Welcome back to the C Suite, staff! It is your favorite exec, BowtiedCEO.
I have decided to launch a guide that will go through the Top 20 standard interview questions that you can ask the hiring team in any interview. This will be a comprehensive guide that analyzes each of these interview questions in a four part series, plus an introduction on basic interview techniques and things to know.
Over the next few months, I will post 20 interview questions in 4 parts and outline:
Why they should be asked by the candidate
What the questions is used for
What answers you should be looking for
How to analyze each question
This introduction will be the precursor to those four parts. Below I will go over key things to utilize when preparing for any interview.
For the full guide click the link below:
Reverse Interview Q&A guide
Always keep things positive. From the candidate’s perspective, you have a right to ask questions that will benefit you, as does the interviewer. The difference between you and the interviewer, however, is not in the questions you ask, but how you ask them. If you ask your questions in a condescending tone or if you come across negatively, it won’t matter how well you interviewed. I have had great candidates for my Q&A for them and then they turned superior and rude. I didn’t hire them. Eventually, this type of candidate will feel superior to everyone and start to show it, which is a problem.
Observe body language and non verbal communication. Asking questions to find out what the job is like or what the team you would be working with is like, is very important. Do not neglect the non verbal cues, facial expressions, and how the interviewers answer your questions. If you notice anything that is a red flag, note it or dig into it with the interview team.
As an example, let’s say you ask the hiring manager, “What a bad day looks like” for them and the team. If they can’t make eye contact or are really trying to think about giving an answer that won’t scare you away, you can know that they are probably lying or withholding information. If they can’t be transparent at the interview, then they won’t be that way if you are hired.
Here are some things to look for that will tell if they are lying to you:
Little to no eye contact
Struggling to find answers
Crossing arms
Rushing to get to the next question or complete the interview
Looking up and over
Rubbing or scratching of the face or body
Fidgeting
Focusing on what a person says as well as how they react to your questions, will allow you to gauge what type of workplace you could be jumping into.
Know who you are speaking with. There are certain questions you probably should not ask a hiring manager vs someone on the team you’d be working with. The audience you are speaking with will also determine which questions you ask. At the same time, ask different people the same question to gauge how opinions differ. If their is a big disconnect between answers, then communication and experiences within the team are vastly different.
If you ask a hiring manager what a bad day looks like and it is tame vs asking someone who reports to them the same question and they paint a really bad picture, the manager really doesn’t care about the staff. Asking the same question to multiple people creates a way to measure the team.
Know what is important to you. Not all questions in this guide may be important to ask the interview team. If all you want to discuss is technical questions related to the position because that is all you care about, go for it. Many of the questions in this guide are used to decipher what kind of people you are going to work with and to help you make a decision on whether to accept a position working with them.
A limited interview team is a red flag. An important thing in any interview is to have multiple people determine if you are a good candidate or not. This includes multiple rounds of interviews with multiple people. If you do not receive this, it is a sign of a bad team or company. If all you interview with is the hiring manager and nobody else, the hiring manager is most likely not in good standing with others. The best interview panels include your hiring manager, people ranked above them, and people ranked below them. This allows both parties to be set up to be transparent to each other.
If you want the full guide, click here to get it now.
Disclaimer
This is not career or legal advice.
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This article is not for commercial distribution, it’s solely intended use is to educate readers on best practices for career growth and interview optimization.