Spotlight at the National Careers Service
Questions to ask the interviewer
Most of us have been here at some point – you’ve answered every question in the interview, you’re feeling pretty confident that you’ve done well, and then an interviewer asks you, ‘And now, have you any questions for us?’ And then it hits you – of all the questions you prepared for, you didn’t prepare for this one. And now your mind has gone completely blank…
This is a common mistake to make – you’re so focussed on meeting the person specification and pushing your strengths that you forget to prepare some questions for the employer. But these questions are very important, for the following reasons.
Getting across your interest and enthusiasm
If you ask an intelligent question about the job or the organisation it shows you are well-prepared and genuinely interested in working for them. It shows you’ve done your research, you’re interested in the organisation and want to know more. This can make you stand out from the crowd.
Finding out if they are good match for you
Never forget, an interview is a two-way conversation. Sure, the main purpose of the interview is for the employer to find out if you can a) do the job; and b) fit into their working culture. But an interview is also an opportunity for you to take a look at them – to find out more about the job and if it’s a good match for you. This shouldn’t make you come across as picky or choosy – employers like candidates who have given some thought to whether they would be happy and perform well in the job.
Showing your ability to have a two-way discussion
Answering a series of interviewers’ questions is only one type of communication. If you ask a well thought out question it can show that you are confident, able to hold an intelligent discussion, articulate, and able to probe about finer details.
Hints and tips about questions to ask
Don’t ask more than a handful of questions – the interviewers may be running to a tight schedule.
If the questions you’d prepared have already been answered during the interview, and you can’t think of any more, you might not want to say you haven’t got any questions. Instead, you could state what your original questions were about and say that you are happy that all your questions have been covered for now.
The part for your questions is also an opportunity for you to mention anything you think is relevant about your skills and experience that wasn’t covered in the main interview.
Remember that you don’t need to wait until the very end of the interview to ask questions. If a time comes in the main interview when it seems appropriate to ask for more information on something, politely ask it. Remember – an interview is a two-way conversation, with a purpose.
So what are good questions to ask?
Good questions can show that you want to know more about things you can’t find out during your interview preparation and research. Examples of these can be the internal workings of the organisation, the finer points of the job, or how things might pan out in the future. Don’t ask about something fundamental about the job, such as what the main tasks are – the interviewers would expect you to have found out the basics during your research.
You could ask questions about:
- Typical career paths taken by people previously in this job
- Training opportunities
- The organisation’s management style
- A typical day or week in this job
- How many people work in the department/team
- How soon they would like you to start
- When you should expect to hear from them about the result of the interview
- How job performance is measured
- Where the interviewer thinks the organisation will be in five years’ time
- What the interviewer likes about working for this organisation.
When asking about promotion and training opportunities it can help if you also make it clear that you are asking this because you are planning for a year or so in the future, and that you would want to perform well in this job first. The employer might not want to hire someone who thinks they are better than the job and will move on at the earliest opportunity.
And what should I not ask…?
You might want to steer clear of questions about:
- Holidays or pay rises – yes, you will want holidays and good pay, but if you ask about these now it can give the impression you’re only interested in these things…
- Changing your working conditions – you might have a valid reason for asking this, but it can be best left until you get offered the job to try to negotiate things like different working hours
- What the company does – your research should have told you this
- Whether you have got the job – they will tell you when they are ready.
In conclusion, try to make your questions:
- Original
- Relevant to the individual job
- About things you can’t find out yourself
- Show your genuine enthusiasm for the job and organisation.
You can read more interview hints and tips on our pages about preparing for an interview.
Our advisers can help you to prepare for interviews and perform well. Why not contact one now and see if they can help you make the right impression on the big day?
