101 Smart Questions to Ask on Your Interview (24 page)

By
not
pushing for the very top of the range in this example, you have made it very easy for the interviewer to see it as a “win-win” situation and give you what amounts to an immediate $3,500 raise.

Never couple asking for more money with an explanation of why you need it. Rather, always couch such a request within a declaration of the “extra value” the employer should expect in return. Remind him of the cost savings and other benefits he’ll enjoy when you come on board. For example, you might say:

“I was able to cut my previous employer’s expenses 10 percent by negotiating better deals with vendors. I think it’s reasonable to expect that any additional salary we agree on will be more than offset by the savings I will bring the company during my first few months on the job.”

If the interviewer won’t budge and seems to have at least reasonably valid arguments as to why, ask when you will receive your first salary review. If the answer is on your anniversary date, see if you can push for an earlier review to make up some of the shortfall between the offer and your expectations:

“I am very flattered by the offer, though I wish we could have agreed on a slightly higher salary. Could you give me my first salary review in, say, 6 months, rather than 12?”

This is a rather easy concession for the interviewer to make. He will think that he is getting you for only half the difference between what you want to earn and what he wants to pay.

Look for other win-win solutions. If the employer is adamant about not increasing your salary, he may be amenable to a company car or some other perk that works for both of you.

Unless you become overheated and frantic, employers expect negotiation. You will not lose the offer just because you try to negotiate—your willingness (or unwillingness) to do so may actually be the final test!

Even if you’re disappointed, but have decided to take the job, make sure everything ends on a friendly note. Otherwise, you’ll leave a bad impression and may be put under the microscope or on a short leash right from the start.

If you become too intransigent, you may even force them to change their minds! After all, you’re already showing them you’re not a team player by not giving an inch on anything, no matter how inconsequential.

They’re Offering a Package, Not Just a Salary

If you are already an experienced worker at any level, you are aware that salary is only part of the compensation package you can expect. But even if you are an entry-level candidate, I encourage you to analyze the entire value of the compensation package before making any decision. Some companies provide very generous benefits packages, including stock options, dental care, company cars, free lunches, and
more, even to the rank and file. If these benefits don’t fatten your take-home pay, at least you won’t have to pay for them out of your own pocket.

Most company vacation policies are fairly standard—two weeks for the first three years, three weeks thereafter. Some companies offer “comp” time in exchange for overtime. Some match some or all employee donations to retirement plans. Some require employees to contribute something toward health insurance. A number of benefits, such as profit sharing, may only be available to senior-level employees.

You should have learned something about the company’s standard benefits package early in the game. If, at this stage, you find the offer abysmal, why are you still considering that company?

If there are any other questions you feel will affect your decision about whether to accept this job, you had better ask them now, while you are still considering the offer!

Here’s a comprehensive list of all forms of compensation, which, obviously, is far more extensive than just salary and a holiday bonus:

Basic Compensation

Base salary

Deferred compensation (401(k), SEP-IRA, etc.)

Incentive compensation

Performance bonus

Sales commission

Sales incentive plans

Shares of stock Stock

options/ESOPs

Matching investment programs

Medical insurance

Profit sharing

Signing bonus

Timing of first review

Perquisites

Accidental death insurance

Child/elder care allowance

“Comp” time

Commuting cost assistance/reimbursement

Company car or gas allowance

Continuing professional education

Conventions—paid attendance and expenses

Dental/vision insurance

Disability insurance (long- and/or short-term)

Employee assistance programs

Employee discounts

Executive dining room privileges

Executive office

Expense account

Extra sick/personal days

Extra vacation days or weeks

Financial planning assistance

First-class hotels or air travel

Furlough trips for overseas assignments

Lower contribution (or lower deductible) for medical coverage

Memberships

Athletic club

Country club

Luncheon club

Professional associations

Paid travel for spouse

Parking assistance/reimbursement

Personal use of frequent-flyer awards

Private secretary

Shorter waiting period to qualify for medical coverage

Tax assistance

Tuition assistance/reimbursement

Relocation Expenses

Closing costs, bridge loan

Company purchase of your home

Discounted loans/mortgages

Home-buying trips

Lodging while between homes

Mortgage funds/short-term loans

Mortgage prepayment penalty

Mortgage rate differential/housing allowance

Moving expenses

Outplacement assistance for spouse

Real estate brokerage fees

Temporary dual housing

Trips home during dual housing

Related to Severance

Consulting fees after termination

Insurance benefits after termination

Severance pay and outplacement, including extra weeks/months of severance

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Saying “Yes!”

Let’s review some of the basic questions you asked yourself very early on (didn’t you?): What’s the purpose of your job hunt? To get an interview? Only if you enjoy collecting unemployment on the way to your next performance. To get a job? Well, sure, but what
kind
of job? How about getting a job that you will actually like, that you can actually do, that meshes with your values and interests, and offers future opportunities?

Don’t get me wrong. There are certainly situations in which you can’t be choosy—getting a job,
any
job, is preferable to cruising local trash bins. But those situations should be dire circumstances—if you don’t get a job tomorrow, your family doesn’t eat. Don’t create those circumstances in your head and convince yourself that a job offer, any
job offer, is something to leap at. What good (again, except under the direst of circumstances) is getting a lousy job that you will wind up hating in a month . . . or less? Do you really want to restart this whole process from scratch? I didn’t think so.

