In this post, I'm going to give you eight smart questions to ask hiring managers in job interviews.What do you do when you're in an interview and we get to that end where the hiring manager looks at you and says, "Do you have any questions for me?"
Well, of course you do! In fact, it is very important that you ask questions. I want to tell you that recently an employer I know reached out to me frustrated and said, "I hate when I ask that question "and the person says, 'No, everybody has been really nice, "I think I'm okay". That person, he told me, does not get hired and the reason for that is that they have real concerns if you aren't asking questions, if you aren't doing your due diligence and if you aren't having enough value in yourself to ask some clarifying questions to make sure that this place is the right place for you.
Remember that you are a business of one, selling your services to an employer and you want to make sure that it's a good partnership. So to do that, you've got to ask questions to make sure that this is the right place for you. It's like kicking the tires or looking under the hood to make sure that you're making a good investment. So with that in mind, let's take a look at the eight questions you should be asking in your next interview.
So before I break down the eight questions, I want you to know that they fall into four categories and we call them the four C's. Now, by covering off on these four C's, you're going to make sure that you're asking all the questions necessary to make a good decision about this employer. And those four C's are connect, culture, challenges, and close.What do I mean by that? Well, connect simply is you connecting to that hiring manager, to that person that you'll be working with. You want to ask some questions to help you bond in the interview. As far as culture goes, you want to make sure this is the right corporate culture for you. Does this company believe and have values and go about business in a way that you respect and that you trust so that you can put your best foot forward? With respect to challenges, you want to know what's keeping them up at night so that you can make sure these are the kinds of challenges that you actually want to work on and leverage your skills to be successful at. And then lastly, close. You want to end this interview, this conversation, on a high note. You want to leave very clear on what the next steps are. So once we know the four C's, it gets really easy to create questions that we can ask in the interview to make sure that we're getting the information we need and that's what you are going to learn next.
So we're starting with connect and the first question you should always ask in an interview is, "How did you come to work here?" This is an opportunity for you to bond with this individual by learning how they got hired by the company. What drew them into the company? What made them decide this was a great place for them to work. This is going to give you a lot of insight into their own decisions and what they're like as a worker. The second question is, "What do you love most about working here?" It's really important that you ask a positive question that let's them talk about all of the things that they love about the employer.
This is going to be a great chance for you to bond and share a love for the things that are great about working at this company. Plus, you're going to be able to evaluate whether or not these sound like things that you really care about. Remember, these questions are designed for you to get insight into whether or not this company is a good fit for you. So while they're very positive questions, it's also giving you a chance to evaluate whether or not it's a fit.
The second C is culture, specifically corporate culture. And the two questions you're going to ask here are around individuals that have been hired at the company. The first question is, "Tell me about the most successful hire "you've made recently. "Why has that person been very successful in their role?" This is going to help you understand who is being recognized in the organization as a high performer. And you want to listen carefully. Let me give you an example. If they tell you about a person who came in and worked eighty hours a week and took everything that they had to do and worked with no budget and really was able to knock it out of the park, does that sound like a place you want to work? Does that sound like a place with work life balance that has their ducks in a row? No! So if they're recognizing that as a good hire, then you know this probably isn't the right place for you.
Now the second question you want to ask is the polar opposite, "Tell me about a hire recently that didn't work out. Why did they fail in their role?" And once again, you want to listen closely to the answer because we want to see if the traits or characteristics of that person who failed sound like yourself. If you don't think you can be successful there, if this person sounds like they really couldn't have ever won in their job, then you're going to know that this isn't the right place for you.
The third C is challenges and specifically the challenges the company is going to be facing in the coming year. So that first question you want to ask is, "Tell me about the biggest challenge "you think the company will experience this year "and how will this job help to overcome it?" What you're doing there is showing them that you understand, you're a business of one, you're a service provider and that what you're going to do is help them solve a problem and alleviate a pain. So by asking them what that pain or that problem is and how you can help solve that, you're really sending a message to them that you understand your role if you get hired. The second question you want to ask regarding the challenges is around performance. "How will I measure my own performance "to ensure that I'm having a positive impact "on this challenge?" Once again, you're taking full ownership of your work, of your effort, and by telling them that I understand that I'm supposed to do that, you're sending a clear message to them that you really will be accountable for your actions and that's a great selling point there. At the same time though, if they come back to you and say, "Well, there's no real way to measure "and we won't have any idea of whether or not "you're making an impact," that would be a huge red flag to you because you're gonna wanna be able to do that in order to get a promotion or get a raise. What kind of company can't measure your impact? That's the sign of a company that you probably don't want to work for. So you can see again why these questions are really important, not only do they set you up well with the employer by showing that you know what you're talking about, but it also is giving you some key insight into whether or not you want to work there.
Now the fourth and final C is about close and that's how to properly close out this conversation. So the question that you want to ask, and this is going to sound a little crazy but I tell you, it really works, is, "If there were some skills or experience "you wish I had that would make me a better fit "for this job, what would they be? This is your polite way of asking if they feel you have any shortcomings or if there is something deficient about what you've presented to them today during the interview. This is a chance for them to call out and explain any certain skills or experience or things that might make them hesitate in hiring you. And so asking this question shows that you understand you're not a perfect candidate but that you do want to know what you could have done better. By the same token, if they do share something with you, you now have an opportunity to say, "Oh, but I didn't share this experience." Or, "Maybe I didn't tell you about "this skill set that I have." It's a chance for you to overcome that objection, maybe realizing that you didn't give them everything they needed to hear today. So that's a really important question to ask.
And that's because you want to understand where you stand and what has to happen next for you to get hired. You don't ever want to leave a job wondering when you'll get a phone call, when they'll follow up, when they'll make their decision. So asking this question is going to help you get that information and they're likely going to tell you some things like, "Well, we have a few more people to interview, "you'll hear by this date, "you would need to come back in for another interview," but at least you'll have that information. You won't be staring at the phone or staring at your email and wondering whether or not you got the job. The other great thing about that is that if they give you a date or a deadline and it comes and goes, you now have a valid reason to follow up with them and say, "You know, when we spoke in the interview "you mentioned this would be the next step, "that date has come and gone, is there anything else I can do "to further my candidacy?" So this is a really important question for you to ask for your own peace of mind. At the same time, it's going to give you a sense of how structured this company is and really how well thought out their own hiring process is so that you can get a clear sense of whether or not they are the kind of company you want to work for. There you have it, the four C's. Connect, culture, challenges, and close. And with two questions a piece, that creates eight super smart questions you should be asking hiring managers in your next job interview. Okay so now that you've got the eight questions I've given you, I want to hear from you. Is there one particular question you've asked in an interview that got a great result? Or maybe there was a question you asked that didn't get a good result. Make sure you share it with me in the comment section, we want to hear from you. So questions, comments, feedback regarding this topic, please make sure you post it below.
We answer each and every one. And I also hope that you will share this content because you know there is a lot of people out there that need help with interview questions and you'll be doing them a favor and it'll make you look good as well. Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter. Each and every day we're bringing you fresh, new career content to help you get ahead.
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