It’s common to think of interviews as one-sided. The interviewer—the one representing the company and making or influencing hiring decisions—asks a series of questions about the interviewee to gauge his or her level of knowledge, experience, and social and workplace skills, as well as his or her fit for the company and the position.
But savvy job applicants know that asking questions of the interviewer is a great way to demonstrate thoughtfulness, knowledge of the company, and position, and potential for success.
Interviewers must be trained to pay close attention to the questions that applicants ask during interviews in order to do a better job of identifying the best candidates in an often-crowded pool. Business Coach and Forbes Contributor, Chris Westfall, highlights some things to look for.
Culture Club
Most applicants understand that company culture is an important part of job satisfaction. But Westfall cautions against general questions like “what’s the culture like around here?” General questions get general answers, he says. Instead, ask specific questions to clarify concerns you may have based on research or conversations with employees.
Fit and Finish
Often, interviews include questions about skills, or the interviewer asks applicants to describe what they’d do in a hypothetical situation. Westfall suggests following up an answer to this question by asking how the answer fits with what the interviewer is looking for in the position.
Learn Not to Lecture
Remember, an interview should be a conversation. If an applicant starts to feel like his or her answer is straying off topic or is losing the interest of the interviewers, Westfall recommends taking a moment to stop and ask, “Does what I’ve said so far answer your question?”
Stack It Up
This last tip isn’t recommended for everyone or for every interview, says Westfall, but he says the only way to really know how you stack up to other applicants is to simply ask, “If you are willing to share, I’d like to know: How do I stack up against the other candidates for this position?”
While Westfall’s tips are aimed at jobseekers, recruiters and hiring managers can learn a lot from understanding what applicants are thinking during the interview process and what is seen by experts as top interview performance practices.
