I wish I could pound this into the head of every student who goes through our program. If the interviewer asks if you have questions, ALWAYS HAVE QUESTIONS! To you, it’s an innocent inquiry, but to the interviewer, whether or not you ask questions is an indication of your level of interest in the job. If you ask questions about the company, then you seem interested in the company and your possible place there.
What should you ask? I’ll provide you a list of potential questions. My recommendation is that you memorize several of these and just ask the same ones at every interview. You look interested without having to put a lot of focus on what questions to ask.
Here are some great questions to ask the interviewer:
•Can you tell me more about the company?
•Where is this company headed?
•Where do you see the company in five years?
•What would be my job responsibilities?
•What is the main reason that someone might not do well in this position?
•What are your expectations of new employees?
•Who will I report to?
•Why is this position open?
•Is there a probationary period? If so, how long is it?
•How will I receive feedback on my performance?
•How many people work in this location/for this company/in this department?
•Could you describe a typical day in this position?
•What is your company looking for in a candidate?
•How would you describe the “personality” or work atmosphere of this company?
•Is there anything else that you would like to know about me?
There are a few questions, though, that you should not ask – at least not right away. Questions about pay, benefits and other perks should be avoided. If you really need to know this information, make sure you ask some of the above questions first and save this type of question for last. That way you don’t seem like all you’re interested in is money.