career tips
10 best interview questions to ask
Job candidates tend to place a lot of emphasis on considering the questions they will be asked in their interviews with a prospective employer. If you’re prepared, after all, there’s a better chance you’ll impress the interviewer and will be offered the position. What candidates often fail to consider, however, is the importance of the questions that they ask the interviewer. The questions that you ask your interviewer can be just as impactful to your candidacy as the responses you provide to their questions. We’ve reached out to our recruiters to compile a list of the 10 best questions you can ask during a job interview.
1. What does a typical day/week look like in this position?
If you want to imagine what your daily life in a new role will look like, then this is a good question to ask. The interviewer should give you a breakdown of your responsibilities and should give you a sense of how long you’ll spend doing different tasks each day.
2. What are some of the projects that I’ll be working on in my first month?
Are there certain projects this role was designed to address? Is there flexibility to choose your own projects? If you aren’t passionate about tackling the role’s projects, then it probably isn’t the right fit for you.
3. What skills will be most useful for a person in this role?
Learning how closely your skill-set matches the needs of a job is imperative to understanding your fit. Taking a job for which you lack the proper know-how is a lose-lose. Maybe your skills are a pretty good match, but there is
4. What was the reason for deciding to open this position?
The answer to this question is valuable for your own decision-making process when considering a new job. Did this position open because the previous occupant was promoted? That means there are growth opportunities. Fired? This can be vital to understanding performance expectations. Moved internally? This presents options down the road. Did the position open to address a new need? This means you will have a blank slate and will need to build processes rather than inheriting them.
5. Are there any obvious concerns that you have when considering my background?
It may seem counter-intuitive to ask an interviewer to think of reasons why you aren’t right for a position, but they will eventually have to do it anyway. By asking this question during the interview, you have an opportunity to fill in missing details that might not have been in your resume, potentially helping your case.
6. What qualities or values make someone a match for this company’s culture?
This question will allow you to evaluate your cultural resonance with the people of an organization: do they value individual performance or collaboration?
7. What drove your decision to join this organization?
Asking your interviewer to open up about their personal experiences establishes a more authentic and memorable connection.
8. What surprised you most about this organization in your first month?
There’s a good chance that the aspects of the company (good or bad) that stood out most to your interviewer will stand out to you as well.
9. What are the biggest goals and challenges facing this organization today?
It’s important to consider a company’s outlook before committing yourself to a new role. If you don’t believe in their goals or trajectory, it probably isn’t a place where you’ll be happy.
10. Is there anything else I can do or provide to improve my candidacy?
This is a great question to ask because it demonstrates your dedication, and oftentimes a recruiter will give you an opportunity to provide additional supporting materials that they will consider, though they aren’t required.
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