So as tempting as it is to accept an offer without a lot of deep analysis, especially if the money is exceptional (or, at least, more than you thought you were going to get), take the time to go through that analytical process and ask yourself these smart questions:

Do I really want this job?

Does this job mesh with my long-term career plans, or is it an abrupt detour?

Does the described career path mesh with my own?

Can I really do this job as described? Will I enjoy doing it as described?

Does the company’s/department’s culture match my strengths? Will I comfortably fit in with the team and/or department?

Do I really like/respect the person I’ll be working for?

Do I like the people with whom I’ll be working or whom I’ll be managing?

Is there anything else I need to know about
anything
—the company, department, job description, boss, team, subordinates, colleagues—to assure myself that this is the right move?

And what’s the purpose of asking questions? To get the job by showing how smart you are and how much research you’ve done? Only partly. Yep, that other part (and don’t sell it short!) is to make sure the answers make you smile, not wince! A fast-paced environment where merit is quickly rewarded? Great! Just what you want, Ms. Type A. A cutthroat department where you’ll need to spend half your time covering your ass and the other half sucking up? Don’t think so, Ms. Nonprofit.

No matter how good the offer and how happy you are, don’t think only of the present. Make sure you ask the following smart questions:

In this job or department, on what basis are raises and bonuses awarded?

Could you tell me more about how bonuses are structured? How much is based on my individual performance? How much on the performance of the department/company/division/etc.?

Is the Job Description Negotiable?

Remember that you are not just negotiating your compensation, you are also negotiating what particular work you will do for that salary (plus benefits and perks, of course). There is a lot more room to define a job the way
you
want than most employers will ever admit. The more they want you, the more flexible they may prove to be.

Why Don’t You Want Me?

Invariably (i.e., at least once in your lifetime!) you will not be offered a job, no matter how many times you’ve gone back, how many interviews you’ve had. There are many possible reasons. The job was more fluid than you thought—the company is rethinking its strategy and isn’t even sure they’re hiring anybody. Or they’re redefining the job (which may or may not work in your favor). Or the executive who has to sign off on the decision went to the Bahamas . . . for three weeks. Or the hiring manager simply can’t decide between you and another candidate. Or two. Or three.

There are two kinds of rejection that occur during the job-search process: the kind you expect and the kind you don’t. The first is easy to understand and describe. I once interviewed for a vice-presidency at a prestigious international travel magazine. I knew things had not gotten off to a good start when I met the interviewer at a restaurant—he looked like he had just stepped out of the pages of
GQ.
And I . . . well, I didn’t. I wasn’t wearing jeans and I didn’t have nose hairs creeping out of both nostrils, but I was clearly in a different sartorial league. I saw the evaluating look in his eyes and knew I had already taken my first strike. (As it turns out, it was probably three strikes right then and there. The person he hired was a lightweight salesperson and manager but a charming rake with a monstrous closet of designer duds.)

Within 15 minutes, I knew I had definitely struck out. In answer to a very specific question, I happily noted that I did indeed have the
unusual experience he said he needed. I had done it for 6 months at a single job. There was then a long pause, as he unsuccessfully scanned my resume for any hint of that job . . . and I realized I would be leaving long before dessert.

My duplicitous attempt to “sanitize” my resume to avoid a charge of job-hopping was clearly not the smartest thing I had ever done.

And my lack of sartorial splendor, which clearly cost me the job before I had read the menu? It was an unstated but highly implied requirement for the job that I failed to even contemplate; I just didn’t think of clothes as anything more than something you wore because society didn’t condone running naked around the office. Not only would I never get a job where model-level grooming was a keenly desired trait, I would never
want
such a job.

The lesson learned was more subtle but far more important: Think about the real requirements for the job and make sure they match not just your desires but “you.” If I had thought for even a moment, it should have been apparent that the audience for such a magazine would be decidedly upscale, as would the advertisers, as should the image of the salesperson trying to
sell
those advertisers. I work hard, work fast, and get great results. But I am not going to give anyone the impression that I am Ralph Lauren incarnate. Nor, if I want to have a happy life, should I try.

What if you believed in your soul that you knocked the interviewer’s socks off? If it comes as a genuine shock that you didn’t receive an offer at the top end of the salary range, let alone any offer at all, go through your memory and your interview notes to see if you missed something. Did the interviewer hint that he had a problem with something that you simply ignored in your haste to talk about something else?

But be aware that there are many reasons this might have occurred, and certainly not all of them are even remotely connected to your interview. The job description may have changed without your knowledge. Another candidate with much stronger credentials may have waltzed in and relegated you to that sad “Strong Number Two” position. The position may not even have been available; the interviewer may have concocted a quick one- or two-day experiment to see if there was someone out there better than the employee he already
had. (In my experience, this happens in smaller companies all the time, especially family-run firms.) You may not only have had to impress the interviewer more than the other candidates, but also beat out the guy already on the job!