Being interviewed by a company you already work for

Larianne

There is a possibility I will be interviewing for a company I already work for, for a full time position. I think it will be a more difficult interview than if I was going in blind in one way!

What have others experienced?
Any advice?

pauliebdub

Do you mean an internal position? It can be good or bad depending on how managers rate you. Outside candidates have an advantage being an unknown quantity if they sell themselves well at an interview,

Most of the positions in the company I work for are filled externally as the managers don't really rate the staff.

RomanGod

Never had an internal interview. My biggest fear would be that I don't get the job but they go a step further and kick me out of my current role as well. I'm sure that won't happen

Firefox11

pauliebdub wrote: »

Do you mean an internal position? It can be good or bad depending on how managers rate you. Outside candidates have an advantage being an unknown quantity if they sell themselves well at an interview,

Most of the positions in the company I work for are filled externally as the managers don't really rate the staff.

That must be one poor company to work for!!:eek:

Nody

Larianne wrote: »

What have others experienced?
Any advice?

Done it multiple times and done the interviews several times as well; and yes I'd probably rate it as harder than a third party interview because of the familiarity.

A few things to keep in mind:
1) Don't assume they know what you do or how you do it. This means don't be lazy in explaining what you do, what projects you helped on or how you contributed to it. Treat it as a third party interview and show what you did but unlike a third party interview you can't really white lie things in or expand your responsibility!
2) Be professional. I had one interview with a person who took it as a pub chat and went like "Well Nody you know me, I'm a hard worker and yada yada yada". I repeatedly reminded them that this is an interview; not a chat between two friends and still they kept it up and did not get the promotion in the end.
3) Expect the same questions you'd get in a third party interview. This means you need to show how you have added value to your team, to projects, how you work under pressure etc. with examples from your current work.
4) Understand the department and position so you can ask questions. Have a coffee with someone from the department; ask them how their day normally is, what problem do they solve etc. Put yourself in their shoes and think what you can add to the department. Don't hesitate to be upfront about the fact you've been asking about the daily work, state it as "I was told that a big part of the daily tasks revolves around X; while I know Y and Z to help with that would you agree this would be something to focus on?" etc. It shows you've proactively looked into the position in more detail and started to think about how you can help.
5) If you're not accepted it does not mean everyone hates you. It often simply means they had a better candidate and puts you in a better position for the next time something opens up. Don't go all huffy and puffy about it or start grumbling about it in your current position, take it on the chin, ask for feedback and what areas of knowledge you can improve on. That will show you off in the right light for the next position and will help build your reputation the right way.

cantdecide

Firefox11 wrote: »

That must be one poor company to work for!!:eek:

I worked for a pretty large manufacturing company like that once. It was a standing joke- a new dept head/ supervisor/ manager would come in from outside having passed over anyone existing. 'This must be the great white hope' was frequently heard in our canteen. They just never promoted internally.

Maximus Alexander

I did it for my current job and found it very easy, it ended up being more of an informal chat than a typical interview scenario. I'm sure it can vary from company to company, but my own experience was nothing to worry about. I got the impression they already knew they wanted me and were more interested in explaining the role to me and making sure I was actually interested in it.

jester77

I did it for my current role. It's actually much much easier than interviewing for a new company. You have lots of advantages going into the interview. You know the company well, how it works and where it needs to improve. You will know exactly what the position entails, what the team does and what the people you will be working for are like. They will know you or will be easily able to find out what your skills are and what you would bring to the team. It's a much better position to be in than someone external applying. Just treat it like a normal interview when the time comes.

pauliebdub

Ask someone who has already been interviewed internally how the interview was carried out ie informal chat or formal interview, as it would vary from company to company how interviews are carried out.

I would approach the interview like i would approach any interview in a formal way, do plenty of research about the role and the department. In my company internal interviews would be the same as interviews for extrernal candidates. In my previous compant the interview process was much less formal.

Duckett

Offering opportunities for internal promotion is, in my view, a characteristic of well run companies. Secondly, Nody's comments above are spot on. Good luck

Larianne

Thanks for the replies.

I shall treat it like a regular interview but will have the added bonus of knowing what areas I need to focus on and where there is an opportunity for service development.