You want to have a list of questions with you – six, seven or as many as ten questions will work. Keep in mind that you probably won’t use all of them. You want to use enough of them to show that you have put some thought into the interview, the company, and your career.

The most important question that you can ask will be your last question. It is, “Based on what we have spoken about here, I am an excellent match for this company and this opportunity, when can I go to work?”

But before you get to that question, here are some excellent questions you should have written down to ask: (Keep in mind that these are questions that are broader than specific ones you’ve already asked about the job itself.) Take notes!

I noticed, in doing my research that you have been with the company (two years, ten years, etc.). 5What brought you to the company and why do you like working here?

It is good to start out with personal questions that get people talking about their favorite subject – themselves. The answer to this question will set the tone for the conversational part of the interview.

What have you found to be the greatest personal rewards in being with the company?

Again, talking about someone’s favorite subject!

What do you think the biggest challenges are for the company in the near future?

I noticed, in doing my research that (the company has expanded, the company has lost money, the company had to restate earnings, etc.). How has that affected everyone?

By asking this question, you demonstrate that you have done your due diligence about the company. The answer to this may lead to some other questions. Don’t be surprised if when you mention these subjects that the interviewing authority is unfamiliar with them.

Why do people like working here?

Only ask this question if the interview seems to be going well on a personal basis. Don’t ask something stupid like, “Why do people not like working here?”

What trends do you see in the industry for the next three to five years, and how was this company positioned for them?

I noticed, in my research that your company’s competitors are (?) What is your company’s reaction (or position, or stance, etc.)?

This can be anything from the competitor’s growth, a competitor’s new product….. anything that shows that you have done research on the competitors.

Please remember, that no matter what kind of answers you get to these questions, you are still selling yourself. Even if you don’t like every one of the answers that you get, you still have nothing until you have an offer.

You may ask a different set of “qualification” questions after you get an offer!

So, if you are detecting things that you may not like or want in a company or a job, or you may not clearly understand, you will get a chance to get clarification after you get an offer. Just remember you have nothing until you have a job offer!

Don’t forget, that as the interview comes to a close, you absolutely have to ask:

Based on what we have spoken about here, I’m an excellent match for this company and the opportunity. When can I go to work?

The post Tip #43 “Do You Have Any Questions for Me?” appeared first on Interview and Job Search Tips - Tonybeshara.com.

Be prepared for three interviews, but for an entry-level position, two is what you will probably experience. You want to handle each interview basically the same way you handled the initial interview except that you will refer to the ideas and information you learned in the previous interviews.

Questions like:

“When I interviewed with Mr./Ms. _______, he or she mentioned that getting used to the rapid work pace here was the most difficult issue for relatively inexperienced new hires to meet. What do you think?”

Or, “Mr./Ms. _______ communicated to me that it is important for inexperienced new hires to overcome the ‘shock’ of long, intense work hours. What do you think?”

You will still want to sell yourself in the interviews, take notes, and close the interviewer for his/her support. As you can see, this is a very simple process. I didn’t say it was easy, but it is simple.

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All of the best teachers in history told stories. People remember stories. Jesus Christ told parables and stories. The Bible is one long story. Buddha and Aesop told stories. Every great teacher tells stories. So, when you talk about your attributes to interviewing authorities, tell them in the context of a personal story. This is really easy to do and the stories don’t have to be long.

If you want to communicate leadership, talk about a time when you led a group of people in some endeavor. If you want to communicate competitiveness, talk about sports in high school or college. Tie the attribute that you want to communicate to a specific story about yourself. People will remember you better.

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When you get the call asking you to return for a second interview, you need to ask a number of questions that are very important to the success of your subsequent interviews. If you get a call from someone other than the person with whom you initially interviewed, you must call back and talk to that original interviewer.

But first, retrieve your notes from the initial interview, review them so you can ask any clarification questions, and then ask the following questions:

• “Mr./Ms. _____________, I’m excited about coming back to speak with you again about the position at your company. Can you please share with me what the rest of the process will be? (Even if you were told what the process would be in the initial interview, you want to take notes to get an exact and detailed idea of what all the next steps might be.)

• “Please tell me, what is Mr./Ms. _______________ (the next person with whom you will be meeting) like as a person?

• “What is his or her role in the interview process?”

• “What does this person look for in a candidate?”

• “Based on what you know about me, am I going to be strong or weak in the eyes of Mr./Ms. _______?”

• “If you were me, what are the things from our initial interview that I need to emphasize in my interview with Mr./Ms.?”

