How to Interview Your Next Manager
What should you be asking the person you may soon be working for?
At any job, the single most important relationship you’ll have is with your manager. This is the person who will fight for you to be promoted or receive a raise, or decide you’re just not working out. They can make your life miserable, or they can elevate you toward your goals.
A job interview is an opportunity not only to prove to a potential manager why you should be hired, but also to get a sense of what it would be like to work for them. There are plenty of great resources on how to interview someone coming onto your team, but not so much for how to interview someone whose team you may be joining. So as someone interested in improving relationships within organizations, I’ve come up with a list of questions to ask your next manager. Note: If a hiring department has no intention of introducing you to your potential manager during the interview process, this should raise an alarm. Hiring is a two-way decision and you should be able to feel good about entering a relationship before taking the plunge.
Also, if you’re a manager yourself, think about how you might answer these questions. If you don’t have strong answers, you probably have work to do in supporting and developing your team members effectively.
