"Both tenure and performance are important, but I lean toward performance driving the decision. I feel employees should be paid and rewarded based on the documented value they bring to the organization. This approach is a strong motivator - a new employee would be greatly encouraged by being rewarded for performance. It also facilitates healthy competition with more tenured employees. Can you elaborate on how recent staff in this department at Kimberly-Clark were promoted?"

"Experience and company knowledge are so important and valuable to an organization, while performance is the documented articulation of an employee's value to the company. I believe the best compensation programs figure out a way to honor both, with an emphasis on performance. Doing so encourages good employees to stay since they know they're valued for their tenure and experience but discourages people from getting so comfortable in a long-time role that they don't strive for their highest performance."

Feel free to speak openly about how you feel employees should be considered for promotion, but keep in mind whether the job you are being considered for is part of the union or non-union. Unions tend to have a collective bargaining agreement that factors in promotion based on seniority for those that apply, and non-union jobs do not.

"Having been in a union manufacturing environment for the first three years of my career, I've been part of a system that promotes based on seniority of the interested internal applicants and know this is a fair way of doing things. If I'm fortunate enough to join Kimberly-Clark, I'm dedicated to putting my time in and working towards future leadership opportunities on the floor."