Before You Accept A New Job, Make Sure There Are Legitimate Ways To Advance Your Career

In an era of resignations and staffing shortages, most companies make promises of growth, development and advancement to attract and retain people. While that sounds great, the reality is that companies often take shortcuts.

Developing employees, planning advancement, eliminating frustrations, and listening deeply all take time and effort. By contrast, employee awards, gift cards, corporate gear, team trophies, and company picnics are easier and less time-consuming. Sure, they’re trite and often insulting, but far too many companies and managers simply want the easy way out.

As a recent Forbes article reported, “employers place too high a premium on ‘intangible benefits’ such as employee recognition, time off and bigger job titles, the last of which ranked among the bottom five priorities for frontline workers but was near the top for surveyed managers.”

Additionally, a recent Leadership IQ study found that only 20% of employees say their leader always takes an active role in helping them grow and develop their full potential. And a related study revealed that only 35% of employees say that they’re always learning something new at work, even though those that are learning are ten times more likely to be inspired to give their best effort on the job.

What’s clear from all this is that while companies say they’re going to take meaningful steps to help you grow, there’s a decent chance they’ll cut corners and take an easier path. So it’s up to each candidate to ask two direct questions before accepting a new job (assuming that you’re in the vast majority of people who truly value advancement, growth, etc.). The following questions are ideally posed to a hiring manager, not a recruiter, as the manager is most likely to have the requisite firsthand knowledge.

Question #1: Could you share an example of something a current high performer recently did that exemplifies why they’re a high performer?

This question will reveal several facets of your potential new employer. First, if the hiring manager struggles to recollect a specific high performer example, that’s troublesome. A key to advancing one’s career is having a manager who’s sufficiently aware of their employees to recognize the standouts. Without that recognition, advancement is at best capricious and, at worst, political or nonexistent.

Second, with this question, you’ll learn whether the criteria for being a high performer are remotely achievable. If it takes walking on water or working 100-hour weeks to be a high performer, you know your likely chances of being in a position for advancement.

Question #2: Could you share an example of how that high performer was rewarded for going above and beyond?

Once you know what it takes to be a high performer, you can now inquire about how those high-performing folks are actually rewarded. For example, you might hear about how they received an employee award but no further advancement, training, or new opportunities. You might hear that the company believes in rewarding everyone, not just high performers. That’s not necessarily bad, but it will be problematic if those rewards ring hollow.

Unfortunately, the information revealed by these two questions rarely appears in job ads or career websites. If advancing your career is a top priority, there’s just no substitute for a few direct questions.