Smart Questions is knowing how to ask smart questions to make our conversation partner reveal insights or inner feelings that he/she might not have told us at first, or to help build good relationships during conversations by inviting conversation, thinking, exchanging perspectives and information, etc.
For example, when it comes to job interviews, most people, when they know they are going to a job interview, do some research on the company and speculate on questions that might be asked in the interview, along with finding answers that they think will help them get the job. However, what most people don’t prepare for is when the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for us?”
This question will occur at the end of the job interview because it is the time when the interviewer gives us the opportunity to ask him about things we are curious about or want to know. But the point is that many people do not ask anything at all, even though some people may want to know about some things but do not know whether they should ask or not? Or do not know how to ask questions? So let the job interview end with lingering doubts.
In this article, we will learn the principles of Smart Questions to use in job interviews. We will understand how to respond when faced with the question “Do you have any questions for our company?”, what kind of questions to ask and what kind to avoid, and more.
2 goals we must reach by asking questions
Our first goal is to use these questions to help us determine whether this opportunity is right for us. We can then evaluate the organization and decide for ourselves whether we really want to work there. But asking questions doesn’t end there. Asking questions also helps us to prove whether we are the best person for the job. Our second goal is to prove ourselves to be a good fit for this opportunity. And if we don’t already have a list of questions in our notebook or on our phone, we should start doing that now so that we can find the questions that are most suitable for us.
“Ask questions in a clever way and tailor them to suit you best.”
The way or language we use in asking questions is very important. Instead of using generic language, we need to show that the questions we use are really relevant to us. For example, instead of asking “What is a typical day like?”, we need to ask “What would it be like to work in this position?” This question helps the employer to see us in a possible role in the job. This is a great psychological trick because once they imagine you working there, it is very difficult to shake off this image.
“The key is to make this part of the interview feel like an ongoing conversation.”
We need to handle what happens during the interview well. Asking questions that create an opportunity for conversation will allow both us and the interviewer to build on the conversation so that both parties feel that it is a good conversation. For example, we might talk about the job description that the interviewer asked us about during the interview, and how we should follow up on that project if we get the job, how is the progress of that project? Or what are the responsibilities that we don’t see in the job description?
Here are some examples of question types, called Smart Questions, that we can choose to use to suit the situation and adjust it to be most suitable for us in a job interview, as follows:
Job Specific Questions
- What does the company or organization expect from us in this role?
- What are the most important things we should accomplish in the first 90 days?
- How is performance evaluation done here, and how often will we be evaluated in the beginning?
- What are the indicators or success factors that will be used to evaluate our performance?
- What is the most urgent project we need to do?
- How long before we have the opportunity to meet clients, or have work that is within our own responsibilities, or start working with other departments?
Questions about the team
- What kind of skills is the team lacking and what is the company or organization looking for in this recruitment?
- What is the biggest challenge we might face in this position?
- Does your company or organization think that your key responsibilities in this position will change in the next 6 months?
- Can you tell us a little bit about the team you had to work with?
- Who do we have to work with most closely? Which departments or units do we have to work with?
- What are the team’s strengths and what are the challenges they are facing?
Questions about the potential of the leader
If our interviewer is our boss, we should ask these questions even more.
- How long have you (boss) worked for this company?
- How long have you been working in this position?
- Which part of the job do you like the most here?
Questions about organizations or companies
Avoid and do not ask questions that we can easily find the answer to on Google. Because those questions are in the category of questions that should not be asked. And if asked, it will show that we did not do our homework and did not prepare for the job interview.
- What goals is the company or organization currently focused on, and how is the team working to achieve them?
- What excites you most about the future of the company?
- How would you describe your organization’s values?
- What changes has the organization made since last year?
- What are the organization’s plans for growth or development?
Questions about corporate culture
We should also prepare questions about the company culture because during the interview, it may be difficult for the interviewer to tell us what the company culture is like. And we may want to know if the company or organization is unacceptable or has a toxic culture. We can access the company culture without having to ask directly because “questions help us to find unexpected parts about the potential of our new workplace.”
- In general, how do you work with other employees?
- If the position requires working in a different location, such as in another province, ask specifically how remote employees will integrate into the company culture.
- What do new employees usually find exciting after starting work?
- Is there anything we should read before starting work that will help us understand or be able to work with other colleagues?
- What corporate tradition do you like most?
- What activities do you and your team do during lunch breaks?
- How have you collaborated with other departments or teams?
- How is working here different from other places you have worked before?
- How has the organization changed since you joined?
Questions about professionalism, this career path, and future opportunities
This question is an analysis to understand the career growth and development that we are looking for from this job because we want to make sure that we will get an interesting job, not just change jobs and have to do the same old work. We should also understand and look at the various paths that we can go in this organization.
- How will we have opportunities to learn and develop from working in this role?
- How has the team we will be working with grown professionally?
- Can you give me an example of a career that started from this department?
- What are the common career paths for this position?
- How are employees typically promoted?
- Where will successful employees move to?
Questions to close a conversation
- Is there anything else I should know that I haven’t asked you about?
- Would you like me to prepare anything else for your consideration?
- Is there anything else I should explain about my qualifications?
- What is the hiring process like after the interview?
Questions we should avoid
- What is the starting salary here?
- What kind of life or health insurance do they offer here?
- What is the organization’s paid leave policy?
We should avoid questions about salary and benefits in an interview because we are not in a position to negotiate anything yet. In the first interview, we are still stepping into a place that we do not know very well. There is always time to negotiate compensation if we can make him believe us and choose us. We should also avoid questions that seem to be intended to end the conversation by creating an agreement, such as, in conclusion, did I get the job or not?
Conclusion
Asking questions before ending a job interview with this principle is one of the methods that we should not miss. It is both an opportunity to prove ourselves and find out whether the position or organization we applied for is really right for us or not. In this article, the admin has compiled a list of questions recommended by experts and categorized them to make it easier to understand. Which can make us know the potential of the executives as well as the organization’s culture.
Every time we have the opportunity to go to an interview, we can choose one question that is related to us, our interests, and the career that we are applying for. Write it down on paper or write it down on our phone. We can use it in the job interview. However, in asking the questions that we have prepared, we must also consider the interviewer’s time. If your interview is scheduled to last about 1 hour, you should use the last 5 minutes to choose the questions that we have written down. It doesn’t have to be too much, maybe just 2-3 questions that we think are the most important to us. This will make it easier for us to get the job that we want.
Reference:
38 Smart Questions to Ask in a Job Interview
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