1

I've had experiences where a big company hires lots of people for the same positions. For example I did customer support from a call center. There were almost 30 people in the training class and multiple floors of us doing the exact same thing.

In an interview, how do I inquire about this? I tried asking how many people are in the training class and they said around 3. I guess if they even have a "training class" it is implied that multiple people would be doing the same job.

What questions can I ask to better ascertain how many people would have the same job and responsibilities as me? In my experience I prefer to work in a place where different people have different specializations and have their own projects they are working on, as opposed to 50 people who are completely interchangeable. Of course the less replaceable your position is the less likely you are to get fired/laid off.

10
  • 6
    What's wrong with what you've typed, e.g., "How many people would have the same job and responsibilities as [your selected candidate]?" followed by, "In my experience I prefer to work in a place where different people have different specializations and have their own projects they are working on." The only thing I'd add is "on one team" to prevent the answer from scaling with the size of the company. Feb 18, 2022 at 23:33
  • 1
    Does this answer your question? What questions to ask about organization/structure in an interview
    – gnat
    Feb 19, 2022 at 6:23
  • 8
    @user132962 - I can't think of many cases where someone would try to hide that information. The number of underwriters at a bank or the number of call center workers is hardly a secret. I suppose someone might try to avoid mentioning if they're trying to hire for an obviously untenable position (i.e. you'll be the sole tech support person for the whole 100,000 person worldwide company) but that is exceedingly rare. Feb 19, 2022 at 6:23
  • 2
    Of course the less replaceable your position is the less likely you are to get fired/laid off. You should clear your head of nonsense like this. Everyone is replaceable, and people who try to make themselves irreplaceable are actually putting a target on their back. Feb 19, 2022 at 22:52
  • 3
    In my experience I prefer to work in a place where different people have different specializations and have their own projects they are working on... - This statement would eliminate you from consideration for any position I would be hiring. I don't need snowflakes and unicorns. I need team members. Pretty sure most hiring managers need the same thing. Feb 19, 2022 at 22:53

1 Answer 1

13

I tried asking how many people are in the training class and they said around 3

Interviews are the place for information exchange, if you have a question then be direct with it. Asking about training classes when you want to know something different is a bad idea. Just ask them how many staff work in that position.

1
  • 3
    “Tell me about [department structure] and my immediate supervisors and immediate counterparts” is always great questions in interviews. Feb 20, 2022 at 2:02

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .