Page 191 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

THE QUESTION LIFE CYCLE

human resource management at San Francisco State University. The
following are the types of questions that the most confident candi-
dates routinely ask, according to Sullivan.

“Even if you aren’t a superstar (yet), it’s important to be skep-
tical because recruiters and hiring managers, on occasion, make
jobs appear better than they really are,” Sullivan says. “You need
an accurate job preview, and it takes hard questions to your future
manager to get it. The hiring manager’s ability and willingness to
answer these tough questions should be a major factor in your deci-
sion to accept an offer.”

There’s no reason why you cannot act like a superstar and put
some of these questions in your portfolio. Who knows? Maybe if you
act like a superstar, they will treat you like one.

THE COMPANY

13-1
Would you like to hear what I could do to really help your department/
team/company?
If you want the job then this is a great question to ask around where
you estimate the middle of the interview to be. Don’t ask it at the
beginning, because you haven’t learned enough to help anyone. Don’t
ask it at the end, because you need lots of time to follow up. All inter-
viewers will perk up at such a question and invite you to continue.
Drawing on what you have learned in the interview, you can give a
short, specific pitch on your idea to help the company be successful
and, most of all, help the interviewer meet his or her personal goals.
Emphasize the specific benefits your approach will bring. Don’t be
too specific. You want them to need you to implement the approach.
When you are finished, ask something like, “How does that sound?”

13-2
What’s your company’s “killer application”? What percentage of the
market share does it have? Will I be working on it?
Every company has a core product that often generates the lion’s
share of the revenues. If that’s where you want to be, make sure that’s
where you will be placed.

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