Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

Episode #5 of the course How to ace any professional job interview by Ken Liu

 

Welcome to Lesson #5. We are halfway there!

Now that you’ve prepared to answer common interview questions, it’s time to turn the tables.

At the end of your interview, your interviewer will always ask if you have any questions for them.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can say no and go home. The only correct answer here is yes.

Even though you’re no longer answering questions, you’re still being evaluated. Your interviewer wants to see whether you can ask intelligent questions. More importantly, they want to see if you’ve prepared any questions in advance.

You’ve gotten this far. You don’t want to blow your chances of landing a job because you didn’t prepare any good questions to ask your interviewer, right?

 

Good Questions

Let’s start with questions you should put in your arsenal.

Can you tell me about your experience at the company? A very easy way to get started is to ask about your interviewer’s experience at the company. They will likely share some insight on how long they’ve been there and what kind of work they’re doing.

What’s your favorite thing about this company? A corollary to the previous question digs a little bit deeper about your interviewer’s experience at the company. It also gives you a bit of insight on what is important to your interviewer and how it aligns with what is important to you.

What is the culture like? Again, you’re asking a very relevant question about the company and what it’s like to work there. When you ask this question, you’re essentially interviewing the company and evaluating if you would like to work there or not.

What is the next step of the interview process? Here, you’re showing your intention to move forward with the interview process. You’re eager to land the job, and you want to know what’s going to happen next.

It’s also a subtle way to see where you stand. If your interviewer really liked you, they might even hint that they will call you back soon. If not, they could give you the standard answer of, “We’ll get back to you in a week,” or whatever formal timeline they tell every interviewee.

 

Questions to Avoid

Now, let’s look at a few questions that you should avoid at all costs.

What are my salary and benefits going to be? You’re obviously entitled to know your future salary and benefits, but this isn’t the right time or place to ask. You might give the impression that you think the job is already yours, which doesn’t make you look very good.

Which office will I sit in? Again, you’re giving off the impression that you think the job is already yours. You’re thinking way too far ahead at this point.

And besides, does your interviewer care, or even know, which office you will sit in?

When will I get promoted? If you ask this question, you’ve basically ruined any chance you had in regards to landing the job. It’s akin to being on a first date and asking your date when they would like to get married. Just don’t do it.

 

Final Thoughts

Depending on how much time you have left and how long your interviewer’s answers are, you will probably get to ask two to three questions.

Make sure you don’t squander your last opportunity to impress your interviewer before you leave.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about our obsession with social media and how it can hurt us in our job hunt.

 

Recommended book

60 Seconds and You’re Hired! by Robin Ryan

 

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