Re^2: Interview Counterattack: "Show me a project-plan"

[sundialsvc4]

“I'll be more than happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement. And, I'm not asking to keep the document, nor even to study it closely. I'm asking that question because I believe that my business-value to your organization will be greatly impacted ... one way or the other ... by the management practices that are applied here.”

Look them straight in the eye, steadily but calmly. If they respond with a buzzword that looks like it was salvaged over a cup of espresso at a bookshop (then left on the table ... the cheapskate), you've got your answer.

How an interviewer answers that question is as equally important as the specific answer that they give. Some interviewers do not expect to be the subject of tough questions, and if you are not looking the other way at the time you can read all you need to know from a passing-glance. Other interviewers will rise to the occasion and will readily accept the position of being “the one who is now answering.” Their body-language will also reveal much, again in the first few seconds.

Bear in mind that they're also reading you...

Your goal, of course, is not to put a person on-the-spot about their own organization. You need to know if there are problems, of course, but you also might be able to position yourself as a real potential change-agent. (“Maybe this person can help us with a whole lot more than just Perl code.”) Asking this question in a confrontational way merely fingers you as a troublemaker. Presenting it in an insightful way, doesn't. If the person lobs the ball back at you with “what might you suggest,” without doing so as an outright cutoff-smash, the interview could enter a whole new dimension and you can start to appear to be senior.

If you find yourself in, say, the second-or-third “job which sucks,” staring once-again at the night sky outside your office window while your spouse goes out to dinner without you, it could well be that you are blowing the interview. Getting the job, yes, but blowing the interview.

[Your Mother]

How an interviewer answers that question is as equally important as the specific answer that they give.

I agree. Keep in mind that the people you're going to be working with and reporting to are sometimes not those doing the interview. I've been on interview teams before where I felt the urge to apologize for one of the other interviewers and say, "Please don't make your decision to work here based on that nitwit." Of course, I never did that but you get the idea. The probing can be used on any interviewer but the reactions matter more from your prospective direct manager and team mates than an HR drone.

On that note I recommend asking about indirect reporting structures. I got hosed by this before. I liked my manager pretty well and he was generally supportive but 95% of the work I did was for another group which had much more influence in the company and they were atechnical (if I may), disorganized, and sometimes dishonest leading to duplicated work and stupid mashups with clients. If I'd know that was going to be my real management, I could have taken something else and avoided a lot of pain.