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301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview 2nd Edition

By John Kador

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright ©2010 John Kador
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-173888-0

Contents

Foreword by Penelope TrunkAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPART I THE RULES OF THE GAMEChapter 1: Why You Have to QuestionChapter 2: Questions You Should Never InitiateChapter 3: When to QuestionChapter 4: Do Your HomeworkChapter 5: Do You Mind if I Take Notes?PART II INTERVIEW THE INTERVIEWERChapter 6: Questions for Headhunters, Recruiters, and Staffing AgenciesChapter 7: Questions for Human ResourcesChapter 8: Questions for Hiring ManagersPART III THE QUESTION LIFE CYCLEChapter 9: Exploring QuestionsChapter 10: Defensive QuestionsChapter 11: Feedback QuestionsChapter 12: Bid-for-Action QuestionsChapter 13: Questions for SuperstarsChapter 14: You Got the Offer. Congratulations!Chapter 15: You Blew the Interview. Now What?Index

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

WHY YOU HAVE TO QUESTION

QUESTIONS ARE NOT AN OPTION

“Now, do you have any questions?”

Every job interview, if the job seeker is lucky, gets to this stage. What you donow controls whether or not you get an offer. The résumé gets you in the door,but whether you leave as a job seeker or an employee depends on how you conductyourself during the interview.

Some candidates think that when the interviewer says, “Now, do you have anyquestions?” it’s a polite indication that the interview is nearly over and theinterviewer is about to wrap up. They couldn’t be more mistaken. The questionreally signals the start of the main course. Everything that came before wasjust appetizers.

Recruiters are unanimous on this point: job seekers who fail to ask at least afew intelligent questions are destined to remain job seekers. If you don’t askquestions, you leave these impressions:

• You think the job is unimportant or trivial.

• You’re uncomfortable asserting yourself.

• You’re not intelligent.

• You’re easily intimidated.

• You’re resistant to learning.

• You’re bored or boring.

Not one of these impressions works in your favor. Of course, not any oldquestion will do. If you don’t think about this in advance, you run the risk ofmissing a critical opportunity by not asking intelligent questions or byplanting your foot in your mouth by asking stupid ones. Good questions show theinterviewer that you are interested in the job. Great questions tell theinterviewer that you are a force to be reckoned with.

Great questions make you look better. As you ask questions, remember that forthe interviewer, the interview has three purposes. He or she wants to know that:

• You are qualified to meet the challenges of the job.

• You are willing to meet the challenges of the job.

• You will fit into the organization.

Make sure all your questions advance the goals of the interviewer. At the sametime, you have your own goals. In order of importance, you want to:

• Sell yourself as qualified to meet the challenges of the job.

• Evaluate the position and offer to make sure it’s right for you.

• Get the interviewer’s commitment or expression of interest for the next stepin the process.

VESTED IN THE INTERVIEW

“I want to know that the candidate in front of me is vested in the jobinterview,” says Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder, CEO, and chairman of Torrance,California–based ACT-1, the largest female, minority-owned employmentservice in the country. “If the candidate doesn’t have any questions for me,that really clouds my estimation of his or her interest and ability to engage.”

In fact, Bryant Howroyd’s practice is to ask just one question and thenimmediately throw the ball to the job seeker. Bryant Howroyd’s first question,after greeting the job seeker, is:

What is your understanding of our meeting today?

How’s that for turning the interview topsy-turvy?

But Bryant Howroyd understands she can tell more from candidates by the qualityof their questions than by the quality of their answers. So the next instructionis:

I would now like you to ask me seven questions.

Depending on the quality of the applicant’s response to the first query, BryantHowroyd invites the applicant to ask her from three to seven specific questions.The higher her initial estimation of the applicant, the more questions sherequests. What’s more, Bryant Howroyd gives the applicant permission to ask herany questions at all. No limits. And then she listens. “I learn a lot more aboutpeople by allowing them to ask me what they want to know than by having themtell me what they think I want to know,” she says. True, the hiring companyultimately selects the applicant, but “the applicants I most admire insist onbeing full partners in the selection process,” she says.

Now, are you really ready for an interview with Janice Bryant Howroyd?

Ask for the Red Flag Question

There are many ways for applicants to demonstrate they are vested in theinterview. Diane Asyre, principal of Asyre Communications, a St. Louisconsultancy specializing in employee communications, recalls an applicant whosequestion at first put her off, then impressed her, and ultimately resulted in ajob offer. I’ll let Asyre tell the story:

I was interviewing candidates for an entry-level communications assistant.Everyone, as expected, tried to convince me of his or her accomplishments,drive, creativity, and dedication. This was true except for one applicant. As wesat down he asked if I’d read his résumé. I said I had. And then he asked me:

What looks to be the weakest part of my background? Can we talk about thatfirst? I know you’re talking to a lot of people and you’re probably looking towhittle down the list.

