This month I thought I would discuss pitfalls that can snare candidates during the interview process.
Interviews involve all manner of tricks and trickery - and not just on the part of candidates keen to sell themselves. Interviewers are just as eager to promote their organisations to lure top talent to work for them rather than their competitors. Usually subconsciously but occasionally quite deliberately, interviewers may paint a picture of the role and the organisation that may not turn out to be entirely true.
Once you have been offered a job, it is your responsibility as a candidate to conduct thorough due diligence on an organisation. Set up a meeting with your would-be line manager. Even if you have been interviewed for several hours and on more than one occasion, do it again. The dynamic between interviewer and candidate is different from the one between boss and direct report. You need to have an exhaustive discussion about expectations. Get your prospective line manager to talk about people in the team who really shone - what did they do that made them so good? And what about people who disappointed or failed in the team - what exactly did they do or not do that led to their downfall? Only then can you decide whether you fit the bill.
But your boss is only one source of information. Ask the organisation to let you meet with members of the team that you would be joining. The organisation may be reluctant to do so and give various reasons - perhaps that there are organisational issues that may colour their perspective. But you must insist. I made the mistake many years ago of letting a prospective employer wheel out the members of the team that they could trust to paint a positive picture of life with the company. The reality turned out to be somewhat different.
Ensure also that you are happy with the culture of the organisation outside of the immediate team that you would be joining. Line managers move on. Organisations frequently restructure. And you could easily sign up because you like a prospective boss, only to find a few months later that you are working for someone entirely different. When that happens, you must at least be certain that the brand and culture of the overall organisation makes the job palatable.
Don't take anything for granted. When considering whether to join a new organisation, you are the only person who can decide whether the fit is right. Ask lots of questions of many people. And then ask some more.
Dr Rob Yeung is a Director and executive coach at leadership consulting firm Talentspace. His new book 'Personality: How to unleash your hidden strengths' has been selected as the WH Smith September 'Book of the Month' at its train and travel branches.
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