You applied for a job. You got an interview. Congratulations! You spend hours preparing your answers to typical and difficult questions so you feel confident, ready and raring to go.
But what about the questions you are supposed to ask the interviewer?
You know they will ask you, “Do you have any questions?”
So, what do you ask? And, what do you avoid asking?
1) Do not ask about salary. That should have been brought up by the interviewer. If not, do not bring it up. That is a discussion for after you get the job offer.
2) Do not ask about benefits. See the answer to question #1.
3) Do ask, “What is the biggest challenge your company is facing in the next 3-6 months?”. This gives you an idea of a problem that you can help solve. Then think of how you have solved that problem in the past and how you can do the same for this company.
4) Do ask “What keeps you up at night? The answer will tell you a little more about the work that your interviewer is doing and how you might be able to help
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5) Finally, do ask “How do I compare to the other candidates”? The interviewer may not wish to answer this question.. Probe to see how you compare, The interviewer will say that s/he cannot say anything about the other candidates. What you want to know is this, do you lack any particular skill that the other candidate(s) might have? Then you can try to overcome that with another example of how you used that particular skill for another company.
Remember, the interview is all about how you can help solve the problems of the company and the interviewer, not about you.
(c) 2019 Amy Geffen All rights reserved
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