Career / Work · Advice & Questions · Oct 19

The person I interviewed with won’t be my manager after all. Should I ask for another meeting?

Career / Work

The offer email ended with a detail I hadn’t heard before: I would report to the commercial director, not the operations manager who interviewed me.

The operations manager and I had spent a lot of time discussing how we’d work together. She described regular check-ins and a clear plan for my first projects. That was part of why the coordinator role appealed to me.

The recruiter says the reporting line changed during planning and that the responsibilities are “essentially the same.” I haven’t met the commercial director. I don’t know whether she expects the same projects, has time for the check-ins or sees the job differently.

The offer deadline is in four days. I’m interested, but I’m uncomfortable accepting the working relationship I imagined when it now belongs to someone else.

Would you ask to meet the new manager before deciding? What would you ask that could reveal whether the change is minor or something I need to weigh carefully?

Discussion

3 community replies

@northstar88

Request the meeting plainly: “Before deciding, I’d like to speak with the person I’ll report to about priorities and the first few months.” You’re asking to understand the offer as it now stands. The recruiter’s reassurance can be sincere and still leave the new manager’s expectations unknown.

@softfocus

Start with the first projects the operations manager described. Ask whether those are still the priorities and what success would look like. A conversation about the real work may tell you more than asking the director to describe her management style in general terms.

@PatchTuesdayish

Clarify who would provide day-to-day guidance. Reporting to a director doesn’t by itself tell you whether another colleague will handle the regular check-ins. Ask how that arrangement works and who will help when priorities conflict. Avoid filling the gap with either a reassuring or alarming story about the job title.

The person I interviewed with won’t be my manager after all. Should I ask for another meeting?

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