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Doing Dilegence

Recently I referred a friend to a job where I was well-acquainted with the hiring manager. It started strong with good feelings all around.  T reported good interviews - the people he met with are all my former colleagues so I was not surprised they were enthusiastic about him. Then a few weeks into the process, T asked to meet for coffee. 

He had some concerns about the team based on the cues that he had picked up along the way - can he perform, will leadership help with removing roadblocks along the way, were there clear performance metrics for this role. Most importantly, he wanted advice on how best to diligence what he was stepping into. I shared my experience with such things - in the interview stage, he will more likely than not get the answers he wants to hear. In some instances, the hiring manager will say the team is not as well-established as they would like but he is brining in people who can help improve things. Either way you don't have any actionable data or insights to work off of. 

So you go in with eyes open and expect to be surprised in ways that you did not expect - good and bad. Then you make the most of it for as long as you are able. T is a mid-career professional and father of two girls. This job would be one of many he has held so far. J has almost the same questions about how to use the interview process to collect information to aid with informed decision making. Ultimately it comes down to two things - is the person who you are asking the question willing and able to be truthful and have you framed the question in a way that allows them to provide you the data that you need in a way that is comfortable for them. 

You have almost no control over the first thing. The second, you have a more agency but there is no silver bullet that works with everyone in all scenarios. There is a some leap of faith, watching for red-flags asking them to describe their own role, the challenges they hope you will fix and see if there is a path for you to succeed even the the worst case scenario. If the answer trends more yes than no, then it might be the job for you.

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