Journey of 20 Job Applications: Are these pre-interview questions rude?

Originally published/last updated on myearlyretirementjourney.com on Jul 14, 2019. 

So, I definitely have some emotional maturing to do at times. It’s when it comes to decision making from second-place options that I have the most trouble.

What isn’t listed on the chart are a few interviews I had earlier this year. The last one was in Jun 2019 and it was not altogether nice – disorganized, aggressive, inexperienced employee-interviewers.

I think leftover feelings from that played a role in the questions I just sent the HR contact at an upcoming interview. My thought was, it’s unlikely I’ll dazzle a 9-person interview panel throughout a 7-hour interview day that includes lunch and a 45-minute presentation. So to cope, I’ve changed my mindset to look at the day as an informational session and practice opportunity for a job I’ll really want after my 6-month sabbatical.

Viewing it this way helped. I had an objective, a task to complete. And if I’m anything, I’m task-oriented! With that objective in mind, I spent most of Saturday preparing my presentation. I got kind of into it and my first draft is rough but will be solid when finalized. No extras.

Recognizing how much time and effort I put into interview prep in addition to this presentation and my most recent interview experiences, I drafted and sent the following to my HR contact at the new place.

Thank you for the information. I have a few additional questions regarding the presentation and the interview day.

Presentation

• Who will my audience be for the presentation? HCPs? Other employees?
• How many people in the audience?
• Will I be in a room where I can project a Powerpoint? or Just speaking from handouts?
• If projecting, will I need to bring a jump drive or will I be able to access personal email?
• Will I be at a podium? or a conference table with the audience?

Interview day

• Are all of the non-HR interviewers experienced in interviewing for this position?
• Have they interviewed other candidates for this position?
• Will they view my resume prior to the interview date?
• Will each interview be skills/competency based? or Fit-based?
• Is this interview format typical for this organization/ role or is it a new format?
• I noticed in the job description that this position reports to Director or Senior Director but I did not see that person/title on the interview schedule. Is that typical? or Will this position be reporting to someone else?

Thank you so much in advance for your attention to this. I really appreciate it. I find it’s really beneficial to the process if interviewer and interviewee are equally prepared. Look forward to hearing from you.

Since I have no friends and my family is busy with their own lives, I slept on it. Waited for a sign (from God). (Never works.) The only thing I got was a bug crawling on my laptop as I was drafting said email. If it were a sign, I literally killed it.

So internet public, what are your thoughts? Risky? Bold? Inappropriate? Cheeky? Just what the doctor ordered?