Interview questions you should be asking of aid organizations

[Jennifer Lentfer]

Last week at happy hour, we found ourselves giving advice as to a budding aid worker who was about to have her first round of interviews for her first "real" aid job. She wanted to know what questions she should be asking of the organizations and people with which she's interviewing. These are the questions that one has to have ready, when inevitably interviewers say, "Now what questions do you have for us?"

She got some great suggestions from @oabello, @gurrity, @PatrickOdongosn, and now my readers can share them too, thanks to @marcmaxson who suggested this post. I hope these can be useful to those people hoping to determine the "right fit" with an organization's values, approach, and management style. Here's some of our ideas, in no particular order:

1. How would you describe the organizational culture?
2. If I were to be offered the position, what do you see me accomplishing in my first month? In the first six months?
3. What other organizations would you consider to be your organization's peers? With which other organizations do you collaborate?
4. What was the last book that you read related to your work?
5. What mechanisms does your organization use to obtain feedback from the people you serve?
6. How are strategic decisions made in the organization? And how are they communicated?
7. How do you ensure community ownership of your programs?
8. What are your organization's most promising or "provocative" programs?
9. Do you consider your organization a learning organization? If so, how is this demonstrated?
10. Do you think your organization offers something unique to the aid sector? What is it?
11. How would you describe the relationship between programs and communications/marketing/fundraising?
12. How has your organization changed over the last 2-5-10 years (as appropriate)?
13. What is the most important piece of practical advice you would offer to someone starting on their first day on the job?
14. How does your organization monitor what percentage of its financial resources reach the ground?
15. How does this position contribute to the organization's overall mission?
16. Others? Kindly share them via the comments!

And job seekers, if you're not yet following iOnPoverty's video series...well, you need to be. The latest video offers some great interview tips from Regina Starr Ridley of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. She highlights the importance of asking good questions!

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This post originally appeared at: http://www.how-matters.org/2012/08/23/interview-questions-aid-organ...
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[LCD]

Generally a good list, though I agree with posters below that the tone is rather arrogant. Asking a prospective employer about the latest book they read would be pretty audacious!

Many of these strike me as general questions to seek answers to through research and asking around rather than appropriate for a formal interview. By the time I'm interviewing someone I'd hope that they could tell ME what unique thing THEY think my organisation can offer in the sector!

 

'If I were to be offered the position, what do you see me accomplishing in my first month? In the first six months?' is a particularly good one I've neither asked nor had to answer.

[M.]

this is useful. thanks for sharing. although, yes, one might be to be creative as to when and how to ask these in the context of the ritualised job interview. (It can be for example asked at the end of the interview process, where you are almost sure to get the job/you got the job and are considering choosing between two positions).  you can be seen as arrogant but aid organisations need to make a selg critique and maybe one day we might fall on a HR/operations perosn who is actually open to that need. Now, it also tells the organisation that you value yourself, that you have a certaion experience and thoughs, and you want to be at the right place for your performance and happynesss, and that you will not just accept any crap just becasue its about aid. wich in a way is a good thing to tell about you. If I was in HR I would appreciate people asking this kind of questions. its challenging and necessary, as long as it's asked politely and without arrogance. Many organisations need to make this self-reflection work urgently. It will only make aid better.

[Jennifer Lentfer]

Thanks for the great suggestions @Fiona & @Lisa. @aidnography had a different take on our questions:

“These are great questions-but in the ritualised context of a job interview I would ask them with caution. They are absolutely spot-on and go straight to the essence of what a development organisation should be about, but I have doubts that many organisations would truly appreciate them (in the sense of giving you a job in the end). My experience from academia suggests that by sending in an application and accepting an interview you implicitly have bought in the discourse that surrounds the industry or organisation. Some of Jennifer’s questions may appear (from the side of organisational HR who believe that they already did you a huge favour by inviting you) as arrogant, or, even worse, that you are a critical thinker who may not be 120% convinced that this organisation is already the best learner, the closest to people on the ground and the most critical trend-setter in the industry (why else would you apply?!). Again, these are exactly the questions you should be asking, but I’m not sure how the ritual communication of job interviews really enables an environment where they are seen as ‘appropriate’-especially at an early stage of your career where many organisations assume your eternal gratefulness for offering you a job in the first place…”

And a very interesting response on LinkedIn from a gentleman in Pakistan: “well in my country if you are successful in your first interview and get shortlisted for the second one and the employer is willing to give you a job he would ask you what is the name of your father which ppl do tell exactly right as we all know this but if he has got a healthy envelop from other contestant then there will be slight change in the qts. and that will be tell me the name of my father. and this off course you ppl dont knw.”

[Lisa F.]

Thinking of the people in the past who really excelled in this position, can you tell me what it was about their performance that was so outstanding? What was it they did that really made you appreciate their performance?

The answer to this question can help you see if you really are the right person for the job and I've found that it gives me a good idea of what people really want out of you in that position.

[Fiona Davidson]

This posting is so great. I would always also ask how responsive the board is. I guess this is strongly linked to question 6 but more specific. 

I wouldn't ask about how much of the financial resources reach beneficiaries. I think the aid industry needs to reject this question and focus on what quality and impact is delivered in programmes rather than what % reaches people. More funds delivered with worse planning may do more harm than good.

Thanks for the post. Really good the emphasis what employees should be asking agencies.