When the end of a job interview is approaching, any interviewer worth their salt is going to say, “Do you have any questions?” Candidates should be as ready for this one as they are for “Tell me about yourself.”
Keeping in mind that you don’t want to take too much more time since your interviewer is wrapping it up, research about the company should give you some good ideas. Here are a few questions to consider asking the hiring manager:
- Could you describe a typical day or week on the job in this role? A job title and job description have a lot of information, but they don’t tell you how your day might play out. This could get you some important information about the culture of the company and how happy you might be working there.
- Is this a new role? It’s good to know if you would be compared to someone they know and love (or hate) or be defining the job yourself. Have a story ready of another time you were the first person to take on a position or new project at a previous employer, just in case the answer is yes.
- Why do you work here? We found this one in a Lifehacker blog this week as a way of finding out how your interview has gone. Their take is that if the interviewer is at ease answering, then the interview has gone well. If they get prickly and usher you right out, well, you may not get the nod.
- Could I have your business card? It’s much easier to send a thank-you note when you have all of the pertinent information at hand.
We would love to hear from you about the questions you ask in interviews and what kind of responses you get. Is it worth the risk of asking a less typical question to get a less typical answer? Or do you go with an old standby like, “What more do you need to know about me to hire me for this role?”
Wendy Stackhouse, for Artisan Creative