6 killer questions to ask at your next interview

Did you know there are really only 15 variations of question you can get asked in an interview? 

So the plan to nail your next interview: Create some basic STAR examples and talk around them. Research a company, figure out why you want to work there, have some facts and figures on hand to drop in at will and voilá you’re well on your way to an excellent interview experience and then…well then comes the awkward moment…

That moment right before the end of an interview where they ask “have you got any questions for us?” Or worse they just let the silence linger, whilst you rack your brains for something that makes you sound interesting and informed...

In that moment, ask them this question: 

1) Why has this position become available?

Bet they weren’t expecting that one! But you can discern so much about the company culture and expectations from it.

Did someone leave or is it a completely new post they’ve just created? If someone’s moved on up in the company you know things look good for your career prospects; if someone left then you can ask why diplomatically (Question 2 may help you with this). If it’s a completely new role, you know you’re going to be expected to hit the ground running from day 1 so you can follow up with a question around support and/or autonomy in role – how much are you going to be able to shape the role into what you want it to be & how much guidance/line manager support can you expect vs what you require?

You’re there because you want a role but interviews are a two-way street so you need to know what you’re going into:

2)What challenges are the team currently facing and how do you see the person in this role helping to change that?

If they give you a lot of fluffy statements, truth is they probably don’t know what the problem really is or how to solve it. If they’ve got an idea about what the problem is but don’t know how to solve it, you can have a think about it on the way home and then when you send a “thanks for the interview” email you can add a paragraph about what you’d do in the role to solve the problem. Even if you can’t, it shows initiative. If they know what the problem is and have some ideas of how to fix it – you can spend your first weeks in role researching it, asking colleagues some questions about it, asking their advice and working out the right way forward. Basically you’re going to go in there with more than a “where are the fire-exits and toilets?” mentality, which means you’ll probably get a lot more done.

3)What would you consider the top priorities for this role?

This is a variation on the one above but now you’re learning what the hiring manager expects you to achieve early on and a sense of their management style. If they can’t give you a specific answer to this, they probably haven’t thought about what the role will really entail - you have to question how seriously they will take your professional development. In terms of management style you can work out if they’re a guiding kind of manager – they’ve got a sense of the priorities but want to see what you think; a manager that just wants you to put what they want into practice; or someone who really doesn’t know. You then have to work out if you could work for someone like that – do you like autonomy to shape a role; do you like a certain amount of guidance but want to figure it out or are you the kind of person who just likes putting other people’s ideas into practice? All have a valid place in the corporate world.

4)What do you think success looks like in this role?

This is another way of asking about managerial style, shows you’re eager to get started & looking to be successful. You’ll get a sense of what key performance indicators look like so you can think about how you would spend your first months in role. A variation of this question is “How will you measure performance in this role? Follow up questions include “is there a good feedback culture here?” (e.g. you may only have one performance review per year but you’ll find out informally through feedback how you’re doing) You don’t want to wait to mid-year to find out if you’re doing well or not or if they think you could be doing better!

5) Do you think I would fit well within the team?

You’re really asking them to visualise you as part of the team. Great follow up questions are “Could you tell me more about the people I’ll be working with?” From this, you may get an understanding of the types of personalities you’ll be dealing with and then you can see if you can work with them & create a rapport. Think how you might do this with people you may never meet face to face but speak to every day if it’s an international or cross-functional role. If you do get the job you’ve also got the classic ice-breaker “HM said you were brilliant at/liked/did xx could you show me how to yy?” Just make sure whatever HM said was positive.

6)What is the question you want to ask me but you haven’t yet?

This one is the clincher – it means you can address any further concerns they have about your application there and then. If they haven’t got any further questions, you’re probably in with a good chance of getting the job!.

Now remember you can only ask these questions when you get through the door so it's worth making sure that you don't make the same mistakes most people do with their CVs. Here are some top tips from a Google executive after reviewing 20,000 CV's!

1. Lack of formatting

Keep formatting clean and organised, using black ink on white paper with half-inch margins. 

Align columns and have consistent spacing. Make sure your name and contact info is on every page--not just the first. 

If sending your résumé by email or text, save it as a PDF to preserve your formatting--and your hard work.

2. Enclosing confidential information

If you're coming from a consulting firm, you probably can't share client names- so don't do so on your CV! 

3. Typos

According to a CareerBuilder survey, 58 percent of CV have typos. 

Pro Tip: Read your CV from bottom to top: Reversing the normal order helps you to focus on each line in isolation.

4. Too long

A good rule of thumb is one page of CV for every 10 years of work experience. Remember your CV is a tool to get you in the door for an interview not hired on the spot. Craft a concise and focused CV that prioritizes the most important information. Save the life story for later.

5. Lies

There are a lot of things you could lie about on a CV - work experience, college degrees, sales results. Putting a lie on your CV is never, ever, ever worth it. Everyone, up to and including CEOs, gets fired for this - just Google 'CEO fired for lying on résumé' and see for yourself. 

Hiring managers are looking for the best of the best--equip yourself with the right knowledge about the mistakes other people make and don’t make the same mistakes yourself.!

Source: https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/this-google-executive-reviewed-more-than-20000-resumes-he-found-these-5-stunning-mistakes-over-over.html?cid=nl029week31day31_2&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Inc%20Must%20Reads&position=1&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=31072019

If you enjoyed this article you may enjoy my other articles on various topics including: 

Personal Development:

• 47 Mondays: 10 lessons I've learnt on the BP Graduate Scheme
• From degree to BP: The things I wish I'd known before I started
• Is this my monkey?
• What’s hot? What’s not? What’s next?
• How to get out of the drama triangle 
• Losing talent - what I've learned so far
• 6 killer questions to ask at your next interview 

Marketing

• Why you should make a custom magazine part of your marketing strategy 
• When should salespeople give marketing feedback? 
• The top content tools marketers love and how to use them
• Top 5 FAQs on digital marketing 
• How to get the most out of my strategy focused workshops
• The 5 rules of content marketing

Reviews and Summaries

• Inside the Harpers Bazaar Visionary Women Summit
• Brad Sugars - Annoying salesman or world's best business coach?
• Stealing from the future

Emma Wilson is an accomplished senior marketing professional with broad retail marketing & global communication experience. She works with managing directors of SME's and marketing managers of larger companies as a trusted advisor and consultant. More free useful resources can be found on emari.co.uk