14 THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN GO IN FOR JOB INTERVIEW B Last few days we discussed about the part A of the above topic. Today we are in the concluding part. Relax and take your time to study it and it will help you in life 8. Is it a fast-paced work environment? This usually depends on the industry or department, but some companies tend to run their businesses at a faster pace than others. If employees are literally running around the office and phones are ringing non-stop, that’s a sign that things move quickly. Do you prefer this type of environment? Do you perform well under pressure? Determine whether you’d be able to keep up and thrive in this type of environment. 9. Is it an organized place? Does the interview start on time? “There could be legitimate reasons for lateness, but if your potential boss is late and doesn’t apologize, this is a red flag,” Mufson says. You’ll also be able to determine whether this is an organized place by the way the interview is conducted. Is your interviewer prepared and focused on you? Or is he or she distracted with calls and hand-held devices? “Even in a busy workplace where constant calls and message checking is normal, your interviewer should have arranged uninterrupted time for the interview. Failure to do so is a bad sign,” she says. 10. What is the physical office environment like? This can give you a lot of clues as to the culture of the workplace, Kerr says. Are people allowed to personalize their office or cubicle space? Does the environment look sterile and devoid of personality? “If you get a chance, try and check out a few off the beaten path rooms such as a meeting room, lunchroom and even the washroom,” he suggests. “These communal spaces can often speak volumes about a work environment. Often meeting rooms or lunch rooms are places where organizations let their personalities shine through a little more.” Is the meeting room look like a place designed to encourage conversation and innovation, or does it look sterile? Are there fun posters in the lunch room and announcements about outside activities, or is there an angry scolding note chastising someone for not cleaning their dishes? “Notice the décor,” Mufson adds. “A plush reception area and bosses office coupled with dingy and drab offices for employees could indicate an emphasis on impressing visitors at the expense of caring for employees.” 11. How do employees dress? “Maybe you like a formal setting where people wear suits, or maybe you prefer a casual setting with less formal dress,” Brooks says. Observe what everyone is wearing, and determine whether you’d be comfortable in that attire every day. 12. What is the physical layout of the office?“This can also be critical for a lot of people, so take the time to check out whether there’s an open door policy, or an open office concept,” Kerr says. “Again, some people hate open offices, others love them, so it’s about what is right for you.” Maybe the office is a cube farm. How do you perform in that type of setting? These are things to take note of when you go in for your interview. 13. How do managers interact with employees? Although it can be hard to determine sometimes, if you have the opportunity, try to get a sense of how supervisors and managers interact with employees. This can be very telling as to the kind of environment, Kerr says. “It can send subtle clues as to how hierarchical the work environment is or how oppressive it may feel.” 14. Is everyone busy? Don’t draw conclusions based on how busy one or two individuals look. Instead, take note of the overall picture. In general, do the employees seem to have a lot of down time? Or are they engaged in work? Do they look too busy, with stacks of papers piled on their desks? If it appears that nobody is working, that may be an indication that business is slow. If everyone looks exhausted and overworked, this could mean the company is understaffed. “One note of caution,” Kerr says. “Be careful about making assumptions based on casual observations. Having just toured the offices of an award-winning company,I was under the impression everyone dressed very casually, until one of the managers pointed out that it was casual Friday. They also stressed how much they talk about their own culture in job interviews, stressing that because they are in an open-office environment and in the construction business, employees will occasionally hear cursing, off-color humor and heated debates because employees are passionate doers. But if an interviewee overheard any of those kind of interactions without any context, it could seem inappropriate to the casual observer,” he concludes. I hope you are able to learn from it
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 09:47:52 +0000
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