Questions to ask at interview

cazziebo

I've seen a few posts about what questions interviewees should have up their sleeves for the interviewer. I read this article this morning and thought it might be helpful. You will have to "de-Americanize" it but some ideas here

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/5-questions-great-job-candidates-ask-interviewers.html

InsideInsurance

Number 4 is a very odd one to ask in my opinion but there are plenty of others such as biggest challenges in the role, challenges the team/ department are facing

These sorts of questions are good as it gives you an opportunity to add detail after - so with the challenges you can go on to say how you've dealt with such challenges before, with the top performers question you can confirm how you have all those traits too etc.

The ones to avoid are the ones about pay, breaks, holidays, drinking sessions etc which give the wrong impression

MissSarah1972

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Number 4 is a very odd one to ask in my opinion but there are plenty of others such as biggest challenges in the role, challenges the team/ department are facing

These sorts of questions are good as it gives you an opportunity to add detail after - so with the challenges you can go on to say how you've dealt with such challenges before, with the top performers question you can confirm how you have all those traits too etc.

The ones to avoid are the ones about pay, breaks, holidays, drinking sessions etc which give the wrong impression

yeah - What do employees do in their spare time?

Very odd thing to ask. How would the interviewer know that?

I don't think these questions fit all jobs.

I ask more roll related things like systems used, structure of the team, how long people have been there, what their experience is, if they have kpi's, when is their accounts year end and audit, who are their auditors, who the biggest customer is or supplier......etc.

Loubell83

I always ask about career progression, structure etc.

However, my friend who interviews people for a big company said the best question she was ever asked by someone she was interviewing was "What would a typical working day be like?" She said it was different from the usual questions asked and caught her attention.

MissSarah1972

Loubell83 wrote: »

I always ask about career progression, structure etc.

However, my friend who interviews people for a big company said the best question she was ever asked by someone she was interviewing was "What would a typical working day be like?" She said it was different from the usual questions asked and caught her attention.

Sometimes they don't know as interviewers as they could be HR and HR do not know much to be fair. Had an interview many years ago and it was with the HR Director (didn't know he wasn't in finance till I got there) and asked him what accounts system did the company use, to which the reply came 'I don't know, you will have to ask that if you get a 2nd interview'

InsideInsurance

Loubell83 wrote: »

the best question she was ever asked by someone she was interviewing was "What would a typical working day be like?"

These things always need to be tailored to the role/ grade applied for.

If anyone asked me that I would be exceptionally worried but then I only recruit people with experience so I'd expect a process engineer or business analyst etc to know what their day involves. Obviously the question is more relevant for someone looking to move into a totally new role or a very junior role.

MissSarah1972

InsideInsurance wrote: »

These things always need to be tailored to the role/ grade applied for.

If anyone asked me that I would be exceptionally worried but then I only recruit people with experience so I'd expect a process engineer or business analyst etc to know what their day involves. Obviously the question is more relevant for someone looking to move into a totally new role or a very junior role.

I agree - sometimes there is no typical day.

Wyndham

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

Sometimes they don't know as interviewers as they could be HR and HR do not know much to be fair. Had an interview many years ago and it was with the HR Director (didn't know he wasn't in finance till I got there) and asked him what accounts system did the company use, to which the reply came 'I don't know, you will have to ask that if you get a 2nd interview'

So, I have to ask... did you get a second interview?

MissSarah1972

Wyndham wrote: »

So, I have to ask... did you get a second interview?

Of course not.

ohreally

MissSarah1972 wrote: »

and HR do not know much to be fair.

Sounds about right.

morganedge

Loubell83 wrote: »

I always ask about career progression, structure etc.

However, my friend who interviews people for a big company said the best question she was ever asked by someone she was interviewing was "What would a typical working day be like?" She said it was different from the usual questions asked and caught her attention.

That's interesting, because I am awful as job interviews. Painfully so.
But ''what would a typical working day be like'' in the only question I usually ask. It's the only thing I can think of.
Other questions like asking about suppliers etc all seem so fake and pointless to me. I don't care who their suppliers are. I know they know that I don't care. It doesn't affect me. You ask it to try to feign interest.
I ask things that actually affect me and that I actually want to know.