Interview

You may recall that Elaine, John's boss, is leaving the company and recommended that John apply for her position.  John decided to do just that.  So today is his big interview with Elaine's boss, Diane LaSalette, and the manager from HR (Human Resources), Bill Lambert. Diane's title is Senior Director of Enterprise Engineering R&D.

They all meet in conference room A at 10am and take a seat around the table. Diane had asked Michael Waller to attend remotely via Teams.  Michael is the Senior Director of Product Management.  Diane connects her laptop to the projector and to Teams.  Bill begins introducing everyone, and then...

Bill: Ok, let's get going. Diane, perhaps you'd like to start?

Diane: Yes, Ok just a little background for John's benefit. Referring to the image projected from Diane's laptop...   John, here is a hierarchy of my department.  As you can see, Elaine Sill leads Enterprise Engineering Services.  This team does research and development, and has first-level support responsibilities for any product that it developed.  The team works closely with the product management team, which is where most of the ideas for new products and features come from.  Michael, would you like to add anything?

Michael:  Yes, thanks Diane.  I want to stress that the relationship between your and my departments is critical to success.  We have to work closely together, from product inception through development, delivery and rollout.  Otherwise, we will fail.  I know John, you have been working with us for a while so you know how important it is that we are all in sync.

John: Yes Michael, I've worked with your team on around five projects, and I understand that it is the close partnership between our teams that makes it all work.

Diane:  Ok, sounds good.  John, can you tell us why you are interested in moving into management?

John: Well, when Elaine suggested that I consider it, I was not sure, but I have given it a lot of thought. In the end, I think it would be a great opportunity to learn and become a better leader.  As you know, I have been leading individual projects for years now.  I think it is time for me to take the next step.

Michael:  So John, how would you describe your management style?

John: Well, I trust my team.  I start out every project by making sure that I give clear directions and outline our overall goals.  I make a real effort not to micromanage.  I’m always available for help, guidance and assistance when needed.  Like Elaine, I'd like to have weekly status meetings but I will be flexible about those, depending on project deadlines.  

Questioning continued for about 45 minutes, touching on certain management scenarios that can be tricky, such as giving employee evaluations and potentially firing an employee.  Because they knew John already, they knew he was technically sound, and had built a rapport with his peers as well as people from other departments.  As the interview wrapped up, John had a good feeling about how it went.