INTERVIEW SPECIAL.....Talk your way into your next job

Talk your way into your next job

Asking certain questions during an interview might hurt your chances of landing the gig. Follow these tips to be on the winning side, always

Job interviews can get pretty stressful. Not only do you have to answer the interviewer’s questions, but you must come up with a bunch of questions too. Do yourself a favour and prepare some questions beforehand. And pay attention to queries you are better off avoiding. Here are some awkward or off-putting questions you should steer away from, and some decent replacement questions you can ask instead:

Don’t ask: “What does your company do?”

Questions like this will make you look unprepared. To avoid that, never ask anything that can easily be answered with a Google search. 

Ask: “How would you describe the company’s culture?” Or “Who do you consider your major competitors? How are you better?”

This question gives you a broad view on the corporate philosophy of a company and on whether it prioritises employee happiness and development. It also shows that you are already thinking about how you can help the company rise to meet some of its bigger goals.

Don’t ask: “What will my salary be?”

Hold off on the money talk. Candidates have to walk a thin line between gathering information they need about a company and assuming they are going to get the position. If compensation comes up naturally, that’s fine.

But you don’t want to bring up the subject yourself during initial screeners. 

Ask: “Can you tell me what steps need to be completed before your company can generate an offer?” Any opportunity to learn the timeline for a hire is crucial information for you. Asking about an ‘offer’ rather than a ‘decision’ will give you a better sense of the timeline because decision is a broad term, while an offer refers to the point when they are ready to hand over the contract. Plus, if you’re desperate to learn more about compensation, this question might prompt a discussion.

Don’t ask: “What are the hours?”

It’s better to go over details like this once you have the job in hand. It is also a red flag to interviewers than simply asking about your hours. It will almost certainly be perceived negatively.

Ask: “If you were to hire me, what might I expect in a typical day?”

It’s not unreasonable to want to know how many hours you will be clocking in every week. This is just a gentler way of getting to that topic. It shows your eagerness about the position, but it also gives you a better idea about what the job will be like daily, so you can decide whether you really want to pursue it. A frank conversation about position expectations and responsibilities will ensure not only that this is a job you want, but also one that you have the skills to be successful in.

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