(From Business Insider) -- So you’ve landed what you thought was going to be a great job. But you find yourself working fast and furious without any real clarity about what’s expected of you, what your priorities are or how well you’re doing. You’d like to broaden your skills with maybe a course or an industry conference… but good luck getting support for that. You’re a high performer, so you’d hoped to use this gig as a stepping stone to bigger things, but your manager is clearly not interested in your career advancement.
You start to look for a new job, something that will be a better fit, something with a future. But how do you know the new scene will be any better?
Here’s a one-word answer for you: ask. That’s right — ask about career development during the interview.
The interview process isn’t only for potential employers to learn about you. It’s also a great opportunity for you to dig a bit on topics like:
- Does the company have any kind of process for giving employees feedback? How often does that happen? Is it formal or formal? How does it work?
- Do employees have goals? How are they assigned? Are employees’ goals linked to their managers’ goals or to the organizations’ goals? Are there other ways your boss can communicate performance expectations?
- Will your bosses support employee development? How? Is there funding for you to attend conferences, trainings or other development opportunities?
- How does compensation work? Is your pay tied to performance? Does the company use formal salary scales or make it up along the way?
- Does the company support and encourage internal promotions or lateral moves for career development? Do they have a formal succession planning program or a program aimed at grooming people for career progression?
