if you have the stomach for it. If you have established a strong enough rapport with the employer, you can come right out and tell him that you think the job is broken. You can offer to collaborate with him to figure out what work really needs to be done, so that a legitimate job can be cre­ated. If he agrees, you may find yourself in the enviable position of designing your own job. It could also be a waste of your time. Use your judgment. The Four Vital Questions will help you identify broken jobs so you can decide how to deal with them.

Use the Four Vital Questions to weed out broken jobs either before or during the interview. If the employer can't or won't describe the job in enough detail so that you can demonstrate how you would do it, and if he can't tell you how your performance will be measured, run, don't walk, to the exit.