Management position : Can I ask the interviewer why they did not promote someone within the team instead of recruiting?

Question

I was interviewed a few days ago for a lead position in a support team.

The role would be supporting the software and mentoring a 6 persons team. The role would encompass hiring duties and probably firing ones too. The role is to replace someone who has been working on that position for 9 years and has decided to move to new pasture

During the interview, one question popped out in my head

• Why they did not promote someone internally instead of recruiting?

For me, it doesn't make much sense to not promote someone internally especially if the team is quite substantial.

There can be many reasons to not hire someone internally and I want to rule out as many of them as possible

• The company organisation is such a mess that no one wants to take over the person who is leaving's position
• The software is flawed with tons of issues and taking a lead position is akin to work in a sweatshop

If the company carry on with the recruitment with me as a candidate, can and should I ask the question mentioned above during my next interview?

Thanks

Answer 1

If the company carry on with the recruitment with me as a candidate, can and should I ask the question mentioned above during my next interview?

Since the issue concerns you, and since you feel that it doesn't make much sense to not promote someone internally, then you certainly should ask.

There are certainly more than two possibilities (the organisation is a mess, the software has a ton of issues). Sometimes nobody on the team is capable of leading, sometimes nobody is quite ready, sometimes an outsider's viewpoint is needed to change the team's direction, etc.

It's certainly reasonable to ask why they didn't promote internally in this case, just as it's reasonable to ask why the prior lead left.

As a hiring manager, I get asked these sorts of questions all the time. When a candidate asks, it makes me feel like they care about what they are getting into, and that's usually a good thing. Hopefully, they aren't looking for a perfect job/company with no challenges. Hopefully, they are up to any challenges that the opening may provide.

In general, ask questions for any issues that concern you, or could affect your decision about the job and company. Interviews are two-way streets. They are evaluating you for your fit within the team. You are (or should be) evaluating them for their fit for your needs and career path.

Answer 2

If the company carry on with the recruitment with me as a candidate, can and should I ask the question mentioned above during my next interview?

You can and, yes, you should. Joe pointed out that the fact that you're wondering is sufficient reason to ask the question but beyond that this is a vital question to ask when you're applying for a management position. There are a great many reasons why a company chooses not to promote internally and few of the common ones point to outright dysfunction, but that's one reason for asking the question. The other is to help you determine what your prospective management chain wants to see in that position. How will they qualify your success? What will they expect of you? What should be done differently? What did the previous manager do that could have been done better? You can tie this into the reason behind the vacancy, though that's a topic that needs to be handled tactfully.

Beyond this, what you should also ask, though not until the later states and probably not until you're preparing to start, is whether anyone internal actually applied for the role. If some of your reports tried to get your position you want to be aware of that as well as how far they got and whether anyone reacted poorly. Don't ask about a poor reaction though: it's rare for functioning adults to harbor outright resentment but they'll tell you if it happened.