Over the years I’ve interviewed many times. You go through the usual dog & pony show; get an offer; take it.
Then you get there and discover it’s not what it was cracked up to be or there are
restrictions that you find ridiculous.
Here’s list of some things that in the future I will “need” to know before I will accept an offer.
Departmental managerial authority: can they override company policy at their disgression? (eg. Company allows flex-time - manager won’t)
Access to internet. (seems a given but I hear of places where it’s absent or heavily restricted (no, not porn, but for instance we can’t look at ESPN here to get a damned score, even on break). I worked at another place with the exact opposite take on Internet: do what you want as long as you get your work done,
Allow personal cell phones.
Allow personalization of cubicle/office (just read about someplace where you weren’t allowed pictures on your desk!!!)
Managerial bonus incentives: (tough one - I’m not a manager and you probably are all thinking “NOT OF YOUR BUSINESS”., but I say it might be. We have a situation where managers are “stupidly” rewarded for not using their budgeted money. So even though there’s budgeted money for “training”, manager says no training and gets rewarded (bonus) for not spending all his budget.
There are others but I’ll skipthem for now.
SO- how the hell can I bring up these subjects after having been made an offer?
Because all of the above are deal breakers for me. (Especially the last one).
Anyone from an HR department out there? Any tactful way to find out some of these things without having the offer withdrawn?
I can’t think of any tactful way that you would ask someone actually in the position of interviewing and/or hiring you. You might see if you can somehow score a connection with some of the employees there. For most of my major jobs I’ve asked to meet some of the people I’d be working with. While you probably still can’t tactfully ask “So, can we surf the 'Net here?” you might be able to get a good sense of the morale around the place. And, in walking from cube to cube, you might be able to see if anyone has CNN or ESPN up on their monitors.
You could ask the HR people if you could have a copy of the employee handbook to look over once you’ve finished interviewing. I’ve never tried this - didn’t think of it until just now - but it might show a reasonable interest in the company, and you can explain that you want to get a better feel for the working environment. That would probably answer a lot of questions right there for you.
I’m with you FilmGeek, I would guess it was just a slip of the cyber tongue, if not, it’s better for the OP to be corrected on the Internet than in real life.
digress: to turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument
Main Entry: dis·cre·tion
Pronunciation: dis-'kre-sh&n
Function: noun
1 : the quality of being discreet : CIRCUMSPECTION; especially : cautious reserve in speech
2 : ability to make responsible decisions
3 a : individual choice or judgment <left the decision to his discretion> b : power of free decision or latitude of choice within certain legal bounds <reached the age of discretion>
4 : the result of separating or distinguishing
You need to be observant when you go to visit a new workplace. Look at peoples desktops. Are they barren or are they covered with Star Wars figures? Do the people seem happy. Are people talkative and dynamic or burried behind their computers? Ask lots questions about lifestyle. Read message boards about the company.
IMHO I don’t think you would get any traction on these subjects. From your post it sounds like you’ve experienced some less than perfect situtations. There’s really no way to “ask” about these things without sounding like a crank with chip on your shoulder. These are the people you want to hire you, don’t be talkin’ bout their money.
I think you can bring these up in interview. Something like asking the hiring manager, “How would you describe the workplace in regards to what I like to call ‘comfort of life’ subjects, such as internet policy, personal phone use, even decorating your workspace. I’ve seen very restrictive policies and I’ve seen very open policies, how would you characterize it here?” Just don’t make it sound like surfing the web is your #1 priority. If they have written policies on these subjects I’m sure they would have no problem telling you.
My spelling goof! I was talking to someone while I was typing.
The manager/bonus thing is a sticking point because, as someone surmised, my current situation pisses me off because they do indeed “skimp” on training in order to pad bonuses.
I guess I can stress that I need assurance that training is important to my prospective employer.
I could always comment about “a former employer and how they viewed training” and gauge their reaction. If they squirm I’ll have my answer.
You can ask some of these questions at least. For the manager bonus, phrase it differently. “Can you explain the criteria that a manager’s bonus depends on as relates to employees. Let me give you an example, I was in a previous position where the manager got a higher bonus by not spending the employee training budget. I’d like to understand those bonus criteria that are pertinent to me. I don’t need to know the bonus, or % calculations or anything like that. However, there is some truth to the maximum that you get what you bonus, and I want to understand that part of my manager’s motivation.”
Certainly at my company you could ask every one of those questions. I’d preface it by saying you worked in some less than desireable environments in the past and you just want to have a clear understanding of the corporate culture in order to know if this company is the great fit you think it is for you.
I hesitate to answer, because I may be atypical as a manager, but, I’ll address your points one by one.
I think this is fair to ask.
That’s a tougher one. I would hesitate to ask, because it might imply that you spend a lot of time goofing off. But I told each of my guys when they were hired that we all need a break sometimes and they were welcome to check their stocks or the ball scores and they did not have to hide it from me. Hmmm. It doesn’t seem too wrong to say that you like to keep in touch with your wife via your home email and you were wondering if you would have access to the web so that you could check your account… that might lead to an open discussion.
Those are just my opinions, but I hope they help some.
That seems fair to ask.
That seems fair to ask.
