101 Smart Questions to Ask on Your Interview (21 page)

Whatever answer you get should give you a much better idea of how this interviewer thinks as a boss and what he sees as the focus of
his
job.

It’s a Matter of Style

Even if you are comfortable with the job, the department, and the company—and have had most or all of your questions about them answered—never underestimate the importance of your boss’s style, the corporate culture, and how you will mesh with both. The next two sections offer questions to make sure you achieve a comfy fit.

How would you describe your management style? Would you say that it’s similar to others in the organization, or do you consider yourself a bit of a maverick?

When’s the last time you got really angry at one of your subordinates? What was the cause? What did you do? Has anything similar happened since? Did you react differently?

In your experience, are there particular types of people you seem to work better with than others?

This is a not-so-veiled attempt to define yourself according to the attributes the manager cites, presuming, of course, that the type of person he describes isn’t so remote from your own personality as to be laughable.

What particular traits do you value most in your subordinates?

Again, tell me what you want to hear, Mr. Manager, so I can tell you that I’m all that!

What kinds of people seem to succeed in this company? In this department? Working for you?

How do you define success?

Tell me about the last time one of your subordinates made a major mistake. What did he or she do? What did you do?

How did that work out? What’s your philosophy about mistakes?

How do you measure your own success?

What do you think your responsibility is to develop your people? Would you cite some examples of which you’re particularly proud?

Questions About the Culture, Chemistry, Fit

What have
you
enjoyed most about working here?

What have you liked least?

What do
you
like best about this company? Why?

If the interviewer hems and haws a lot over this one, it may indicate that she doesn’t really like the company at all.

If she’s instantly enthusiastic, her answer should help sell you on her and the company.

The answer to this question can also give you a good sense of the values of the organization and the hiring manager. If she talks about nothing but products or how well her stock options are doing, it may indicate a lack of enthusiasm for the “people side” of the business.

What is your history with the company?

What’s keeping you here now?

There are a lot of reasons to ask these questions, and to ask them early. You’ll get a better feel for where the interviewer came from—up through the ranks (and the specific rungs along the way) or from outside the company, for example. How long he stayed at each position—is he a mover and shaker or a plodder? Whether he’s been there long enough to give you an accurate feel of the culture.

The second question is an especially important one to ask of the person to whom you’ll be reporting. Again, if the word “people” isn’t part of her answer, what does that tell you about her leadership or management style? If the reasons are all financial, I would question his dedication to the core culture . . . and even whether I could count on him sticking around if another company dangled a bigger carrot in his face.

Semi-Closing Questions

In the next chapter, we’ll discuss in more detail how to identify hidden objections to your candidacy, how to confront them, and how to ask for the job offer—questions designed to “close the sale.” But there are questions a step below (or before, if you prefer), what I’ve called
“semi-closing questions,” that are designed to indicate your strong interest in the position and elicit more of the information you need to weigh a potential offer:

Are there problems that keep you awake?

(Follow-up)
What could I do to make you sleep better?

(Alternative)
How could I make your life easier?

How will we work together to establish objectives and deadlines in the first months of this job?

This is a nice way to find out how much input you will have or whether you’re heading into a fait accompli—
“Glad you’re here, Ron. Here’s the plan for the next three months. Do it.”

Do my qualifications (experience, education, demeanor, outlook, spirit) remind you of another employee who succeeded at this job?

What are your own goals for the coming year? How do you think I could specifically help you achieve them?

If you were me, what are the three specific goals you would set for your first three months on the job?

What are three things that need immediate attention?

What skills are in short supply here?

Are there other things you would like someone to do that are not considered formal parts of the job?

What is the first problem I should tackle?

What’s the one thing I can do right at this job to assure my success? What’s the one thing that would assure failure?

Would it be possible to talk with ________ (the other department heads with whom I’d be working, my team, my boss, some of my potential colleagues/peers)?

Is there anything else you feel it is vital that I know about the company (department, job, your expectations, etc.)?

This is the last “nonclosing” question to ask. It is designed to give the interviewer every opportunity to tell you anything else he deems important.

A Little Knowledge
Is
Powerful

The more research you’ve done, the easier it will be to incorporate what you’ve learned into great questions. In the same vein, the way you phrase a question can effectively show the interviewer how well you’ve been listening and absorbing his pearls of wisdom:

The job seems to be in a state of flux. What’s your impression?

