Page 60 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

WHEN TO QUESTION

INTERVIEWER: Thank you for coming. Can I get you a cup of
coffee?

CANDIDATE: No, thank you. Perhaps later. (Leaving the door open
softens the refusal to accept the interviewer’s hospitality. Avoid
anything that might spill. Also you will need your hands free
for taking notes on the important information you are about to
receive.)

INTERVIEWER: Well, then, make yourself comfortable. Can you tell
me about yourself?

CANDIDATE: I’ll be glad to. But first, may I ask a question? (Always
ask permission.)

INTERVIEWER: Of course. (You will never be refused. The inter-
viewer is now curious about what you are going to ask.)

CANDIDATE: My question is this: By what criteria will you select the
person for this job?

INTERVIEWER: That’s a good question.

CANDIDATE: Is it all right if I take notes? (Always ask permission.)

INTERVIEWER: Of course. Now, let me see. I think the first criterion
is . . .

Now listen. When the interviewer is done reviewing the first crite-
rion, ask about the second. Then the third. Pretty soon you will have
a list of the interviewer’s hot buttons, a recipe for the ideal candidate
for the job. Your challenge is to underscore how your credentials and
experience just happen to fall in perfect alignment with those very
criteria.

Let’s back up a minute. Notice what else you have accomplished
by asking this marvelous question. You have seized control of the
interview. Suddenly the interviewer is working according to an
agenda that serves both parties. The question—By what criteria will
you select the person for this job?—is designed to put you in the driv-
er’s seat. Take a close look at how the question parses:

• By what criteria. This part of the question focuses the discussion
where it belongs—on the job and its requirements, rather than
your education, experience, age, gender, and so forth. What the

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