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Direction on Job Changing Methodologies by Gary Ames - Selected writings by a professional job campaign manager. |
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QUESTIONS TO ASK THE EMPLOYER
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You have two purposes in during the interview process: one, to sell yourself and the other, to make sure that you want the job. After all, you are becoming an investor in the company, investing with your career. You are responsible for doing your homework on a company before the first interview and throughout the hiring process. "If I knew then, what I know now…" Use all the resources that the financial community uses to research a public company. For example, annual reports, marketing literature, business directories, etc. Use published information such as business magazines and industry or professional journals. Telephone your network to learn all you can. Beyond just their web page, see third party analyses and private investigation tools. Asking questions is not only good research but it also helps your sales agenda because asking good questions shows your poise and interest. Being well informed and having thought about this company and its industry context will permit you to ask very impressive questions. Well researched questions indicate that you are intelligent and incisive. Employer polls say that the interviewer's most common complaint is failure to research the company. A close second is being unprepared for the interview. A well informed and curious candidate has proven his interest in the company. Listed below are some questions that you may want to have answered by the time you leave your final interview and before an offer arrives. No one would ever ask all these questions; they are for your consideration. Use them to discover gaps in your knowledge that must be filled by your research or by the interviewer. Compare the portrait of the job against your original criteria for a new position. You can prepare answers to all of the expected questions a job interviewer
may throw at you, but don't stumble when the time comes for you to ask
questions. A well honed interview approach includes the development of
strategic questions. In an interview, take the role of a consultant and
try to learn as much about the situation as possible. Speak as one executive
to another. Talk about what your role would be in getting the organization
from There are four kinds of questions you need to master. Engaging or probing
questions show your interest and help you learn about the job and company.
Defensive questions let you know what you're getting into and protect
you from a bad situation. The final two types, feedback and trial close
questions, are really sales techniques to solidify your position and clinch
the offer. Engaging questions probe for details about the job, company, management, and people you would be working with. Like a consultant, you can always ask about products, customers, and processes. No one would ever ask all these questions, but you want to get a good understanding of four aspects: the job, the people, the management, and the company. JOB: PEOPLE: MANAGEMENT: COMPANY: Use your research on the company to extend the questions you ask. For
example, "I read that you are currently number one in the industry;
what are you doing to expand your marketshare further?" Defensive questions are designed to make sure you want the job if offered. You may be in the frying pan now, but the fire is surely hotter. While you don't want to ask questions that spoil your rapport with the interviewer, you do need answers. You need to know why the company is losing money, why the prior incumbent quit, and what are the relocation plans for the department. It is perfectly appropriate to ask to speak with potential subordinates and colleagues. They are excellent sources of information; they know what is going on and are most likely going to be straight with you. You may ask these people about the informal power structure, the unwritten priorities, what it really takes to be successful, and what they most want to change. Is this a new position? What happened to my predecessor? FEEDBACK QUESTIONS Ed Koch, the former New York Mayor, made famous this quip: "How'm I doing?" You should pepper your conversation with forms of this question as well. Feedback questions allow you to uncover and disarm an interviewer's concerns. It is often difficult to learn what the interviewer doesn't like about you. However, you must uncover doubts because a doubt represents the risk of a negative trait or outcome. The interviewer's discomfort with that risk is often worse than the actual negative trait or outcome. You can't address an objection you don't know about. These questions require courage. Don't be afraid of surfacing your weaknesses. You want to be in the position of overcoming objections since this is when selling occurs. Progress to problem solving any deficiencies. Does that answer your question? If your experience is light in one particular area, find out what percentage
of the job this represents. Then, attach it head on with something like,
"I am willing to put in extra time to come up to speed in this area." A series of minor commitments add up to a major commitment. The ABC's of selling are Always Be Closing. Trial close questions ask for an indication of how favorably the interviewer assesses you. One way to assess a company's interest is to see how hard the interviewer tries to sell you on accepting the job when you ask these questions. Asking something like, "Are you ready to make me an offer now, or do I need to sell myself some more?" may be music to some ears, yet too aggressive for conservative environments. But remember, you are selling. You are an applicant, not a supplicant. It sounds to me as if we have a great fit here. What do you think? It is common sales advice to "ask for the order." Here's how to ask for the job in the final interview. Begin with "As I understand it, you want someone with x education, y qualifications, and z experience. Do I meet the requirements?" Now wait; the interviewer is making up his mind. The answer will tell you if it is time to close or if you have more persuading to do. If positive, here's the best closing line I know: Ask for the job with, "Well, I'm certainly interested in receiving your strongest offer." |
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