So we’re sure you’ve encountered the question, “do you have any questions for me?” at the end of a job interview (or even maybe before!).
Time and time again when working with people on this really important question, they default to a library of questions they’ve prepared. The problem is that oftentimes, we only think of questions that are generic and high level. They may ask questions like “can you tell me what the team culture is like” or “what are your policies on working from home?”
Next time you step into an interview, challenge yourself to think about “do you have any questions for me” a little bit differently. You can be really strategic as a job seeker in this moment. Here are three ways to ask questions in interviews that you can consider asking from now on.
Use Strategic Questions to Show Vision
The first type is strategic questions. Instead of asking for high-level questions such as “what should I expect day-to-day”, ask questions that make it seem like you’re already part of the team. Show that you can think strategically about the future of where the team is going.
Some examples may include asking about the the company or department’s biggest challenges. You can also ask about the goals that have been set for this quarter. Asking about more strategic things show that not only are you interested in the work but you’re already invested in planning the long-term vision of what this team or company is going to do.
Use Technical Questions to Show Skill
The second type of questions are ones that are a little bit more technical and can highlight the skills that you have. You might ask questions like what are the suite of tools that the team uses. Alternatively, share the types of metrics that you tracked at your last job and ask whether or not the current job would be using similar ones.
Questions like these help to demonstrate that you not make evidence-based decisions. It also proves you understand the lingo or the common concepts that industry experts will talk about on the job.
Ask Questions from the Interview to Facilitate Conversations
Finally, the last type of question that you can ask are ones that can make
the interview look and feel more like a conversation. A great technique to help you to do that is to take something that you were asked during the interview and use it as the basis of a question for your interviewer.
Let’s say you are interviewing for a company that works on artificial intelligence and they asked you a question about the ethics of AI. You might turn this question on its head. Say something like “we talked a little bit about artificial intelligence and the ethics around it…I was wondering
what is this company doing or what playbooks does this company have
to make sure that we’re abiding by the ethical standards I mentioned”.
The intention here is to reinforce that you were listening to their questions and that you’re capable of thinking about key concepts thoughtfully. When you do this effectively, you can turn the question period into a really great conversation that you didn’t anticipate to have.
So next time you’re asked the question “what questions do you have for me”, you have three different types of questions to really dig deeper. Take this chance to showcase the way you think and the skills you have. Have a great conversation with the interviewer!
If you found these tips on asking questions in interviews helpful, check out our interview prep programs to help you shine in your next job interview.
