Your Questions During an Interview

Last night a friend asked me if I could suggest some dynamic questions that she might comfortably ask a Vice President on her second job interview. She did the leg work and studied up on the company and had some questions of her own but just wanted to bounce some ideas off of me.

As we got to talking, we went over the three major areas that a company wants to learn about you. If there is a good match, you are that much closer to getting the job!

1.   Can you do the job?

2.   Do you fit into the company culture?

3.   Do you want this job?

Can you do this job?

This is the regular interviewing discussion about your skill sets and measurable accomplishments.  We’ve talked about these before; you’ll need to review the key words in the job description and tie them to your accomplishments. Be prepared with specific examples of your past behaviors and accomplishments.

Can you fit into the company culture?

Your knowledge of the company, major competitors, recent news articles, key executives and company values will show that you have done your homework and have an understanding of the company. Your responses and questions will help solidify your fit into the organization. 

Do you want this job?

This is obvious but your punctuality, attire, preparation, motivation and body language along with your knowledge of the company and your responses to the interviewer’s questions will convey your desire to do the job. These, along with your specific questions for them can help translate your enthusiasm and eagerness to work for this organization.  

Don’t save your questions for the end of the interview.  An interview is a two-way conversation and your questions may naturally come up in the interview.  Here is a sample list of questions that I gave to my friend.  Like her, you may want to tailor them to your needs.  You can change them to suit the level of the person with whom you are interviewing.  For example:

1.    What are the short and long term goals of this department?

2.    What are the short and long term goals of the organization?

These questions along with more detail on interviewing techniques can be found in my book, Job Search for Moms.

a. What are the short and long term goals of the company?
b. What is the vision of the department?
c. What is the company environment like?
d. What concerns need to be addressed immediately?
e. What do you see happening with this position for the next 3 to 6 months?
f. What are the particular attributes needed to succeed in this job?
g. What are the challenges a person coming to this job will face?