Too many job interviews become one-way grill sessions. The potential employer asks a question and the candidate answers. Next question… next answer… and so it goes. Perhaps near the end of the interview, the employer asks if the candidate has any questions, then the process reverses for a few short minutes.
Then one candidate out of the many asks some questions as part of their reply to the question posed to them… and the whole dynamic changes! All of a sudden, the interview becomes a dialogue!
It’s more of a conversation between professionals to mutually come to a conclusion on a business decision.
That candidate stands out from the others, and has better information to make their own decision about whether the job is the right one for them.
Job seekers often don’t think it’s appropriate to ask questions during the middle of an interview. It can, however, be a great differentiator between them and most other applicants.
So what does it look like? Here are some examples and recommendations…
- Always ask questions appropriate to the topic being discussed. Don’t awkwardly ask a question that diverts the conversation in another direction if the interviewer hasn’t changed topic themselves.
- As an example… if the interviewer asks: “Can you give me an example of how you work with teams?” You might reply: “I’ve had a lot of experience on project teams, one example of how I helped a team successfully meet our objectives was… (fill in the story). Can you tell me more about the team I would be working with here?”
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