Over the last couple of nights, as I’m trying to get to sleep, my hyperactive AuDHD mind has decided to start exploring ideas and keeping me awake. So I wrote some of them down, and this post will focus on the ones I had while imagining what I’d ask if I were interviewing for a job under current conditions. Now, full disclosure, I became disabled and have not held a job since March 2009, when I and other disabled co-workers were targeted in a mass layoff. I had, for many years, worked in corporate IT support and was a LAMP admin. That said, I’d still ask these questions if I were interviewing for jobs in the US today. Job interviews should involve both the potential employer and employee determining whether they can meet one another’s needs and expectations.
Employers use questions to determine whether a candidate has a qualifying skill set, but also whether they will compliantly accept whatever is asked of them, even under abusive conditions. We can see the outcomes of that – toxic workplaces that often drive workers to quit without notice. The uproar about this is a contradiction, because most US states have protection for employers to layoff or fire workers without notice. Worker’s rights have been trampled out of existence across the US (and elsewhere). It’s important to focus on rebuilding those collectively, and we can see it happening with the return of unions and collective bargaining over the past few years.
Individual job seekers can also help themselves by asking direct questions during interviews. You should be just as inquisitive about the company and its culture as they are about you. Will some of these questions put you out of the running for some jobs? Possibly. But that’s also an indicator that the potential employer wants employees who don’t stand up for themselves, and this is likely due to being a toxic workplace. So what are some of the questions that came to my mind? Here they are, in no particular order:
- Is this a new position or are you replacing an existing employee? If the latter, may I talk with the employee leaving this position about why they are moving on?
- Where do you see the person in this position being in one year’s time? In five years?
- (If salary exempt) How much overtime is expected on a weekly basis? If I work unpaid overtime, and need to leave early or come in late for personal reasons, is that considered a wash, or will I be required to use PTO time on top of the overtime I already worked?
- How are interpersonal workplace conflicts resolved? Can you tell me about that process, and give examples (without naming names)?
- Has the company had any violations with the Department of Labor or equivalent State agency? OSHA violations? If yes, what has been done to correct those?
- If the position had fewer responsibilities, would that affect the rate of pay? What about when more responsibilities are added to positions?
- Does the company provide annual cost-of-living raises to prevent pay stagnation? Do the raises keep pace with inflation?
- How are additional responsibilities and extra effort rewarded?
- Am I expected to be on call during off-hours, or does the company respect personal time?
- In the coming year, if other employees quit, will the company rehire those positions, or will it expect existing employees to take on the responsibilities of those positions on top of their existing duties?
Now, I won’t try to argue that everyone one of these questions fits every potential situation, and my perspective is definitely from the corporate office culture. But some of these queries may be transferable to other sectors. It also depends on each person’s situation – obviously asking many of these questions assumes one is in a position where they don’t have to take whatever job is available to them. But if those who can afford to be picky start asking more questions like these, it will bring a little more balance to the interview process, and make it less one-sided. Even if you aren’t offered or opt not to take a job with a potential employer, you’ve made a mark by asking these questions, and they’ll be forced to realize that not everyone is willing to work for them under the conditions they have cultivated. Whether they change remains to be seen, of course, but their responses will help you peer into the conditions their workforce is currently in. You can then compare each potential employer’s answers (which you should absolutely write down!) as you consider offers.
I hope this is helpful and leads to even better questions than the ones I’ve thought of here. While I’m not in the workforce myself, my spouse, family, friends, neighbors and comrades are, and I listen them about their experiences, leading me to think about how to help them improve their conditions. If a new job is the way they are seeking to do that, I hope that getting them thinking about advocating for themselves from the get-go with potential employers assists them in finding, at the very least, improved conditions from their previous jobs.
If you try these questions out, please let me know whether you find that they are helpful to you in analyzing a potential employer’s worthiness. Again, I don’t think that all employers are going to be open to answering these, much less being asked. But if you have the privilege of being choosy and can afford to weigh the pros and cons of several different company interviews, I’d like to hear if these helped you in evaluating whether you want to work somewhere. Hopefully it can help somebody avoid going out of the frying pan at their current job and into the fire at a new one.
On a personal note, I’ve been fighting Long Covid for a year (on top of my other chronic illnesses) and got Covid again at the end of November, which reactivated my Epstein-Barr virus, resulting in mono. I’ve also been dealing with diverticulitis for several weeks. But I’m starting to feel somewhat improved and I’m trying really hard to get back to writing here more regularly. I’m starting out with the goal of at least one new blog article a week. I’ve also revised some of the website, updating the reading recommendations layout, and removing the contact page since it only ever generated spam anyway. I’m sorry for being out of touch here for so long! You can always find me on Twitter, and while Facebook zucked my original CB page (thanks to the fashtrash who mass reported it numerous times), I have a new Facebook page set up you can check out. I’m also on Instagram.
