Page 184 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

BID-FOR-ACTION QUESTIONS

optional. If you don’t ask for the job in the interview, you probably
won’t get it. The employer wants you to be able to close the sale. Why
should the employer give you a chance selling his or her product or
service when you can’t even sell yourself? Remember, the job of a
sales representative is to ask for the order and to close the deal, not
just make a nice presentation.

The following bid-for-action questions give you some wordings to
ask for the job with varying degrees of directness. Each one of the
questions can serve as a proactive close to the main part of the inter-
view. Each of these questions has been field-tested and, in the right
circumstances, has been shown to work. In other cases, the ques-
tions may backfire. The risk is that the interviewer may regard you as
cheeky or insolent. Study the situation well and tread lightly.

• I really want this job. Am I going to get it?
• I think I earned this job. When am I going to receive an offer?
• Did I get the job?
• I’d like to start right away. When can we get the paperwork out of

the way?

CREATING A SENSE OF URGENCY

If you want to push the interviewer for a decision, you can apply
some subtle pressure by using one of the questions below. You will
create a sense of urgency that might prompt the interviewer to come
back with an offer quicker than he or she might have. But it also
introduces a lot of risk. The interviewer may feel pressured or even
bullied. Do it only when you can afford to lose—if you in fact have
other offers in the bank or you are comfortably employed. These
four closes put a little heat on the interviewer:

• I have other offers pending that afford me tremendous potential.
But I like what I see here, and I know I’m the right person for you.
If you agree, can we talk turkey?

• Is there anything I have said that indicates I am not the perfect
candidate for this job?

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