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The Importance of Fit Don Schmitz/Human Resource Staffing   As a result of the recent recession many employees now find themselves on the outside looking in. Asking the right questions—of yourself and a potential employer—can help ensure not repeating a bad situation.   A variety of factors can lead to a bad job fit; holding opposing views on etiquette or ethics to having divergent interests, to possessing conflicting views on the direction of the office.   Knowing yourself and what you want in your career is the first step toward finding a good job fit. What are you seeking; leadership, management, building a team or a back office? What can you tolerate from an employer? What most excites you about your work? While knowing what you want is important, it can be equally important to know what you don't want.   Every question you can think to ask yourself and your perspective employer puts you that much closer to being a good fit in a new job. Questions to help determine the right fit;   Why did you join the company? What surprises have you seen since coming here? Have you hired from the outside? If I'm hired, in a year from now, how will you know if I've been successful? Why is the position open? What tools help make you successful? Why do employees stay? Why do they leave? What core competencies do employees have? What are the biggest short-term and long-term challenges in this job? Give me an example of a difficult employee relations situation. How was it handled, and what was the outcome? How would you define the culture here? Tell me about the flow of communications. How is it done? Are there motivational programs or incentives for new employees? What most often contributes to an employee's success?   If being a part of the team is important to you and you determine the CEO makes all the decisions herself, this is the wrong situation for you. If you find the CEO values a team input and can provide examples of how this input has benefited the organization, than maybe you've found the right culture.   Don't forget the importance of the obvious; distance, the drive, office environment, worker activity and how employees interact with one another? Were people working at their desks? Were they at their desks? Can you work from home?   HR Professionals have an advantage over other workers but finding a good job remains difficult for most. With some intuitiveness and the skills to know what to look for, most HR professionals should have a sense in the first few minutes if they will be a good fit in an organization. Back to the library Reproduction of this article cannot be accomplished without the expressed consent of Human Resource Staffing. Don Schmitz is a popular speaker and writer on all aspects of HR and CEO of Human Resource Staffing. Don holds graduate degrees in Education, Administration and Human Development. Contact Don@HumanResourceStaffingInc.com 952 854 6040