• “Is there anything in my experience or background that I should emphasize or elaborate about to Mr./Ms. _________?”

• “How many candidates are moving forward in the interview process?”

• “Mr./Ms. ___________, in the next interview, I am going to present myself to Mr./Ms. _____________, in the same way I presented myself to you. Can you give me any pointers on how I might be able to present myself better as a candidate?” (This is a very important question because it will give you insight into the next interview authority.)

• “If you were the person to rank the candidates that Mr./Ms. ____________ is going to interview, how would you rank me?” (most interviewing or hiring authorities don’t have the courage or guts to tell you exactly how you rank. So, they’re going to say something like, “We are calling back three or four candidates and you are one of them.”)

• (If the interviewing authority actually tells you exactly how you rank with the other candidates and you’re not ranked No. 1) “Then please tell the, Mr./Ms. _____________, what do I need to do in order to become your number one candidate?”

• (If you were told that you were the No. 1 candidate) “That is great to hear, Mr./Ms. __________, what, it in your opinion do I need to do to continue to be the No. 1 candidate?”

• (If you were told that you are one of a number of candidates being considered) “Mr./Ms. _______________, what in your opinion makes me a unique candidate and what do I need to do, in your opinion, to get the job?”

• Mr./Ms. ____________, do I have your support in getting this job?

• “If it were totally up to you, Mr./Ms. _________, would you hire me for this position?”

• (If the answer is yes…) “Great, what do you think I need to do to get the next interviewing authority to feel the same way?”

• (If the answer is no) “What are your concerns?”

• (If the answer is “maybe, depending upon what the other people think “) “What are my strengths and weaknesses that you think I should emphasize or shore up with the next interviewing authority?”

• “If all goes well with the next interviewing authority, are you going to recommend that your company hire me?”

The reason that you want to ask all of these questions is that it does absolutely no good to get to the second, third, or four stages of the interviewing without knowing exactly how you stand or what you need to do to get the job. By asking these questions, you get the initial interviewing or hiring authority on your side of the fence. Notice that I recommend asking the person to support you as a candidate in two or three different ways. You are asking the person to support you and you want them helping you as much as they possibly can.

As you are promoted to the next interview level, ask each of those interviewers those same questions. Many people get to the second interview and relax their intensity, alter their presentation, and basically quit selling thinking it’s a done deal.

Keep in mind that if an interviewing authority promotes you to the next stage of the process, by that action he or she is stating that you are potentially a viable candidate. If you ask the questions that I’ve suggested, you’ll not only get their support, but you will get their input and suggestions on how you might be able to interview successfully up the ladder.

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Interview Follow Up Data Sheet

Date: _______ Company: __________

Interviewer / Hiring authority ____________________

Was this an interviewing or hiring authority? ________

How long was the interview? ____________________

Summary: __________________________________

What are the most important aspects of my background to the interviewing/hiring authority?

__________________________________________

What were the major concerns about my candidacy?

__________________________________________

How could I have “sold” myself better?

__________________________________________

What do I need to do to get to the next step?

__________________________________________

Follow-up activity: ____________________________

Overall impressions and thoughts:

__________________________________________

Next Steps: _________________________________

Write down the high points of the interview and the major issues or topics that you discussed with the interviewer. Summarize what you think your strengths are and where you think your weaknesses are, as revealed by that interview. Write down your interpretation of the qualities that seemed most important to the hiring authority, and make sure that you understand them clearly. Often, in the initial interview, we think we completely understand what the hiring authority is looking for, but we actually do not! Don’t rely on your memory. It may be a two- to four-week period before the second round of interviews. You will need to be able to refresh your memory with detailed notes.

The immediate email

You should have gotten the interviewer’s business card at the time of the interview. Immediately after the interview, or as soon as possible, you want to email the interviewing or hiring authority. In that email, don’t just thank the person for his or her time – it is more important that you reinforce all of the reasons you should be hired.

Every interviewing book in the world is going to tell you to send a thank you to the interviewer. You would probably be shocked at the number of candidates who don’t send one. One out of every seven or eight candidates, even when they’re coached by a professional, either don’t send it or do it so late after the interview that is ineffective.

The email needs to be short and to the point. Don’t ramble about how much you appreciate the interview, how much you like the person, or how you appreciate the conversation. This letter is going to be read, like the resume, in 10 seconds.

This is an example you can use:

Dear Mr./Ms.________

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today, regarding the position with (firm). Your needs and my qualifications are compatible.

