5 Questions You Want to Ask Interviewers (But Know You Shouldn’t)
Posted April 15, 2014 & filed under Interviewing
Your job interview isn’t like the Dating Game. The interviewer doesn’t sit on one side of a partition, rattling off questions until he or she figures you out. Both people are out in the open and questions can fly back and forth until you’ve both made your decision.
This doesn’t give you the license to glibly ask whatever comes to mind. Some questions can make a hiring manager leery of your intent. Others can sour a budding rapport. At worst, a bad question can even ruin your chances of getting hired.
Instead of asking the questions below, use these methods to get to the crux of your curiosity.
How much will I get paid? – Curious about salary? There is a time and a place to discuss how much you will be paid. The first interview is rarely that time.
If you fear wasting hours pursuing an underpaying job, you can use websites like Glassdoor.com, Salary.com, and Indeed.com to extract approximate figures. These websites list the going rate for your job title in any region, and can occasionally provide you with the salary range for employees in the very company of your dreams.
What benefits can I expect? – Everyone is dying to know the extra goodies tacked on to a job. However, you shouldn’t come right out and say it. Thankfully, with a little bit of searching, you can determine whether or not you’ll be given a benefits smorgasbord or just an after dinner mint.
Enough companies are forthcoming with employee benefits to make a quick search on their website worthwhile. If you don’t strike pay dirt, ask indirectly during the interview. Asking “what is your company culture like?” as opposed to “What benefits do you offer?” makes you sound far less shallow.
How quickly will I get promoted? – If your ambition is to rise through the ranks of a company you love, you don’t want to be caught on the ground floor with a broken elevator. Yet asking “Can I get a promotion?” is far too blunt.
Always make sure to frame your question this way: “What is the growth potential here?” It asks about promotions without making you sound to ravenous for them. And your interviewer will appreciate your desire to make a home with the company. It can be expensive to retrain because of high turnover.
In what ways do people criticize your company? – A job interview isn’t the appropriate venue to dredge up gossip and hearsay. Employers want to keep a positive atmosphere. It prevents workplace squabbles and rarely detracts from morale. Questions inquiring into negative rumors can place you in a tough spot.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be curious. You are about as eager to end up in a caustic office environment as that company is to hire an abrasive employee. Preliminary research can help you learn about the potential cons that come with working at a company. Of course, all disparaging remarks should be taken with a grain of salt. You need to compare the whole picture before you jump to conclusions. Companies would rather have you decline the position than force them to rehire a few months down the road.
Tell me about yourself – Even if an interview conversation takes on a lighthearted air, you still shouldn’t delve too far into personal details.
Keep the bulk of your personal life behind closed doors and respect your interviewer’s right to some privacy too. If the conversation comes up, keep it simple. Ask surface level questions that you could answer with a quick Google search (family, alma matter, etc.).
Ultimately, all you can do is wait with this one. Once you get the job, revelations may come in time but you never want to push your boss to reveal more than is comfortable.
by James Walsh