At first I was put off, but then I had to smile. He was right. I was approachingthe interview by concentrating on whom I could eliminate from the process. Bypositioning himself the way he did, he showed me that he could think outside thebox and he had initiative. He had thought about the interview from myperspective, and he helped direct the conversation in a way that was better forboth of us. It’s unlikely I would have hired him had he not asked this question.He turned out to be the best assistant I ever hired.

Andrew Reese, an executive search recruiter with the McCormick Group inArlington, Virginia, calls these “red flag questions.” Reese says, “While it’shard to ask questions that focus on your perceived weaknesses, it’s often thebest strategy to invite the interviewer to challenge you on any red flags he orshe may have.” Sometimes, according to Reese, the question is as direct as:

Is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to hire me?

This is really a more direct version of the previous question. They are bothdesigned to uncover perceptions and attitudes that, unless brought to thesurface, will doom your candidacy. “Interviewers rarely bring up thoseperceptions and attitudes because it’s uncomfortable, so you should considerdoing so,” advises Reese. “If there’s a misperception, perhaps you can correctit.”

A senior recruiter at Bernard Haldane Associates, the largest career managementfirm in the United States, suggests that applicants consider this variant of thered flag question:

Now that we have talked about my qualifications, do you have anyconcerns about me fulfilling the responsibilities of this position?

Does it seem counterintuitive to ask the interviewer to articulate his or herconcerns? Many candidates think so. But they are being shortsighted. Onceobjections are stated, the candidate can sometimes address them in a way that issatisfactory to the interviewer. Unstated objections will doom the candidateevery time. See Chapter 11 for more examples of “asking for theobjection” questions.

Ask for the Expectations

Whether you are starting your career, applying for a midlevel managerialposition, or being considered for a chief executive post, the challenges are thesame. You need to persuade the hiring authority that you have the skills andwillingness to meet the very specific responsibilities that the hiring authorityexpects you to meet. Executive recruiter Andrew Reese suggests questions suchas:

How will you judge my success?

What will have happened a year from now that will tell you that I have met yourexpectations?

These questions meet two strategic objectives of equal use to people looking foran entry-level job or a CEO, according to Reese. First, it’s just common senseto understand the specific expectations of your boss. Second, the answers tothese questions allow you to focus your comments on what really matters to thecompany. “Ninety percent of what candidates say about themselves is irrelevantfor any particular job,” he says. “So figure out what the company really wantsto discuss. You only have an hour or two, so don’t waste them. The only way tounderstand what the issues are is to ask.”

For example, a question in this line is:

As your direct report in this position, what are the top threepriorities you would first like to see accomplished?

This question effectively determines the hot buttons of the hiring manager,demonstrates the candidate’s understanding that every hiring manager haspriorities, and underscores the candidate’s commitment to action by the finalword in the question. Remember, the word accomplished is dear to theheart of every hiring manager.

Ask for the Job

Another bold approach is to use your opportunity for questions to actually askfor the job:

Everything in this interview tells me that my qualifications andexperience are a good fit for the job responsibilities you have outlined. It’s ajob I would very much like to be offered. Would you recommend me for thejob?

Now, the purpose of the question is not to get a direct answer. You’re not goingto have the interviewer say, “You got it! When would you like to start?” Unlessyou are talking to the owner of a small business, there are steps to go throughand processes to honor. The interviewer will probably say that there are othercandidates to consider, etc., etc. Don’t worry about it. Your point has beenmade. You have demonstrated enthusiasm and confidence. If two applicants areequally qualified and one has asked for the job and the other one hasn’t, whomwould you hire?

If you don’t ask questions in the interview, many recruiters will wonder if youwould avoid asking questions on the job. If an interviewer sets up a scenariofor a technical candidate, and the candidate doesn’t ask qualifying questions,the interviewer often wonders if that is how he or she would approach anyassignment. These interviewers may well wonder, “Is this person letting ego getin the way of asking the hard questions? Does he (or she) play on a team or playagainst the team?” Interviewers learn as much from the candidate’s questions andhis or her thought process as you (the candidate) can from the answers.

Here’s another wrinkle. Recruiters expect candidates to ask enough questions toform an opinion about whether they want the job. If you don’t ask enoughquestions, recruiters who may otherwise be willing to make you an offer maynevertheless reject you because they have no confidence you know what you wouldbe getting into. At the end of the day, the interviewer has to feel satisfiedthat the candidate has enough information on which to make a decision in case anoffer is extended. Open-ended questions that generate information-rich answerssignal to most interviewers that they are talking to a resourceful candidate whoknows how to make informed decisions, a skill vital to any job.