In our meeting, you stated that you wanted someone who was:

* (an attribute that the employer wanted)
* (another attribute)
* (another attribute)

I have given a lot of thought to what we spoke about. I would like to reinforce the confidence you can have in me to deliver what you need. I am:

* (the attributes and an example of the manifestation of that attribute first mentioned above.)
* (ditto for that attribute mentioned second above.)
* (ditto for that attribute mentioned third above.)

I’m an excellent fit for you and your company. I would like to go to work for your firm. This is a win/win situation for both of us.

Sincerely,
Your name

When you reinforce what the interviewing or hiring authority said he or she wanted, you need to do it with examples. Remember: describe transferable skills. Make sure that you address specific issues that the interviewing or hiring authority stated was of value to him or her.

Follow-up phone call

You should be aware that after initial interviews the hiring authority has a tendency to move on to other priorities. They don’t think about interviewing or hiring as much as you might think. They might say they will get back to you in a couple of days, and then go on vacation for two weeks.

With this in mind, it is advisable for you to follow up with them two or three days after the interview. Hiring for an open position is said to be urgent, but it is rarely executed as if it were. Your call will remind them of the task at hand. It can happen that your timing is perfect – you may catch the hiring authority at the right moment and secure the appointment for a second interview. This phone call is also a great time to ask about anything that you didn’t fully understand from the initial interview.

If you don’t get the person on the phone, and often you won’t, you will have to deal with voicemail. My recommendation is that you call until reaching him. Don’t be concerned that repeated calls will irritate and ruin your chances – you have absolutely nothing to lose. After all, until you have a job offer, you really don’t have anything.

After ten to fifteen days of calling the hiring authority without a response, you might conclude that you should pursue other opportunities. Never, never, never take the lack of a response personally, or do something stupid like leaving a sarcastic voicemail. Always leave the door open, so that if a prospective employer wants to consider you, even after weeks or months have gone by, you could resurrect the opportunity.

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Usually, the telephone screener is not the hiring manager and this makes the situation even worse. The screener’s objective it is to pare a large number of probable candidates down to two or three. Screeners will tell you that their mission is to discover the best candidate, however, from my experience, it becomes more like musical chairs. There is a random stopping point for deciding which candidates “win” the reward of a face-to-face interview.

If you get a call from a prospective employer and are not prepared or ready for the call, take down the person’s number and ask to call them back at a designated time. If you had no previous contact with the organization and were caught unprepared, you should take time to do a quick bit of research on the company and prepare yourself for the interview. Don’t feel like you need to talk to someone just because he or she called you. If you don’t know to whom you are talking, or what the person is calling about, I guarantee you won’t get to the next step in the interview process.

Here’s what to do regarding a telephone interview:

Do remind yourself that this is not a real interview. It is a screen and the objective of the screener is to screen you out. It is only a “voice ” conversation; it does not, as in a face-to-face interview, take into account the candidate’s image, body language, and visual communications. Overall, it can be a more difficult situation than a face-to-face interview.

Do sell yourself hard. Since the employer’s objective to screen out the candidate, you must sell yourself a bit harder. Remember, your goal in a telephone interview is to get a face-to-face interview.

Do know beforehand the exact criterion for being hired. Rehearse addressing those needs. If you’re being screened by a third-party, such as an HR staffer, who does not have a feel for the flexible aspects of the position, the interview becomes much harder.

Do keep your comments concise and to the point. The more you talk in a phone interview, the more likely it is that you will say something wrong and be screened out.

Do fully prepare for the phone screen. Have your resume in front of you along with your research on the company. Have a legal pad of paper and pen handy so you can take notes. Have a glass of water nearby. You have to present yourself as professional and polished, so make sure you have time to prepare for the telephone interview. Prepare several open-ended questions that will demonstrate that you’ve done your research on the company.

Do be ready psychologically for the interview to last about 20 minutes. Usually, a telephone screen gets old and boring for both parties after about 20 minutes. Unless the interviewer has a set of questions (which most do not), the conversation will have a tendency to ramble. You want to start closing early for a face-to-face interview.

Do try to be the person who initiates the call. The person making the call has a tendency to be in control. There may not be a choice in this, but whenever possible, the candidate should initiate the call.

Do set an appointed time for the call whenever possible. It makes the call more important to all parties. Avoid a casual, “call me anytime” atmosphere. If you initiate the call and the interviewer is not available as scheduled, leave a message letting the person know you called, and that you will call back after five minutes. Do not leave a number. Place the call again. Keep doing this until you reach the interviewer.

