What questions are best to ask at an interview?
The Preparative Enquiry:
As the interview begins it may be a wise move to ask one question from yourself: “As the hiring manager for the position, I’d love to hear your perspective on what you’re looking for in a candidate and what you expect the candidate to accomplish soon after being hired.” By establishing this at the start, you as an interviewee, are able to comprehend what basic qualities thety are lookling for in an applicant. This gives you the advantage of being able to emphasise yout relevant strengths in the interview. You will need to think on your feet a little so that you can ask this question first.
The Imperative Enquiry:
In practically all interviews, you will have the opportunity to ask a question of your own. If it does not appear as if they are going to offer this, be sure to ask them if you can take a little more of their time to learn more about the team and company by asking a few questions.
Once you have the floor to ask a few questions, this is your opportunity to provide some motivation as to why you are the best candidate. It is imperative that your questions prove three things:
1. Show that you took some time to find out about the company.
2. Mention something else (related, but interesting) about you.
3. Begin an intriguing conversation or have an informative answer.
Simply enquiring about when their decision will be made is not a good example of a question you should ask. Ask an intelligent question and explore more about their company such as their future plans, the technology they utilise and their people. Enquiries about the hiring procedure should be directed to the recruiter or in a follow-up after the interview.
You can choose to ask a more general question but one that also elicits an useful response, such as::
>What are the highs and lows of this position?
>What are the biggest challenges facing this department/company in the next six months?
>Are there any reasons or external recognitions in particular that make this company a great place to work at?
>If a person were to stand at the entrance to this building at 5pm, would people be working late, walking out looking content or would they be sneeking out early?
>Can you tell me about some of the decisions I would be making in this postion as well as the level of empowerment and discretion available to me?
Be sure to put your questions in writing so you do not forget them after a long interview. It is also a good idea to put the questions in priority order. If you can see that they are running out of time or need to be attending to something else then finish your question and then allow the interview to be conculded. If you had prepared your questions then your important ones will have been answered already. If interviewing with different levels and roles in the organisation, present different questions to each of the interviewers based on their responsibility.
The Validation Question:
Once you have had your turn to ask questions you will probably want to find ourt if you are the person for the position. To do this, you should probe into the minds of the interviewers and see if there are any concerns they have about you. The quintessential enquiry to do this can be something like:
“Now that we have spoken about this position, I believe I am most suitable for this opening. Is there anything that you would like to discuss further or perhaps something we did not mention that would be important in your decision making process?”
Having this question answered may expose a topic you never spoke about or it could allow you to clear up something that could have been misconceived. Its ideal to ask this question at the first interview because the second interview may not provide this opportunity and, if there is something which needs clearing up and you dont ask, you may not get the second interview.
The Concluding Enquiry:
As the interview draws to a close and all questions have been posed, you’ll want to depart with eagerness. Your interviewers should see that you are very keen to find out what comes next and you are fired up at the chance of working there. To do this, a simnple comment and question will be able to assist you:
“I must say that I am even more excited about the prospect of working here than I was when I walked in the door. It seems like this would be a good fit for both of us. I am excited to know what the next steps are in the process.”
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