It’s important to prepare some interview questions to ask of your potential new employer. When you go to a job interview, you expect to be asked a variety of things, but what about questions that you’d like to ask?
Try to ask focused questions about the position you're seeking and about the company and its policies.
Just as it’s important to be prepared to answer questions on a job interview, it’s also important to be ready to do some question asking of your own. Asking for information on your own helps you to learn more about the position you’re applying for, as well as more about the company, its policies and procedures and potential growth opportunities within the company.
That being said, one of the most important things you should do before even thinking up interview questions to ask is to do your research. Spend some time researching the company and learning about the prospective employer’s business history, any achievements they have made, etc. The purpose of doing this is so that you can ask about topics with some depth to them. If you ask things that have to do with well-known facts or information you could have easily researched online, the prospective employer may take that as a sign that you don’t take simple steps to be prepared for tasks. After you have done some research and found the answers to common questions, then proceed to come up with more in-depth questions.
During the interview, it’s important to wait until you’re given an opportunity to inquire about things you’d like to know, as often times, questions will be answered for you during the interview. It’s also important to listen and pay attention throughout the entire interview so that you don’t ask questions about information that has already been covered. When you are given a chance to ask, keep it open-ended. Try to stay focused on the position you’re seeking and about the company and its policies. You may want to incorporate current news about the company into your inquiries, which once again shows that you care enough to do some research.
Additionally, when asking interview questions, you should also be selling yourself. Asking things such as, “At my last job, I spent five years designing project XYZ and had a great time doing it. Do you have any opportunities like that here?” Including introductory statements allows you to tell more about yourself and why you are the best candidate for the job, all while you get the information you’re looking for.
Of course, when applying for any job, unless you already know the answer, you’ll want to find out salary information. While it’s certainly not wrong to ask about what you’ll be potentially paid, you need to do so with the utmost tact. Simply asking how much you’ll be paid is bad idea, as it displays a lack of class. The employer already knows that you would like salary information, so let them give it to you in their own time. Asking before they volunteer the information can lead to tricky interview situations.
Keep in mind that they are hiring you to work, not to give you money. While you may be more interested in knowing how much you’ll be getting paid, they’re more interested in seeing if you’re a qualified candidate. If the interviewer does not offer salary information by the time the interview concludes, you may want to ask something like, “As far as salary is concerned for a position like this, could you give me an average range of what to expect?” This allows the question to be asked in a tactful way without directly confronting the issue. Read our article on discussing salary for more tips.
Finally, gear your questions toward understanding what your role in the company would be. Asking your interviewer to define what the company desires in employees is a good way to not only find out what you can do to better fit into their model, but also to express genuine interest in becoming part of the team and learn about any mandatory job skills that may be required for the job. The key is to show prospective employers that you are interviewing because you want the job, not just the paycheck.
Keep in mind, the interview questions you ask are just as important as the interview questions you are asked. A prospective employer will look upon a candidate that asks questions much more favorably than a candidate that simply leaves upon closing the interview. Again, it’s all about selling yourself, your skills and your personality.