How to Answer Interview Questions – Q71

What questions do you have for us? By the end of the job interview, when they ask if you have any questions for them, you probably feel like you’re toast. You’re just done, and you want to go home. That’s the way most people feel, so the most common response to this question is, “I don’t have any questions, I think you’ve covered everything.” That’s bad, bad, bad. It’s one of the things you should never say in a job interview. It makes you look uninterested in the job. The best questions to ask are those that make it clear you’ve been listening to what their main problems and concerns are. Clarify, elaborate, or dig deeper. There are lots of good questions to ask. You can ask about the timeline: “How soon do you want to have someone in the role?” That shows you are motivated to get started quickly. You can ask about the last person who was in this role. If the person who had the position before was promoted, ask, “Is that a traditional track for this job?” If the person who was in the role before wasn’t meeting expectations, ask, “Can you tell me how they weren’t meeting expectations so I could understand?” If you’re speaking with your direct future boss, ask about the biggest challenges of the job and can he see you meeting those challenges? If you’re speaking with the Human Resources Manager, ask about the company, the growth of the department, where it fits in relation to the rest of the company, and so on. If you’re speaking with upper management, ask questions that demonstrate your understanding of the industry as a whole and this company’s place in it and its plans for the future. This is not the time to ask about anything that would benefit you, like salary, vacations, or perks. At this point, they’re like your customer. It’s all about them right now, not you. Remember that the job interview is a sales process and you have to keep selling, or keep showing them all the different reasons why you’d be a good fit for them until they say, “yes, we want to hire you.” You don’t have to keep asking an endless round of more and more questions. Just ask a few more questions that show your interest, enthusiasm, and conce for their problem (which is the job that isn’t getting done until they put someone in that role). Continue the conversation and ask questions to find out more details that will help you move in the direction of uncovering more of their motivations, needs, and wants you can so you can better position yourself as the candidate they want.