7 Highly Effective Questions to Ask During Your Job Interview

You know how at the end of a job interview they ask you if have any questions?

That's not the time to get all quiet. Employers don't want to hear that they've answered all your questions. They want you to engage them in brilliant repartee. 

You need to be prepared with some outstanding questions for them, queries that show you have not only been paying attention to what they've been saying, but also are thinking about the company and the job deeper than you've pondered anything else to date.

All right, that's an exaggeration. But you don't want to come across like a moron, either.

The question portion of your interview is an easy way to score points. Here are some great questions for you to ask your potential new employer!

1. What would the first 90 days in the position look like? This shows that you are not only taking the position and its strategic role in the organization seriously, it demonstrates that you are visualizing yourself in the position. You're already planning ahead in terms of what would be expected, and what to expect.
2. What does the successful candidate for this role look like? Not every job seeker is a fit for every position, or every company. By asking this question, it shows that you are actively working to determine if you are a skill and culture fit for the position. And, the interviewers' responses may provide you an indication of the metrics and milestones you'd be expected to meet.
3. How does this role fit within the department / team / organization? Companies want to see that you're doing more than just your job. They want to know that you understand that you play a larger role in the success of the company, andhow you will partner with coworkers and internal (and external) customers to meet organizational goals.
4. What challenges would I face in this role? No job is all ducks and bunnies and rainbows (in other words, there's not-so-fun parts of the job). By finding out the problems you may have to deal with, you have an opportunity to explain how you will overcome adversity, while getting the skinny on some of the negative attributes of the job.
5. What does the career path for this role look like? You're thinking about growth opportunity within the company. This is a nicer way of addressing this than asking, "When can I expect to be promoted?"
6. What other questions may I answer for you? Demonstrates that you invite the opportunity for your interviewers to truly evaluate your fit for the role, and that you don't squirm under scrutiny.
7. What are the next steps in the interview process? This is a polite way of indicating that you are very interested in the role, and would love the consideration. I've seen interview processes accelerated after a candidate asks this.

Incidentally, it is very okay for you to bring notes to an interview. When there's a lull in the process, and there's a moment, feel free to say, "Thank you for the consideration! I have a few questions of my own." Then refer to your prepared list of questions. This demonstrates that you've prepared for this interview.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Ten Great Ways to Sabotage Your Chances of Getting the Job

Here are ten methods I’ve witnessed candidates – first-hand – employ to ensure that they do everything in their power to sabotage their chances to snag that dream job in the application and interview process.  It’s so easy to throw a wrench in the works!

1. Arrive late for the interview. Don’t bother to call. Then act like nothing happened.

2. Learn nothing about the company in advance of your interview. Then, when asked by your interviewer “What do you know about us,” make something up.

3. Ask how much the job pays. Even after you’ve already had this discussion with the corporate recruiter. Ask everybody with whom you interview.

4. Tell the recruiter you are close friends with the CEO, when you and she met once in passing. Maybe.

5. Be friendly to everybody you meet in the company. Except to the recruiter. In that case, be a total ass.

6. Bring extra copies of your resume. Folded up into a compact square in your pocket.

7. Send a nice, thoughtful thank you note after the interviews to people you’ve met.  Generously sprinkle in typos and misspellings.

8. Guess at your prior dates of employment on the job application. Go ahead, just guess. That way, when the company gets ready to hire you and runs the pre-employment background check, nothing adds up and you get disqualified for dishonesty.

9. Leave your cell phone on. When your phone rings during the middle of the interview, casually take the call.

10. Use your referral network to do everything possible to get in the door with the company. Make sure you ask an executive to sponsor you and they use every bit of their personal equity to push you through and get you an offer in another department. Then, AFTER you’ve received and accepted the offer, make your resume live and searchable on the job boards the company subscribes to, like Monster, so that the recruiter can stumble across it and inform the executive about it.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Answers to Your Questions- Why Do Companies Advertise Job Openings When They Plan to Hire Internally?

Sometimes, they just gotta...

“Why do companies post openings when they know they are going to hire someone internally? I have lost out to many positions because the company already had an internal candidate in mind. The companies I have applied to are big and small, public and private.  I have started to ask if there are any internal candidates applying for this role and the answer is usually yes.”

I love this question, because it addresses a widespread frustration among job seekers. Remarkably, there are several reasons why a company may post a job opening to the outside world while they have an internal applicant in the wings:

• Company policy requires them to post every job. Every. Single. One. The bad news is, this frustrates external candidates to no end. The good news is that the company values internal movement and promotion of employees over external applicants, and gives internal applicant a chance at mobility. Should you get the job, at least you know you hit a high bar and you’ll get the same consideration for future opportunities.

  1. Union rules. Some collective bargaining agreements have it written into their contracts with companies that all jobs be posted for internal employees.

  2. The company wants to see who else is out there. Maybe the internal employee is good – but not that good. Often the posting rules indicate that, all qualifications being equal, the internal employee receives the nod. But if the external applicant holds better qualifications, the outsider gets the job.

  3. The hiring manager hopes a specific internal employee will apply. Sometimes the internal employee may be asked to apply, but ultimately decides she’s happy in her current role. It happens. And if the company hadn’t advertised outside, they wouldn’t have any candidates in the pipeline.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.