Scouting the Boss
So I got a telephone call or email or snail mail calling for an interview, what should I do now? Let's talk about one thing you can do, scouting.
When I was an avid player for Real Time Strategy (namely Starcraft and Warcraft), I usually become the scout for my team. While my partner build forces and gone into small skirmishes, I would somehow send some units to other part of the map, usually on critical points (resources points, bottleneck roads, gathering points etc) just to see what the bad guys up to. What I gain is
- - the unit combinations they use, and how to counter it
- - location of interest (weakpoints, new expansions)
- - our preliminary calculation of winning...or losing
You have to know who are your future employer, who you are working with and who you are working for. You are going to spend your resources for him, in exchange for rewards in the form of salary. Your time, energy, ideas, effort and life are going to be affected by any decisions made by him.
Make your decision wisely...
Search by internet
As your read this article, the choice is already at your fingertips. Just type the company name at the search engine and find any relevant info about that company, the history, organization charts, any ongoing/finished projects, etc. It serves as a preview of what will you face for the interview. Some employers even impressed if you do some homework about their company before you meet him.
Locate the Office
There is nothing worse than lost your way when you are going to an interview. The best practice is to search the office a day or before. Study the traffic flow (is it a congested area?), distance from home (avoid latecoming at all cost!), any good restaurant or cafe nearby (in case you need refreshment).
Other than that, you can assess the work environment beforehand. Sometimes you can guess the company's revenue by its office (although it is not 100% reliable), or how is the neighbourhood around your workplace.
Ask from people
You can gain some preliminary picture of the company by ask people who is working with him or even other parties that has been dealing with the company for sometime (e.g. suppliers, clients, competitors is good but be careful). You can ask how is the work culture, how many employees (estimation only), or how the company dealing with certain situation.
After you get all the info, it is a good practice to draw out the company profile for yourself to help you in your decisions. You can make either graphical way, list of informations gathered or even make a comparison table based on your findings. Your future is at stake.
Make your choice...wisely.