Do smile. It doesn’t hurt to have a mirror in front of you. Be in a good mood, friendly, and in a selling mode. People can “hear “smiles over the phone!

Here’s what not to do in a telephone interview situation:

Don’t leave a “cute” message on the message system of your phone. We covered that earlier, but it bears repeating. Be sure to always leave your name. If people only get a phone number, they may not be sure it is you they have contacted and chances are they will simply hang up.

Don’t use a cell phone for a telephone interview, if you can avoid it. If you can’t avoid it, make sure you are at a place where the reception is clear and the call will not be dropped. If you must use a cell phone, do not use the headset apparatus or speaker feature. The microphone picks up all kinds of background noise (i.e. crowd noise, wind, etc., and it is very unprofessional)

Don’t carry on a telephone interview from a busy place or a noisy environment. This should be clear enough, but I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had a candidate “lose” an opportunity for a face-to-face interview because of background noise.

Don’t discuss money in depth. As an entry-level candidate, you should not be discussing this until you get an offer.

Don’t ask “what can you do for me?” questions. Questions that address your needs are a major cause of candidates not making it past the telephone screen. Keep your questions open-ended, such as “why is the position open?” or “Mr. /Ms. Employer, why do you work for the company?” When the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions?” you should take the opportunity to ask, “When can we get together face-to-face?”

Don’t talk too much. Answer the questions directly and conversationally, but don’t ramble. It’s easier to become confused in a telephone conversation than it is in a face-to-face interview. It is a good idea to end every statement that you make with a question. Even if the question is, “Did I answer your question?”

Don’t say you know something that you do not. There’s nothing wrong with being comfortable enough with yourself to say, “I don’t know” to any question that you shouldn’t necessarily know. Know the difference between a question for which you should have an answer and one you don’t necessarily need to know.

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Traditionally, American business has had two working generations at a time. Even then, the values of those generations were drastically different. Today, primarily because of technology, there is a much greater difference between the generations in the workforce. These differences are likely to be revealed in the interview process. They can work for you if you recognize them, or against you if you don’t.

Traditionalists are known for their loyalty, hard work, and faith in institutions (i.e. employment, government, and social structures like churches, schools, etc). They remember World War II and either experienced or felt the immediate impact of the Great Depression. They’re fiscally responsible and work/life balance is very important to them.

Boomers tend to identify themselves with their career achievements. They invented the 60-hour workweek and believe in getting ahead through hard work. There are 80 million Boomers in the work force. They are usually optimistic, but see themselves as agents of change. They are idealistic, but not as trusting in their government as their predecessors as a result of Vietnam and Watergate.

Gen-Xers grew up with the advancement of technology. They are adept, uncomfortable with change in their resources, and hard-working, but want an individual balance of work and play in their lives. They’re the first generation of latchkey kids and the first generation of techies. They tend to trust themselves more than the group and are independent, but flexible. They have experienced scandals in business – just as their predecessors experienced scandals in government. The drastic and erratic changes in business don’t bother them at all. They like to be in control and want prompt feedback

The millennia generation, of which you are probably a member, grew up with technology. They prefer a fast pace and are eager to learn. Millennias are inquisitive. You grew up with 24-hour media, 180 TV channels, the instant Internet, a global marketplace, and September 11th. They tend to be pragmatic, collaborative, and global in perspective. They work well in teams, are flexible, and have a keen sense of time management. Millennias are the ultimate multi-taskers.

Why this is important to you?

The reason knowledge of the generational DNA of business is important to you is that you need to understand how the hiring authority “sees” the world.

If you are interviewing with a “traditionalist,” (i.e. someone old enough to be your grandfather), you might want to stress traditional family values. If you were in the military, your experience there will probably mean a little more to this person.

If you are interviewing with a “boomer” like me, you want to stress your work ethic, willingness to go the extra mile, and determination to get ahead. Commitment to a long-term career with my company, although it may not be realistic, is important to us.

It might be OK to display an attitude like: “Hey, I’m going to take this job…or one like it…either with you or someone else…doesn’t matter to me…I expect to be there a couple of years, then for sure I’m move,” to a Gen-Xer. However, it would not be advisable to tell this to a traditionalist or a boomer.

I’m sure you get the drift of my message. Don’t go overboard with this concept. Just consider it when you are interviewing. Learn as much as you can about the values of the person with whom you will be interviewing, and you will have an advantage over your competitio

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