The Good News About Interviews – Tip 7 of 10
Going to an interview can seem a daunting prospect, so here is this week’s tip that you can take to improve the probability of your career success.
Tip 7 of 10: Interview – Managing the Process – Questions to Ask
Check early in the interview how much time has been scheduled, you don’t want to be asking those final vital questions when the interviewer is already mentally elsewhere, or find that you have lost the chance to make some key points.
Prepare the list of questions you need to ask, distinguishing between those you need early answers to, to clarify what they are looking for, and more general ones which are designed to tell the interviewer something about you, such as your understanding of the sector and the role, your values or ambitions.
Ensure that you ask the need-clarifying questions during the course of the interview, as the answers will influence your approach, but keep a few of the others for the end. If you have several questions remaining, check how much time is available and prioritise if necessary.
Be careful how you word your questions, both during the interview and at the end. Avoid closed questions which can be answered yes or no; open questions allow the other person to discuss a topic in more general terms. Getting the interviewer to expand on a favourite topic is a good way to build rapport and will give you useful insights into their way of thinking.
Before the close of the interview you need to be clear on what happens next, the timescale and where you stand.
So performing well in the interview might not be as daunting as you first thought and may not require anything more than a fresh perspective and way of looking at it. It sounds simple and it is, it’s just not always easy, especially when trying to do it alone.