In my last post, I put together some guidelines on how to cobble together a plan and use it as part of the interview process. In this next section, I'm going to guide you on how to answer the question, "Do you have any questions for me?" This is far from an exhaustive list, and I'd be disappointed if you followed it verbatim, or exclusively. There's a wealth of knowledge on good questions to ask in an interview, and for brevity sake, I'm not going to repeat what is available with a little "google-fu." I'll do what I always do, and give my insight into the hiring side of the equation.
1/ Realize that you are still interviewing and you will be evaluated based on what you ask and don't ask.
I've had candidates not ask me anything. It makes me question whether this person is a smart-creative who is inquisitive, or if this is simply an order-taker. Positions of leadership tend to favor the first over the second. The opposite is also true. I've had candidates ask incredibly tactical questions, like "What is a normal work week?" I'd shy away from these questions because they also show a tendency for the person not to thrive in ambiguity. Finally, you need to ask questions that are actually about the role itself. When I was interviewing folks for a support team that I was building, I had someone literally ask me if I would look at his support ticket. He didn't get the job.
2/ Do your research before heading into an interview.
Now isn't the time to ask about the person's background or other things that are publicly available. Everyone who matters is on LinkedIn, so look that person up. They will probably have posted their work history, so don't go there, unless you have a specific question about a career transition. Something like the following is fair game, "What challenges did you face when you moved from customer support to your current sales role?" That may or may not be an interesting question to you, so don't ask it just because you're sucking up. You are asking it to get good insight into challenges that you may also face.
3/ Focus on the other person.
People like to talk about themselves. Ask something about their goals (one of my favorites), or the project they are currently delivering. Does this person have a good understanding of what's expected of them, and can they translate that into what's expected of you? Does she love her job, or is she simply showing up for work? If you're working for someone who is regularly overwhelmed, there is a good chance that you will be overwhelmed. If you're working for someone with no sense of direction, you will be whipsawed by whatever decision is favorable at the moment. Your goal is to find out if you can succeed working for this person every day. Let's face it, people either genuinely support or genuinely resent their direct manager. Foregone conclusions and intuition are powerful tools for your decision.
4/ Carefully focus on yourself.
People who end up in a job that they don't like is due to a mismatch in either expectations or skill. Make the assumption that you have the skill and you're getting an offer; that's the ultimate validation. Instead, focus your questions on the expectations of the role. You're trying to answer the question of whether you can live up to his expectations, and what chance you have of continuing to grow your career in this role. I like variations of these questions, "What's your definition of success for this role?" or "What would it take to get 5 stars on the annual review?" Let her talk through it, it's a chunky question. If there's not a strong answer, you have to decide for yourself if you can handle an ambiguous role with no KPIs. If the answer is scientific and rigid, like "increase customer satisfaction scores by 3% annually," you are probably sitting across from someone who will manage a clear path to the metrics. Neither style is necessarily better than the other, but you may have a preference.
5/ Ask something that they don't expect.
I mean it. There are so many sites out there that give interview question ideas that I end up hearing the same ones over and over, and they aren't that insightful. Have an original thought, but make it about them, their company, or the role. I'll give one example that I have used before, "What is the hardest thing you've been asked to do in your current role?" Whenever I have used it, the person interviewing has taken at least 15 seconds to think through the answer, and I've found the results quite revealing. Sometimes it's a hard conversation with an employee. Sometimes it's delivering bad news that he just lost the deal of the century. Sometimes it was an unrealistic expectation that she has to manage. I like this question because it gives me a clue of what the person doesn't enjoy doing, as much as it shows how they handle situations that can be uncomfortable. Now that I've given you an idea, find your own. P.S. don't use this one on me. I won't be impressed. I may give you one brownie-point, but that's only if I'm being generous that day.
In this episode, I've shown how you can ask questions to get insight about the person you're interviewing with, their biases and preferences, and the culture of the role without directly asking any of those rather plain and boring questions. I'll end how I started. You're still interviewing, so be memorable, and don't ask things that undo the brand equity that you've built for yourself.
Until next time. Geoff