Although your ad indicated that computer experience was the primary qualification, I get the impression from our talk so far that building a new team is your major concern. Do you agree?

Your company appears to be (team-oriented, helter-skelter, highly charged, serious, fun, etc.). Do you think that’s an accurate assessment? If yes, can you tell me more about how that culture will impact how I work? If no, how would you describe it?

Timing Can Be Everything

If the absolutely perfect candidate walked in the door first thing Monday morning, I don’t know any hiring managers who would simply hire him on the spot and tell everyone else to pound salt. Even if he was everything the manager could have ever asked for . . . and more! Why? Human nature: “I’ve got to see more than one candidate or I won’t have anyone to compare him to. How can I just hire the first person who comes through the door? What would my boss think? That I’m too impulsive? Giving the interviewing process short shrift? A poor interviewer?”

The further along they are in the process, the better it probably is for you. Ever watch an ice skating competition? No one wants to go first, do they? (And the champ never does, does she?
Hmmm.
) Why? Even if the first skater were flawless, crafting a performance that demanded top marks, she’d never get them. If the judges gave
her
the highest marks, what would they do for one of the skaters who followed with an even
better
performance?

What if you’re near the end of the process or even, ideally,
the very last person interviewed?
You are the person right in front of them—living, breathing, laughing, selling, questioning, impressing. Even if there
was
someone marginally better than you, that was hours, days, even
weeks
ago! Whatever impression that earlier candidate made, no matter how strong, is already fading. And there you are, saying all the right things, asking all the smart questions.

Remember what I said about how job descriptions are sometimes more fluid and changeable than employers would ever admit? By the time an interviewer gets near the end of the process, the job description has undoubtedly been altered by all those other candidates. Whatever unrealistic expectations he had at the beginning have been thrown out the window, because too many candidates proved to him they were wrong. He’s measuring you by a completely new yardstick, one refined by all those other interviewees.

They’ve raised questions in his mind, too. Things he hadn’t thought about before. So he’s thinking differently not just about the job, but about the candidates.

Could one of those earlier candidates now be better qualified for the resulting job than you? Maybe. But if you make a sterling impression and say all the right things, the interviewer may never sift through that old stack of resumes or revisit his pages of notes. Out of sight, out of mind, when can
you
start?

CHAPTER 6
QUESTIONS TO CLOSE THE SALE

At some point, it will dawn on you that you actually
want
this job. You may even have gotten the impression that the
interviewer
wants you to have the job. Or, at least, you think she does.

It’s time to determine how real your chances are by asking “closing” questions—highly targeted questions designed to uncover the interviewer’s (unstated) concerns, discover where you are in the process, identify the competition, and, most important, ask for the job!

“Is There Anyone Else . . .?”

Salespeople know that one of the most deadly obstacles to closing a sale is talking to the wrong person. What good is a powerful, professional presentation that generates a series of enthusiastic “yes” responses if the person you’re selling to lacks the authority to actually buy your product or service? While it may be important to get this person’s recommendation, wouldn’t
you
want to know you’re actually interviewing with the person with the ability to say,
“Great! When can you start?”

To forestall this waste of time and effort, top salespeople will often use a line like the following to qualify a prospect
before
they go into their spiel:
“Is there anyone else along with yourself who needs to be part of this discussion so a buying decision can be made today?”

That’s qualifying! Be ready to ask a similar question yourself:

Is there anyone else along with yourself who needs to be part of this interview so a
hiring
decision can be made today?

If the answer is “no,” you can feel somewhat confident that this is the person you have to convince. Often, an employer will answer a question such as this by detailing the hiring process for you:

“Well, Jim, I’m ultimately going to be the one making the decision about whom to hire, but I’m going to have the top two or three candidates interview with ___________ and ___________ before I make the final cut.”

Which would, of course, lead you to ask a whole series of other questions:

Will those other interviews be scheduled following this one?

Over what period of time will those other interviews take place?

How long a period have you set aside for interviews before you make a final decision?

At what point do you feel you will be making a final decision?

May I make appointments with those other executives immediately following this interview?

If you properly researched the interviewer and asked the right questions of the recruiter or headhunter with whom you’re working (or the Human Resources person who preinterviewed you), you really should already know whether the person you’re talking to is the ultimate decision-maker. In an ideal world, of course. But the world these days is far from ideal. So ask this qualifying question early in the interview; it’s important to know whether you’re selling the Emperor or merely one of his advisors.