Grilling Your Interviewer

Interviewees aren’t burned at the stake for asking interesting and smart questions. Quite the reverse, in fact!

You don’t need to wait for the interviewer’s favourite question, namely “Do you have any questions for us?” to ask some of your own. Since the company’s foremost experts on staffing matters are all in one room with you, why not take the chance to clarify important details that your personal company research couldn’t cover?

While you’re in the hot seat, so to speak, it’s a no-brainer to ask good, sensible, no-risk questions at decent intervals throughout the proceedings and make your interviewers think “Wow, you’re intelligent!” and hopefully warm up to you in the best possible way.

In fact, asking questions actually makes the interview more fun for both parties at the end of the day.

What should I ask?

Sensible questions

Clarify important details that your personal research couldn’t cover – it’ll help you make a more informed decision about whether or not you should accept an offer from the company. Some examples include: • You mentioned that the job involves this task. Could you tell me a bit more about what this entails? • What sort of training can I expect to receive? • How do newcomers in this position generally progress?

What would be a typical timescale? Thoughtful questions

Try to ask bigger-picture questions that’ll help you discover new, useful information and demonstrate your intelligence and positive attitude.

While it’s alright to bring along a mental list of questions, you may also want to pick up on things that have been mentioned throughout the interview. Some good examples include: • I read in the papers recently that your organisation has just signed an agreement to work with such and such a client. Is this something that I would be likely to get involved with if I do get this position? • Will the trend towards X in this market affect the way you work? What are some of the things you’re doing to ride the wave/wait it out? • Your competitors seem to be doing Y. Is it important for your company to be doing Z? How does this set you apart from them?

Questions to avoid

In a nutshell, avoid asking questions that you should already know the answer to as a pleasant, well-read and well-researched interviewee.

Don’t ask for information that is clearly stated on the organisation’s website – this makes it seem like you haven’t actually done your research. Likewise, don’t ask about something that you’ve just been told in the interview, simply for the sake of something to say – it’ll look as if you weren’t listening carefully.

Also, steer clear of questions that make you sound arrogant. “What’s your company able to offer me?” will give the impression that you’re difficult to work with. The same goes for good questions that aren’t tactfully worded – for instance: “What makes you so different from Company Y? Aren’t they doing the same thing?”

Lastly, steer clear of any talk concerning salaries or remuneration, especially during your first interview. It’s bad form to discuss how much you expect the company to give you when your interviewers haven’t yet decided if they really want to extend a job offer to you!

Other opportunities to ask questions

You may also have the opportunity to talk to other members of the company outside the formal interview – such as an introduction to a recent recruit to have a chat about his or her job, taken on a tour of the building, or joined by other team members for an informal lunch with your recruiters.

Make the most of these opportunities to ask polite questions when appropriate, and listen carefully to the answers. Good questions include the following: • What’s your position? • What type of products/projects/cases do you tend to work on? • How long have you been with the company? Did you join as a graduate? • Do you find the company a friendly place to work in? • What do you enjoy most about working here? • What are some of the hardest parts of your job? Keep in mind that while you’re talking, it’s very likely that the recruitment team will be taking feedback from everyone who has spoken with you. So take as much care about what you ask and how you come across in less formal activities as you do in the interview itself.

Above all, great questions to ask at the interview often require you to do a bit of research in advance. It’s a big factor in being a hireable candidate.

The smart questions funnel

A good tactic is to use what’s called the funnel method of questioning. Start by using open questions such as “How?”, “Why?” and “Who?” before working your way towards closed questions that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. This can help the conversation seem more organic.

Since open questions need more than a “yes” or “no”, use them if you want to get your interviewers talking. For example, you can ask something like “What is the training process like?”

Use closed questions later to clarify points and show that you’ve been listening, with questions such as “So your expectations are that your trainees will be ready to work independently within a month?” How will this trend affect the way you work?

What sort of training will I receive?

What does this mean for my role?

So your expectations are that...