QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT ASK
In an interview, you are there not only to answer the interviewer's questions, but also to make sure you get the information you need. Ask questions that are appropriate: what do you really want to know? Here are a few to get you thinking in the right direction:
- What are the key responsibilities of the job?
- What is the most important part of the job?
- What is the first problem that would need the attention of the person you hire?
- What other problems need attention now? Over the next six months?
- How has this job been performed in the past?
- Are there other things you would like someone to do that are not a formal part of the job?
- What would you like to be able to say about the new hire one year from now?
- What is your background?
- How would you describe your management style?
- How is the department organized?
DIFFICULT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS
Business is a game, and interviewing is part of the game. You are asked a question to see how well you handle it to see how well you play the game. This is not like a discussion with a friend. Don't take questions literally.
For example, if the interviewer asks you why you didn't go to college, should you tell the truth? Such as:
- I came from a town where no one went to college, or
- my mother died and I had to help out, or
- I didn't have the money.
These answers are negative and also take you both away from what should be the main discussion: the company's needs and how you can help.
The interviewer is not interested in you and your mother. There is a job to fill. Talking about certain subjects weakens your position regardless of who brought them up. Keep the interview positive, and do not discuss subjects that are off track.
A businesslike answer moves the interview along. Many times hiring managers say to me, "Why did Joe [the applicant] have to tell me that? I was ready to hire him, but now I can't. When my boss confronts me about Joe's lack of college, I don't have a good answer."
Some job hunters insist on being "honest." They think, I'll just tell them the way it is, and if they don't hire me, then so be it. These job hunters are putting their responsibility on the interviewer. We've all had problems. The interviewer doesn't have to hear about them.
Let's try the question again from a responsible, businesslike point of view.
WHY DIDN'T YOU GO TO COLLEGE?
I like to be out there doing things. I thought about college a few times (or: I took a few courses), but I wanted to get more done. And that's what my bosses have always said: I'm someone who gets things done. They've all been happy with me.
Briefly and politely handle those questions that might take you off course. Do not go into long discussions, but smoothly move the conversation back to the company's needs or your abilities the things on your three by five card that you had planned to cover. Give your answer, and then say, for example, "but I really wanted to tell you about a special project I worked on." It is your responsibility to get the conversation back on track.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING FIVE YEARS FROM NOW?
Actually, I'd like to do the best job I can possibly do in the position we're talking about right now. I know that if I do a great job, good things will happen to me later. They always have.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN UNEMPLOYED?
If you've been unemployed a while, and you answer, "twenty six months," how likely are you to be hired? I have run job hunt groups of people who have been unemployed two years or more. The first thing we work on is an answer to this question. From a moral point of view, I must help these people develop a good story so they can get back to work. It would be cruel for me to insist they tell the truth. Who will hire an applicant that says, "When I was fired, I got depressed for six months and couldn't move, and then my mother got sick and I had to help. By then, I had been unemployed eleven months, and no one would hire me. I'm hoping you will give me a chance."
It makes sense that no one will give this person a chance. By "telling the truth," this job hunter is saying, "I've had all these problems, but I'm better now. Will you risk your business for me?" It's not fair to burden the interviewer. All the interviewer wants to do is fill a job not save lives.
Develop a good answer you can live with. Think of what you have actually been doing. Have you been working on your computer? Helping at your church or synagogue? Helping friends with their businesses? Most people can think of something they've been doing even something little that they can build a story around.
If you really haven't been doing anything at all, then go do something. You are unlikely to interview well if you haven't been out there at all. Get your adrenaline going. Walk dogs, pick strawberries, usher at church. Get active.
Better yet: learn a new skill. Try computers. Volunteer your skills, or get paid something nominal. Then think up a good story:
1. I've actually been looking only a month or two. After I left XYZ Company, I spent some time working on a special project for a small company.
Or
2. I've been looking only a few weeks now. After working for more than twenty years, this was my first time off, and I took advantage of the time to (fix up my house, take care of a sick family member, learn tax accounting, etc.). I was glad to have the opportunity to (help out, learn something new, etc.). But now I'm ready to get back to work and put in another twenty years.
Or
3. Take the work you've done:
I've been doing public relations work for a small firm. I thought it would be fun to try after so many years with a big corporation, but now I know I like corporate life and I want to get back.
