What Should You Ask the Interviewer?

What Should You Ask the Interviewer?

Avatar photo Jeff Gipson | August 24, 2015

A job interview may rapidly disintegrate into an interrogation or monologue unless you request some high quality queries of your own. Candidate questions are the lifeblood of any successful interview, because they develop dialogue and help clarify your knowledge of the company and the situation responsibilities.
In addition the questions you ask help to indicate your grasp of essential issues, reveal your capability to probe beyond the superficial and challenge the employer to expose his or her own depth of knowledge and dedication to the job.
Your questions should consistently be slanted in such a way as to show empathy, interest, or understanding of the employer’s needs. After all, the reason you’re interviewing is because the employer’s company has a piece of work that needs to be completed, or has a problem that needs fixing. Here are some questions that have been validated to be notably effective:

  • What’s the most significant problem facing the company (or department)?
  • How can I help you attain this objective?
  • How long has it been since you primarily observed this need?
  • How long have you been attempting to correct it?
  • Have you tried using your current team to get the task done? If so, what was the outcome?
  • Is there any specific skill or mindset you feel is essential to getting the task done?
  • Is there a particular aspect of my experience you’d like to exploit to help attain your objectives?

Questions like these will not only provide you a feel of the company’s targets and priorities, they’ll imply to the interviewer your interest for fulfilling the company’s targets.

About the Author

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Jeff Gipson
Jeff Gipson Sr. is a veteran of the staffing industry, with more than 30 years of experience. He got his start working for an international staffing organization where he focused on information technology placements across the country. In July 1992, Jeff continued his staffing career with a St. Louis based information technology staffing company. There, he was strategically involved in launching the organization’s first branch office — and subsequently three additional branch offices over the next several years. In July 2000 Jeff made another move — this time to launch his own staffing company, continuing his IT focus. In 2003 the organization was reinvented. Relying on his earlier sales career in the insurance industry, the company changed course and began building the firm around the insurance industry. The company continues to put all their energy in the insurance sector filling positions of all titles across the country. Jeff and his wife Carolyn have been married since 1980. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
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