I work with many of my clients during their interview process to help them navigate through tough interview questions and prepare them to ask questions, in turn, so that they have clear understanding of what they’re getting into when all of this effort translates into an everyday job that they signed up for.
Unfortunately, many clients come to me after they already have gone through the selection process, started their job, and learn that what they expected from the interview process and what they ended up signing up for are poles apart. This can happen when different interviewers give their perspectives of what the job is and how they see the candidate doing that job. In this process, the candidate formulates their own view of what the job is going to offer them and despite lack of accurate information about how it is going to play out, many accept the job offer, especially when it is tempting enough to tip the scales, hoping that it would all work out as planned, in the end.
Recently, I had a senior marketing client with whom I had worked during his many interviews at two companies. Both companies were Silicon-Valley late-stage start-ups and both were on a path to IPO/exit in the next few years as they were leading the pack in their space. Both were enjoying great market momentum and both were seen as poised to become billion-dollar unicorns in a few years. After getting offers from both my client was torn between which offer to select. So, before deciding on which company would offer him the best career path to succeed we decided to go back to the hiring manager of each and then to their boss and ask this question in a final interview round that my client requested:
After doing many interviews in the past few days and exploring your needs I am clear about the value I bring to this role. Can you please tell me what value you think I bring, now that you’ve made me an offer?
In each case (four interviews) my client was intrigued by the responses he got. Once he got responses to this critical question he realized how easy it was to make the final choice. In the case of one company (company #1) the hiring manager said to him, I see you and I working hand-in-hand to develop marketing strategy for our next product. Since you are so good at also developing the collateral I’d like to see us collaborating on getting the messaging right since I know the use cases of the product and how it came together. The hiring manager was not able to give any further insight into the job as my client was exploring where it would take him next. Translation of what this hiring manager told my client: I am just looking for a pair of hands.
When he went to see the boss of the hiring manager the response to this question was carefully guarded and cagey. The uber boss said, Are you trying to trap us by asking this question and leverage this into a better offer for yourself? After a nervous laugh, he went to provide sketchy details of what my client would be doing for them short-term and long. None of which sounded cogent in how it was presented.
When my client went to company #2, the same question elicited two very different (but consistent) responses: His hiring manager was very specific about what value they saw in my client as he played out that role from day-one. The hiring manager was very specific about how what my client brought to the role would benefit the company and the product they were about to launch. He was also quite excited about my client’s long-term contributions to their marketing strategy and how his previous experience would help them get a jump-start on some of the marketing initiatives they had in mind.
Next, when my client went to see the hiring manager’s boss asking the same question, his response was open and excited. He mentioned how my client brought specific marketing expertise that was lacking in their company and even the hiring manager needed to learn that expertise—which the hiring manager had already acknowledged to my client in prior encounters—and how they would make a complementary team. He further went on to paint a longer-term picture of how my client’s job would evolve and the strategic role he would play in making the company reach its next phase of growth.
Both these responses from company #2 were very different from what my client got out of company #1. Even though company #1 had offered a more generous package it was clear that its need was more transactional and they needed a pair of hands to tide them over their immediate need to market their product. It also became clear that they were going to wing it after his immediate task was complete. Beyond that they did not have a clear vision for how my client would advance in that start-up even though it was growing by leaps and bounds.
Needless to say the decision to pick company #2 was now easy and my client decided to decline the offer made by company # 1.
Lesson: In the excitement of going through an interview and getting a job offer not asking the right questions at the right time can create immediate and long-term problems in how you move to the next level of your career. Asking the Value question in the very end—in the ultimate round before you make the decision—can reveal many insights that may help you make your final decision on which company to join. This question is quite different from the typically asked, How will I be measured or What success criteria you would employ to measure my performance? This round is most effective if this is done on its own at the end before the company is ready to make you an offer or immediately afterwards before you start negotiating that offer.
Good luck!