Interview Question: Do you have any questions?

Strategy and Approach to an Answer:

This is one of the most standard and common closing question in an interview. However it might be the most important one to leave a lasting impression. Your resume gets you in the door, but whether you leave as a job seeker or an employee depends on how you conduct yourself during the interview.

Many candidates think that when they hear, “Do you have any questions?” it’s a polite closing to the interview. This is further from the truth. The question really signals the start of the main course. Everything that came before was just appetizers.

Candidates who fail to ask at least a few intelligent questions, leave the following impressions:

• You are bored or think the job is unimportant
• You are uncomfortable asserting yourself
• You are resistant to learning.

Not one of these impressions works in your favor. Of course, not any old question will do. If you don’t think about this in advance, you run the risk of missing a critical opportunity by not asking intelligent questions. Good questions show the interviewer that you are interested in the job. Great questions gets you remembered when they decide who to hire.

Make sure all your questions advance the goals of the interviewer. At the same time, you have your own goals. In order of importance,
you want to:

• Sell yourself as qualified to meet the challenges of the job
• Evaluate the position and offer to make sure it’s right for you
• Get the interviewer’s commitment or expression of interest for the next step in the process

Examples of questions to ask:

• What looks to be the weakest part of my background? Can we talk about that first? I know you’re talking to a lot of people and you are probably looking to whittle down the list.
• What will have happened a year from now that will tell you that I have met your expectations?
• As your direct report in this position, what are the top three priorities you would first like to see accomplished?
• In what area could your team use a little improvement?
• Everything in this interview tells me that my qualifications and experience are a good fit for the job responsibilities you have outlined. It’s a job I would very much like to be offered. Would you recommend me for the job?
• What’s the makeup of the team as far as experience? Am I going to be a mentor, or will I be mentored?
• What kinds of processes are in place to help me work collaboratively?
• Do you enjoy Mondays?
• What brought you to this company? What keeps you here?
• At my level, what distinguishes the top performers from everyone else?
• Six months from now, how will you know you’ve hired the right person for the job?

Note: These are generic examples of questions, however you take some time to prepare yourself to ask some questions that tailor to your own personal  brand.

List of Standard Interview Questions

• Tell me about yourself?
• Describe your employment history
• What are your major strengths?
• What are your major weaknesses?
• What prompted your decision to apply for this position?
• What do you know about this company?
• What’s your greatest achievement to date?
• Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
• Why do you want to work in this industry?
• Why should we hire you rather than someone else?
• Why weren’t your grades better?
• What have you gained from your work/school experiences?
• Why didn’t you participate more in extracurricular activities?
• What difficulties have you faced on the job?
• What do you put as an objective for a resume?
• Do you have any questions?