Always come prepared with questions!
In our previous blog series, Answering the Interview Question, we focused on the interview questions you wanted help with. Everything from where you see yourself in five years and why you’re leaving your current job to what your co-workers would say about you in three words.
Now we’re focusing on another, often overlooked part of the interview that’s just as important: questions to ask after the interview.
Interviewers want you to ask questions to gauge your interest in the company. Before we get started on the blog series proper (where we’ll focus on three questions each month), let’s go over a few general things to keep in mind.
Do Your Research
Asking questions is a great way to show that you did your homework. Look the company up online and review any relevant news stories. Have they released a new product? A new promotional campaign? Weave those recent happenings into your questions. Something like “I saw you recently launched a new product. Would I be involved in the production?” However, make sure to stay away from topics that might be uncomfortable (a merger, layoffs, new management, etc.).
On the flip side, avoid any questions that can be answered with a simple Google search (questions about the company’s mission statement, culture, history, etc.).
Ask for Details on the Job, Not Pay
Don’t ask how much a job pays until you’re in the final interview and salary/pay negotiations come up. It’s considered bad form to bring this up in earlier stages of the interview, mostly because your interviewer wants to see that you want the job for more than monetary reasons.
Instead, ask what a typical day is like on the job, or what your interviewer thinks of working at the company. Try to come up with personal questions (“What’s your favorite part of the job?” “What was your favorite project to work on at the company?” etc.).
Ask About Next Steps
Asking about next steps is always a good idea. If your interviewer hasn’t covered it, you’ll want to know a timeline for when they might respond about the next step of the interview process, or even potentially a job offer. This should always be your last question, so that you can end the interview with an optimistic look to the future.
Is there anything you’d like to ask about after the interview but aren’t sure how to phrase it? Let us know in the comments section below!
