Dr. Ken Byrne Corporate Psychologist tells the Other Cheek how to be interviewed. Byrne is co-author with Peter Corney of Hiring Right, First Time: A Practical Guide to Staffing Christian Organisations.
Introduction
You found the ideal job and carefully crafted your application. Success! You’ve been advanced to the interview. After a great deal of thought, you’re fully prepared to sell yourself effectively.
The interview finishes with someone saying “That’s all the questions we have. Is anything you’d like to ask us?” With a sigh of relief, you think the interview is over.
Actually, it isn’t. The questions you ask, or your decision to not ask anything at all, will say a great deal about you.
This article is designed to help you use that opportunity to your advantage.
Keep in mind that you are at the end of the interview. The interviewer or the panel only expects you to take a few minutes. Try to limit yourself to three questions. Five minutes is about the maximum to allow unless you get a sense that the panel has plenty of time.
Also avoid asking questions that have to do with “What’s in it for me”. This is not the time to ask about promotion opportunities, whether they will be exciting travel, or when you can expect a raise.
Remember, while you want this job, it is also your responsibility to evaluate the employer to decide whether the role will actually work for you.
- Are there any other questions you’d like to ask or are there any areas that I could clarify for you?
This shows that you are open and have nothing to hide. You are aware of their need to get the best understanding of your skills and capabilities as possible. It will also give you a chance to clarify anything that you feel hasn’t been given enough consideration or correct anything you may have not be clear about.
- How is it that this job has become open?
You want to find out whether the job has been newly created. If so, what circumstances have led to this. For example, it may be an increase in business. On the other hand, they may have assigned a job to someone else and it became more than one person could handle. Or there may have been a significant restructure of the company. Occasionally, you may find that “The last person we hired didn’t work out”. If this is the case, you must wonder, at least to yourself, whether they have inadvertently created a job that can’t be done by anyone.
- How will you know if you have made the right hiring decision?
This shows that you are alert to the fact that your performance will be measured. In some cases, the committee won’t have any idea and will offer you a vague response. In others it will be a description of a performance appraisal conducted say, twice a year. Whatever the answer is, asking the question will communicate that you expect to be evaluated.
- What do you most enjoy about working at this company?
The interviewer – or the panel – should have no trouble answering this question. If there is a great deal of hesitation, or if people struggle and give you a “canned answer” this should be an alert sign. This can lead to the next question
- Overall, how much turnover do you have here?
What you hope for is an answer that assures you that it is rare for people to leave in less than two or three years. Organizations with low turnover are usually good places to work. If there is high turnover, you’re quite entitled to ask about the causes for this.
- What are the two or three key characteristics that would help someone to become an above average performer in this job?
This will help you assess whether the job is really right for you. If, for example, you have young children, and have an agreement to be home at a reasonable time, a job that requires regularly working long hours may not suit you.
- Who would I be reporting to? (If that person is present you might also ask:) What kind of people do you most enjoy managing?
The question will demonstrate your sensitivity to the importance of establishing a good working relationship with your prospective boss. If you have met the person as part of the interview it will also give you some intuitive feel for what it would be like to work with this person.
Closing the Meeting
Before the interview you will have hopefully gotten the first and last name of the person interviewing you, or the person who is the chair of the panel. If you haven’t, you can always ask the receptionist to help. “I’m afraid I didn’t get the last name of the chairperson. Could you fill that in for me?”
Immediately after the interview write a personal note to that person. This should be mailed, not emailed. This makes certain that this will get the recipients attention. A small, plain white greeting card is ideal. Simply address the person by name and say something like “I just want to take a moment to thank you for inviting me to interview with your company. I enjoyed the chance to meet with you (and your colleagues, if relevant). This helped me learn more about the organization and the job you want to fill. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.” This should be mailed on the same day of the interview, correctly addressed.
No one does this! I guarantee this will cement you in the mind of the people who will make the hiring decision.
Image credit: Barrett Kuethen/Flickr