Page 170 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

FEEDBACK QUESTIONS

Maybe the interviewer raised the objection that your last
salary was too high. Or that your experience is in a different
industry. Or that you don’t have a certain certification. Now,
you can’t do anything about those facts. What you can do
is to show that taking a pay cut is not a big issue, that your
experience actually has crossover relevance, that your track
record shows you are someone who contributes quickly. For
example:

• When you raise that question, I understand that your expe-
rience is that employees who take a pay cut have morale
problems. Let me suggest why that won’t be a problem for
me. . . .

• When you raise the issue about my experience, I under-
stand your hesitation to be that I don’t have the right kind
of experience to hit the ground running. Do I have that
right?

• When you raise the issue about my lack of certification, I
understand that you want to be sure the person you put in
this job is someone who will contribute quickly. Isn’t that it?

The goal, of course, is to refocus the conversation away from
the problem (the objection) and toward the solution (the can-
didate’s positive qualities) that really address the hiring prob-
lem that the interviewer is trying to solve.

T: Test to be sure you’ve addressed the concern. Don’t
assume that by redirecting the conversation, the concern is
gone. Ask a testing question to be sure. Here are a few exam-
ples of what I mean by testing language:

• If I can demonstrate to you how I created value in an
industry new to me even when I had no specific experi-
ence in that industry, would that help alleviate your hesita-
tion about hiring me?

• If I could show that I could contribute quickly, even when
learning new information, would that help?

• If I could show you that I work well under pressure, might
that ease your concern somewhat?

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