I work for a nonprofit. I currently have a role I do not like, and have applied for a role on my team that recently became available after my boss didn't come back after being out for about 6 months. Illness related. I'm applying for her job. It's a manager job, which is a step up from my current title, but also slightly different in terms of responsibilities. I work on a team of 5, and I have seniority only after the director.
I applied for this job, and let me interim boss know. She said she supported me, began giving me duties for that role and I assumed she was grooming me. I then find out they are still entertaining external candidates and kept the job posting up 1.5 weeks longer than my boss said they wanted to AND that they went through the trouble of posting it on some special job board. I asked if all of that was an HR technically thing, and she said no.
So that has been a shot to my ego and only fueled my imposter syndrome given that I don't come from the nonprofit world, I come from education. Read my post history for more info on that situation. They scheduled an interview for me for tomorrow.
I've been with this employer for 2.5 years, so I know the answer to the questions I would typically ask in an interview. What questions can I ask that still make me seem engaged but I can also use to hold this employer accountable later?
I already want to ask, “How will you support my success in this new role?” My team is notorious for not really supporting people in new roles or external people, so I'd be curious of this answer.
Should I ask what they're biggest concern is with hiring me for this role? I gotta be honest, I'm pretty discouraged about them pulling in external candidates and not investing in their own people. Idk if there's a way to address that. If I ask what resources are available for people in new roles, realistically there aren't any, I'd have to figure most of it out myself, but they will pay for me to go to trainings up to a certain amount.
Would appreciate any ideas! I've chatted with friends and they think either way you slice it, this situation makes my employer look shitty. If they're stringing me along, it's shitty. If they're bringing in other people just to interview them, but knowing they're already giving the job to someone else within the company, that's shitty and a waste of that person's time.