There are some critical questions you absolutely need to ask in your job interview before you accept the job.

Of course, money matters. For most of us, the job content matters even more. But then, once you have measured that, it comes down to this, “do you want to work with those people?” And Why? Is their business meaningful to you? Do you understand who they are? Do you know what they stand for? Which values are important to the management? Do they value transparency? Is there flexibility? Do they have a plan to help you learn and grow? What character traits define their culture? Is there a sense of passion? Are the people you met in the interview process genuine? Are they trustworthy? Are they smart? Was the recruitment process efficient? Were they nice to you? Did you get the impression that the company cared about your needs? Do you love to solve problems and take decisions? Will this job and company culture allow you to do this? Will they appreciate you doing this? How badly do you feel that they want you? Do you feel that you would be instrumental in this job?

Some other questions for you to ask in your job interview are these:

What do you really expect of me? Which resources would I have and which resources would the team have in order to get things done? Can you tell me what the priorities are in my job? Can you explain to me what my key performance indicators are and how would they measured? How is information here communicated? Is it informal? Is it formal? Is it very hierarchical? If you don’t receive a clear answer in the job interview, you probably wouldn’t receive a clear response on the job either.

You want to avoid going to work each day and feeling like a gold fish swimming in a really small bowl. So, asking the right questions at the right time can help you to avoid taking a bad decision which you would eventually regret.
In the ideal world, it would be great if you could dedicate an entire week working at each job you are interviewing for, and then by the end of it, both you and the company, mutually, would decide if it’s a good fit. In the less ideal world, the least you could do is try to meet a few colleagues and have a coffee with them. And make sure that you use that time wisely. Be honest. Be open. Be frank. Be you.

Tip:

And don’t hesitate to reference your future managers. Reference your future potential colleagues. Ask others, what is it like to work with this person? What are they really good at? What can they do better? How would you rank them from 1 to 10?

Erica Elias is a certified business and career coach (www.interviewnow.be), author of “Recruitment A to Z, Tricks of the trade”, and has interviewed more than 6,000 people, with www.mindworks.be