Page 67 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

THE RULES OF THE GAME

On the other hand, if the candidate answers yes, the interviewer
continues:

What is your impression of what it is we do?

The interviewer’s interest is clear. “I want to see if the candidate can
articulate the information about our company and the job,” she says.
Her reasons for asking are twofold. First, she wants some feedback
on how effectively the company’s recruiting materials are working.
But even more important, she believes that a candidate who has
taken the time to thoroughly study the recruiting materials demon-
strates real interest in the job, while one who has not is a poor risk.
“If candidates want to work at this company, I insist that they dem-
onstrate at least a basic understanding of what the company does.”

START WITH THE COMPANY’S WEBSITE

In the age of the Internet, there is absolutely no excuse for you not
to have excellent information about a company. All companies have
websites. If a company doesn’t have a Web presence in this day and
age, I would be hesitant to even consider sending an application.
Access to websites is free and available twenty-four hours a day. You
can access websites from any computer connected to the Internet as
well as mobile devices such as smartphones. If you don’t have access
to a personal computer, go to the library or an Internet café. Log on
to the company’s website to find all the information you could want
to frame thoughtful and impressive questions. “If a candidate can’t
spend fifteen minutes on my company’s website,” one interviewer
told me, “it immediately tells me that they are, at best, not serious
and, at worst, just plain clueless.”

A company’s website also gives you good clues about whether the
organization is growing or struggling. For large companies, websites
can be intimidating. Some corporate sites are pretty complicated
affairs, with literally tens of thousands of places to hide information.
So if you are lost, look for a feature called “Site Map.” This feature
gives visitors a high-level look at where information may be found
on the site. It’s like the store directory you find in a shopping mall.
Finally, most websites have a search function. Click on the search

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