Interview for my exising job - what questions to ask?

DinkyLass

I'm in the awful position of having to apply for my own role against one other colleague as we are both on fixed term contracts that are due to end, and only one contract is being extended, so it's being decided by competitive interview process.


It doesn't help that me and my colleague are really good friends so it's like a lose-lose situation. The person who gets the job is going to be gutted that the other person has to leave.


Putting emotions aside though, I have to think about myself and was wondering what kind of questions I should ask? I know the job and all about the business, development, company direction etc. so I'm a bit stumped!


Any good suggestions? Was thinking something along the lines of how will the team leader manage the transition to a smaller team?

elsien

Opportunities for further ersonal development?
I think asking about how the team leader will manage the transition (I'm presuming you're not the team leader) could come across as questioning their abilities.

getmore4less

Is it going to end up as one position doing twice the work?

Since you both know one will have to leave might be an option to work together to try and find alternative jobs.

That might make things easier and if you both find better jobs it will put you in a better position to negotiate on the job thats left.

DinkyLass

We've already been asked to write a supporting statement covering what we think will be the main challenges over the next 12 months, how we see the role developing and what attributes we can bring.


In that I mentioned that there will probably be some knowledge gaps left with the loss of a team member and said there needs to be a prioritised development plan to 'plug' those gaps, so I guess I could ask about the key areas for development.

getmore4less

If been there more than 2 years they need to pay redundancy.

DinkyLass

getmore4less wrote: »

Is it going to end up as one position doing twice the work?

Since you both know one will have to leave might be an option to work together to try and find alternative jobs.

That might make things easier and if you both find better jobs it will put you in a better position to negotiate on the job thats left.

There are 3 people in the team (1x permanent, 2x fixed term) plus a team leader and there's enough work to keep us all busy at present but the budget is being cut so chances are the 2 remaining admin bods will be snowed under.


As for finding better jobs, we work in the higher education public sector so the salaries are inflated to make up for the fact that many of us are on risky fixed term contracts so the chances of finding better jobs with the same benefits is very slim....we're both currently looking for a back-up plan and there's not much out there at all!

dacouch

I would be inclined to ask why the previous person in the role left

gettingtheresometime

dacouch wrote: »

I would be inclined to ask why the previous person in the role left

In the circumstances I wouldn't ask this one for definite

DinkyLass

dacouch wrote: »

I would be inclined to ask why the previous person in the role left

I've been here a year, I already know why the previous person left!

InsideInsurance

You could spin their questions about how things will work going forward back to them however you need to be careful not to sound as if you think the workload will become unmanageable.

TBH, if I were the hiring manager then I wouldnt expect many questions from the candidate under these circumstances beyond the questions on the selection process/timescales

sharpe106

as you have been there for awhile you know what the job requirements are so you need to sell yourself how you would fit into the roll.

That being said I would not worry about it to much, as harsh as might be they would already have decided who will get the job as they have had 2 years to decide who fits the roll best, and if it is not you, then you would have to do an absolute fantastic interview to change there mind