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5 questions you should always ask before accepting a job offer

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Landing a new role is always a great feeling.

You worked hard to put together a good application, passed the initial screening with flying colours, and impressed at the interview. They’ve decided you’re a good fit for their dealership and want to offer you the role—but before you accept it, you also need to make sure the dealership is also a good fit for you.

While you can never really know exactly what your working life will be like until you’re living it, there are a few questions you should always make sure you’ve asked an employer before you accept a role to help you decide if it’s really what you’re looking for.

What would a regular day look like?

Job advertisements are great for giving you an idea about what a role involves; however, it’s a common experience among new employees to find that their new role is a little different to what they initially expected.

Imagine you’ve applied for a role as a Parts Interpreter. You’re probably expecting it to be a front counter based role with a heavy focus on sales and customer service, but the role might also involve other tasks you’re not particularly keen on, such as back counter interpreting, or warehousing duties.

Asking an employer this question will help you uncover more detail about the specifics of a role, and help you decide if you can realistically see yourself enjoying the position.

Will I receive any training or coaching?

While you might think it’s a given that you’ll receive some formal training or coaching when you first start a new role, for many dealerships it’s merely an afterthought.

The employer’s response to this question will give you an idea of how organised and structured the dealership is and how well supported you’ll be in the role.

This is particularly important if you’re taking your career in a new direction. For example, imagine you’ve spent most of your career working in an automotive dealership and are applying for a position in a John Deere agricultural dealership—given the different nature of the two types of dealerships, you would hope the employer is willing to provide some form of training to get you up to speed with the industry nuances to help you succeed in the role.

How would my performance be measured?

This is an important one to establish from the get-go, as performance expectations can vary significantly between dealerships.

Some workers thrive in a high-performing, KPI-driven environment, while others prefer a more laid-back, unstructured work environment. Ultimately, you want to find out what the employer’s performance expectations are and whether the dealership fosters the type of work ethic you’re looking for.

Asking this question will also give you the opportunity to assess whether the KPIs set by the dealership are realistically achievable. If the employer provides a vague response and can’t clearly specify what your KPIs will be, this could also be an indication that there may be some ambiguity about what will be expected of you in the role.

How much scope is there for progression?

Asking this question will help you determine if the dealership will be able to accommodate your longer-term career aspirations.

Smaller dealerships may not be able to offer much scope to move into different roles in the future—something that could be a deal breaker depending on where you want to take your career.

While you’re on the topic, you may also want to find out if the dealership generally prefers to recruit internally or externally, as this can provide an indication of the likelihood of being able to secure a promotion in the future if you meet your performance expectations.

How would you describe the company culture?

‘Cultural fit’ has been a buzzword in the recruitment industry for decades now, and for good reason. If you’re going to dedicate a significant chunk of your working years to one dealership, it needs to foster the same general values, beliefs, and behaviours that you uphold.

If you want to develop a fruitful, long-lasting working relationship, everything from the way staff interact and communicate to their preferred working style and the type of relationship employees have with management needs to align with your own personality and values.

Raising the topic of culture before you accept a role will help you gain some valuable insight into how the employer views the dealership, how well you’ll fit into the team, and what you might be able to bring to the table.

Teamrecruit is Australia’s most established recruitment agency specialising in truck, earthmoving and agricultural machinery dealerships in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. Find out more about Teamrecruit and how we support employers and candidates in the dealership industry.

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