A QUESTIONING ATTITUDE

Asking just the right questions is your chance to demonstrate that you are thebest candidate for the job by communicating five different impressions:

• Interest. You have taken the trouble to investigate the job.

• Intelligence. You really understand the requirements of the job.

• Confidence. You have everything it takes to do the job.

• Personal appeal. You are the type of person who will fit in well.

• Assertiveness. You ask for the job.

The questions you ask, and how you ask them, do as much to differentiate youfrom the competition as the questions asked by the interviewer. As you preparefor the job interview, your questions have to be as carefully coordinated asyour suit and shoes. If you miss the opportunity to leave your interviewer withany one of these impressions, you risk losing the main prize.

Of course, there is a sixth objective for your asking critical questions: tohelp you assess whether or not you really want the job. The job interview is atwo-way street. You get to estimate the quality of the organization as much asthe organization gets to estimate your credentials.

The other important point is to avoid “What about me?” questions until after youget a job offer or a very strong expression of interest. “What about me?”questions include anything that goes to what the candidate receives as opposedto what the candidate offers. Remember, you have two roles in the interview:buyer and seller. For the first part of the interview, you are a seller. Theonly time you are buying is when they make you an offer. Two other goodquestions are:

In what area could your team use a little polishing?

Why did you come to XYZ Company?

Thoughtful questions emphasize that you are taking an active role in the jobselection process, not leaving the interviewer to do all the work. Active isgood. Great questions demonstrate that, far from being a passive participant,you are action-oriented and engaged, reinforcing your interest in the job.

Asking questions is an excellent way to demonstrate your sophistication andqualifications. The questions you choose indicate your depth of knowledge ofyour field as well as your general level of intelligence. Asking questions alsoenables you to break down the formal interviewer-candidate relationship,establish an easy flow of conversation, and build trust and rapport. The matterof rapport is critical. Remember, most finalists for a job are more or lessevenly matched in terms of qualifications. What gives the winning candidate thenod is rapport.

Your questions steer the interview the way you want it to go. Questions are aform of control. You can also use questions to divert an interviewer’s line ofquestioning. If you sense the interviewer is leading up to a subject that you’drather avoid—your job hopping, for example—ask a question aboutanother topic. After a lengthy exchange, the interviewer might not return to hisor her original line of questioning.

The more senior the position you are seeking, the more important it is to asksophisticated and tough questions. Such questions demonstrate your understandingof the subtext and context of the position, as well as your confidence inchallenging the interviewer. Hiring managers will judge you as much on theinquiries you make as on the responses you provide. If you don’t asksufficiently detailed questions, it will demonstrate lack of initiative andleadership qualities that a senior-level position demands.

CAN’T I JUST WING IT?

Imagine that tomorrow you are giving the senior decision makers in yourorganization the most important presentation of your career. Your future at thecompany literally depends on the outcome. Would you wing it?

Well, the situation I’ve just described is your next job interview. It’s apresentation. The agenda: your future at the company. In the audience: thesenior decision makers required to authorize offering you a position. Everyoneis looking at you to shine. Now, given the stakes, are you willing to wing it?If you’re comfortable with working like that, there’s little need to readfurther.

Some applicants believe that spontaneity can make up for lack of strategicplanning. But spontaneity, in cases such as this, can be indistinguishable fromlaziness and lack of preparation. Interviewers, professionals themselves, reallywant you to prepare for the interview as they did. Preparation isprofessionalism in action. It’s common sense. It’s courtesy. It works.

WRITE YOUR QUESTIONS DOWN

You’ve secured a job interview. Great. The first thing you do is homework (seeChapter 4 for a discussion on researching the company). The second thingyou do is write down the questions you will ask.

Some job seekers are uncertain about whether they should write down theirquestions. If they do, should they bring them to the interview? The answer toboth questions is yes. Doesn’t that look, well, premeditated? Of course it does.That’s the effect you want. See Chapter 5 for a fuller discussion of theissues around taking notes.

Writing down your questions accomplishes a number of useful objectives.

• It helps articulate your thoughts. Your questions should be as crispas your shirt or blouse. Write them down, practice reading them aloud, and edituntil the questions sing.

• It helps prioritize your issues. Not every question carries equalweight. But only when you write them all down can you decide which question toask first. Some candidates write questions on index cards so they can easilyorder and reorder them until they have the flow they want before transferringthem to a notebook.

• It helps you remember. In the anxiety of the interview, you can easilyforget a question you meant to ask. Or worse, your brain can vapor-lock andspill out something really dumb. If you have been interviewing with a number ofcompanies, it is easy to forget where you are and ask a totally inappropriatequestion, such as asking about manufacturing facilities at an insurance company.Protect yourself and make yourself look professional by preparing questions inadvance.

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(Continues…)Excerpted from 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview 2nd Edition by John Kador. Copyright © 2010 by John Kador. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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