You just finished a job interview and your interviewer asks you if you have any questions. Most people use the prompt to show off what they know about the company.
What a wasted opportunity!
An interview is your chance to learn about the company so you know what you’re getting into, and also a chance for you to show that you can connect as a person.
People join good projects and leave bad management.
Before an interview, think of every manager who has made you want to leave a project or the company.
Did a past manager not support you? Ask the interviewer if your manager-to-be supports the staff. If the manager is interviewing you, ask how he or she supports people. Do you want to risk working for a manager you can’t stand?
Did a past manager not challenge you enough? Ask the interviewer how your manager-to-be challenges the staff.
Whatever you hated or loved about a past position — ask about those things. Waiting to find out after you start may lock you into months of misery you could have avoided.
Inexperienced job hunters’ main criteria for companies to work for are often their name recognition and if they are growing. Experienced workers know that reputation, size, and most general things about the company are secondary to the people you’ll be working with.
You’ll be working with specific individuals with specific personalities in specific teams in a specific environment with a specific culture. They determine what you do, evaluate your performance, help you finish tasks, decide when you can take vacations, and so on.
An interview is your a chance to learn about what working at a company will entail. Learn about the people you will be in close contact with every day, if you were to join the team.
Many job hunters fear doing anything other than showing themselves off: Won’t asking too many questions turn them off to me? Shouldn’t I take what I can get?
On the contrary, asking questions shows experience and, most importantly, lack of desperation. Few things repel people as much as desperation.
Asking these questions could also help you stand out and create meaningful dialogue with your interviewer.
Questions to consider:
- What’s the company culture like?
- Do you like working here? Why or why not?
- What’s my manager like?
- Why did the last person leave this position?
- What are the other people in the team like?
- What’s the turnover here?
People who enjoy their work don’t have special abilities. They don’t end up with jobs they love through luck. They make their jobs likable and enjoyable by choosing carefully what they want. Essentially, you choose the environment and you make the environment.
Valuing your happiness, satisfaction, and emotional reward when looking for jobs is as important, if not more, as getting the job. Know what you want and get what you want by asking the right questions.
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