5 questions to ask yourself before accepting a new job

I do a lot of mentoring in my role at Microsoft and frequently get questions from my mentees on how I have navigated my career and chosen my roles. I can’t say that I have it all figured out and know exactly where I’m going or what I’ll be doing in the next 5-10 years, but I can give you advice on the top 5 questions I ask myself before I accept a new role. Asking myself these key questions has helped me select the roles that helped me advance my career and stay fulfilled.

1) Do I feel comfortable with the hiring manager? 

Your manager will play a critical role in paving the way for your success, so it is critical that you feel comfortable with him or her and that your work styles are aligned. To get a feel for this, I request informational interviews with hiring managers before officially applying for roles. If I don’t feel comfortable with the manager and feel that I cannot trust him or her, I don’t bother to apply. During this initial conversation, I will ask questions about the manager’s style to get a sense for whether the manager has a more hands on or hands-off approach. At different times in your career you may be seeking different styles to match your proficiency and confidence levels. I can usually tell within a few minutes whether I will be able to work well with the manager and I always trust my intuition. 

2) Is the role focused on a strategic initiative that the leadership team cares about and is willing to fund?

One of the things I have learned over the course of my career is how important it is to select roles that are strategic initiatives for the leadership team. By doing so, generally you will be in a better position to get the funding you need to be successful as well as the exposure and connection to the leadership team to make progress on your projects and to overcome challenges you may face along the way. I’ve seen a slew of smart, talented people with great ideas tread water in their careers because they are focusing on projects that their leadership team does not care about or are unwilling to fund. 

3) Do I have the skills to be successful in the role?

At one point in my career one of my managers gave me the advice that it is important to have “one foot in the batter’s box” in any new role you take. What he meant by this is that when taking a new role it is important to have the foundational skills needed to be successful in the role. You wouldn’t take a role as a coder if you didn’t have coding skills would you? When I take on new roles, I want to ensure that my learning curve to adding value is not going to take too long.

4) Am I going to be stretched in the role? 

I do my best work and am more creative when I am challenged. When assessing a role, I ask myself what I will learn in the new role and whether I will be stretched. I have noticed that I often initially gravitate towards roles that sound like roles I have done before. I have learned to challenge myself a bit more as my career has progressed because “more of the same” does not spark much creative thinking in me. I also want to be able to add new skills to my resume with each role I take.

5) Am I passionate about the role?

This one is important. At the end of the day I am going to be doing this job every day. I need to feel a drive and a creative spark. That spark comes from feeling passion and excitement about the project or the challenge I am trying to solve. I have turned down several roles over the course of my career because I could not imagine getting excited about the subject matter. I have also been the most successful in roles in which I was the most passionate.

I hope my tips are helpful in evaluating new roles. What questions do you ask yourself before taking a new role? Comment below!