In the Indianapolis Job Search market, many people are asking me what questions they can ask to help insure the company they are interviewing with is stable.
First thing to know, is there aren't ANY guarantees. A company may appear to do well, and then something changes. Life cycles of companies are cyclical, and there will be ups and downs. Just because some bad events seem to occur within a year of you starting a job, doesn't mean you were lied to, or the facts were misrepresented.
However... that being said, there are certainly several things to ask a company, that might help you measure stability. The important thing to keep in mind when asking these "tougher" questions, is to wait until after the candidate evaluation process is over. You may even want to wait until they have made you an offer, but you haven't accepted.
1) Ask "Has there been any significant events in the companies recent history (3 years), either positive or negative, that I should be aware of? Anything that I will hear about after starting work, and will feel silly for not knowing."
2) Ask "What is the outlook for the company in the next 1 year, 3 years, 5 years. Are they considering buying other companies, strategic mergers or sale of any company divisions or assets."
3) Ask "How leveraged is the company right now? How much debt does the company have, and where does it come from.... banks, private equity, owners, etc." Keep in mind, if the company isn't public, you may not get a complete answer on this one.
4) If the person you are interviewing with, has been with the company for less than 3 years, ask "After accepting your position with the company, did you discover anything about the company's culture, or way of doing business, that was a surprise to you?"
These are a few questions that can help you collect some additional information, that may help in your decision.
However, reading a person's body language, eye contact, voice inflections, etc., may give you more insight to the answers you are really looking for.
First thing to know, is there aren't ANY guarantees. A company may appear to do well, and then something changes. Life cycles of companies are cyclical, and there will be ups and downs. Just because some bad events seem to occur within a year of you starting a job, doesn't mean you were lied to, or the facts were misrepresented.
However... that being said, there are certainly several things to ask a company, that might help you measure stability. The important thing to keep in mind when asking these "tougher" questions, is to wait until after the candidate evaluation process is over. You may even want to wait until they have made you an offer, but you haven't accepted.
1) Ask "Has there been any significant events in the companies recent history (3 years), either positive or negative, that I should be aware of? Anything that I will hear about after starting work, and will feel silly for not knowing."
2) Ask "What is the outlook for the company in the next 1 year, 3 years, 5 years. Are they considering buying other companies, strategic mergers or sale of any company divisions or assets."
3) Ask "How leveraged is the company right now? How much debt does the company have, and where does it come from.... banks, private equity, owners, etc." Keep in mind, if the company isn't public, you may not get a complete answer on this one.
4) If the person you are interviewing with, has been with the company for less than 3 years, ask "After accepting your position with the company, did you discover anything about the company's culture, or way of doing business, that was a surprise to you?"
These are a few questions that can help you collect some additional information, that may help in your decision.
However, reading a person's body language, eye contact, voice inflections, etc., may give you more insight to the answers you are really looking for.
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