I can’t think of any question that will give you enough information on this. That is a hard one. Your manager is a bad one IMHO though. I would be reprimanded for not giving my people training. My boss and his boss (and me too!) all believe that we are investing in people, it our job to grow them. The more my guys know, the better they can do their jobs. My bonus is tied to performance.
I agree with the suggestion that you look carefully at the workplace environment while interviewing and see whether it looks like a place where you could work. However, I can’t think of a really tactful way of asking those particular questions.
Are those specific examples really the deal breakers for you? It’s seems they’re all symptoms of a larger issue of excessively controlling managers. Think hard about it. If you worked for a place where you felt your ideas and work were valued, you were respected and treated fairly–but they didn’t let you surf the web–would that be horrible for you?
I ask because you can find out about the broader corporate culture without getting into those specifics. Ask your interviewers to describe work environment for you. Ask them to tell you how much importance they place on career development and training. If they tell you it’s very important to them, follow up with a request for some examples of how they support it. Ask them what they like best about the place they work and what they like the least.
In my company, we can’t check personal email accounts from company computers. It’s a violation of the code of ethics. It’s not that management is worried that we’re not getting our work done or wants to control every second of our time at the office. It’s because I’m in an industry where there have been many lawsuits alleging that someone has said something promissory or illegal to customers, tried to hide things from customers, or done other bad things. So our company maintains records of all correspondence. If we were using personal emails, we could get around that record keeping and we’d be out of compliance. It doesn’t make the company a bad place to work. It’s just one of those things. I’ve been in much worse places and it had nothing to do with email policies. It was the overall culture.
I don’t bother to find those things out before I get hired. I always thought that’s what the first couple of days are for. You’re not really out anything by quitting after a week except the time NOT looking for the perfect job.
You can ask these things at the interview but you never know the truth of the job until you get into it. A manager isn’t going to tell you they run their office like a slave ship.
The first day in ask your new fellow workers what they think of the place. If they’re disgruntled, you’ll know. If you say “I just started today” and most of them reply “I’m sorry” you know to pick up the want ads on the way home.
Yes they would be deal breakers. My expectation is that I give 100% effort and in return expect to be treated like an adult.
I have worked for million dollar companies and billion dollar companies. To get from one to the other one has to spend money. I’ve seen it in action. I don’t want to be in a place that nickel-and-dimes you to death. My current situation isn’t a nightmare but they have many “cheap-ass” moments that have me sjake my head in dismay. I have vowed that I will never let myself get into such a situation again.
I must respectfully disagree with you. When you go to a new place you would be abandonning your old insurance coverages for new ones. It is a big hassle.
Also if you change jobs mid or late year, and you’re near reaching Social Security maximum, the new company is under no obligation to “stop” the deductions when you max out because as far as they’re concerned you just started paying it.
You eventually get this money back the next time you do your taxes but who needs that delay?
What I’m trying tosay is if I’m going to change I have to be damn sure that it’s a great fit - I am sick and tired of unpleasant surprises!
I think you could ask about all these things. Even the managerial bonuses can be handled obliquely - just use your example and ask what budget items the company is firmly committed to, for example training. We have no management bonuses where I work but a manager who underused his training budget would be shot. I would happily tell you that because I would be happy that you were commited to your development. If you asked about our internet policy on the grounds that you were happy at a former job because you could use it all you wanted so long as your work got done, I would happily tell you our policy of reasonable usage with some things (porn,gambling etc) banned and monitored.
To be honest when I interview people I always ask if they have any questions for me and I find it kind of refreshing if someone is willing to engage me in conversation about the job. I would consider that you are a serious and mature person who knows that it takes more than a good salary to make a job attractive.
I’ve been meaning to start a thread like this as well. Would it be all right to inquire about specific company benefits during an interview? I’ve always thought that this sounded a bit like “What’s in this for me?” but I now find myself working for a place which does have health insurance, etc…but no excused sick leave. If I am sick, it is treated as a black mark on my record, just the same as if I just decided it was a nice day and I wasn’t coming in. Too many of those, and you are slated for “disciplinary action”. You can imagine what it’s like during cold-and-flu season…more germs than a kindergarten classroom.
If that wasn’t a dealbreaker then, I’m sure it would be a dealbreaker now. I never again want to work for the kind of company where they wouldn’t say to an obviously sick person, “Please go home and get some rest.” Getting paid sick leave would be very nice as well, but I’m not even asking for that.
I’ve been meaning to start a thread like this as well. Would it be all right to inquire about specific company benefits during an interview? I’ve always thought that this sounded a bit like “What’s in this for me?” but I now find myself working for a place which does have health insurance, etc…but no excused sick leave. If I am sick, it is treated as a black mark on my record, just the same as if I just decided it was a nice day and I wasn’t coming in. Too many of those, and you are slated for “disciplinary action”. You can imagine what it’s like during cold-and-flu season…more germs than a kindergarten classroom.
If that wasn’t a dealbreaker then, I’m sure it would be a dealbreaker now. I never again want to work for the kind of company where they wouldn’t say to an obviously sick person, “Please go home and get some rest.” Getting paid sick leave would be very nice as well, but I’m not even asking for that.
