Honestly, what are my chances of getting this job?

Have you ever asked this question flat-out to a prospective employer? Would you expect to get an honest answer?

If you have hired, has anyone asked this? Did you answer honestly? How did you feel about being asked?

It seems to me that it would put the employer in an awkward position to answer a question he's not prepared to answer or to lie to you, so I've never done it. But maybe I'm too nice. Sure would make life a lot easier if you could ask this and expect an honest answer.

 

I would think it'd be awkward to ask, but Moddy's response make me think otherwise. The again, Moddy may just be the coolest hirer ever.
I did have a potential employer volunteer that I was the leader in the clubhouse once. Then someone else showed up in the clubhouse, oh well.

And if someone asked me Moddy's question I'd respond more along the lines of "I'm always interested in bettering my self and my position. If this job offers me the best opportunity to do so, and I know I can help this company, then I'm very likely to take this job, If not then I won't waste your time or mine by drawing out the process."

 

Instead of asking about your chances, say something like this at the end of the interview, assuming you've interviewed well and are a strong candidate for the job.

"I'd love to have this job, and I'd work really hard for you. May I have this job?"

Better to ask if you can have the job than to give the manager an open invitation to tell you no.

 

The version of that I was asked was "If we hire you, how do we know you aren't going to leave for a better job in six months?"

I answered honestly ("You don't, but you should want people who do goo enough work to move up in the world.") and I didn't get the job.

 

First, that's a bit too direct of a question unless you have a really comfortable rapport with the person you're talking too. First, using "honestly" is sort of a back door way of saying the interviewer has been being dishonest. The word you're looking for is "candor" or "candidly".

The other reasons that question is a bit too direct is because it is likely premature. Like Moddy said, the person doing the hiring might have some sense of what he's going to do but he might still want to interview other people, check your references, check others' references, discuss salary, etc.

I think you could more safely ask things about the process that wouldn't risk coming on too strong. Where are you in the hiring process? Are you interviewing a lot of candidates? What kind of background are you looking for in a candidate? Do you think my background fits what you're looking for?

If you can get a few of those questions answered you can figure out for yourself what your chances are without directly asking.

 

I once asked my then-boss about what my chances were to fill a reporting job that was coming open. (I was/am a copy editor, and while I'm very happy as a copy editor, I would have liked this particular reporting job a lot.) He basically told me that I was disqualified simply because I was a copy editor, even as I was one of, if not the, best on the desk.

I left that place before that job even came open, and while it was for a copy-editing position at a substantially better place, I probably would have stuck around if I thought I could have that reporting position. I say this as a praise to my boss. He was being honest. Short-sighted, perhaps, but honest. He gave me an incredible reference for the job I left for (all in one company), and he didn't lead me on. They ended up hiring for that position about three months after I left, and they hired the guy I figured they were going to hire the whole time.

I had a great relationship with that boss, which is why I felt comfortable asking that question and why he felt comfortable being honest with me in his answer. I think it would be very awkward asking a prospective employer that type of question.

One question I ask regularly is, "What are your reservations in hiring me?" I've heard a variety of answers to this question, including concerns I was able to alleviate and those that were factual. Asking that kind of question after talking with someone for 10-15 minutes can be rather instructive on where you stand and what you can do to show your value.

 

Considering I'm currently in a non-sportswriting job, yes. I am really interested. Hire me bitch! (Too enthusiastic?)

 

You need a comma before "bitch."

 

Best desk guy I've ever worked with heard the SE might be getting promoted (which happened eventually), so the desk guy went in to see the ME and asked what his chances were and the ME, a very terse, old-school guy said, "None. No chance. OK?" So the guy got a job at a competing paper a few weeks later.

 

I got that one once. I was interviewing for two jobs at the same shop, one a full time with little chance to move up the ladder, one a part time with better chance to move up. I said honestly that I was always looking for room to move up in the world, and received a lecture on how the business was enough of a revolving door as it was and they were looking for someone who was going to stick around. A month later the interviewer who told me that had moved on.