‘I should’ve asked more questions’ is probably the one question you don’t want to be asking yourself after you’ve had a job interview.
Interviews are not just about your potential employer finding about you and whether you are capable of the role. It’s just as much your opportunity to find out about the company and why you would want to work there.
Plus, asking questions shows that you are interested, intelligent and motivated about your career, which will help make you stand out!
We asked our Programmed Professionals experts to share the questions that they always recommend candidates ask in an interview.
Why has the position become available?
This question will give you a huge amount of insight into the role and the company. If it’s a newly created role, it means that you will be able to carve out your own space. If it is to replace someone, why did they leave? The reason provided will give you clues about possible challenges in the role (i.e. high staff turnover, difficult stakeholders, etc.), as well as the organisational culture and career path (i.e. the previous person might have been promoted).
What can you tell me about the team and environment that I’ll be working in?
WA Recruitment Consultant Maria Plaza said that this is an important one because it helps establish clear expectations about what your potential workday will look like and who you are going to be spending your time with. ‘We spend a big part of our life at work so we want to make sure it is an environment where we want to be or could see ourselves in before we start. Often employers won’t think of sharing this detail because they are too focused on finding out your skills and analyzing your personality so this may get missed in their interview.’
What do you see in my skills/experience that would add the most value to your team/business?
SA Principal Consultant Michael Walters recommends asking this question as early as you can as it allows you to respond more succinctly to interview objectives. It highlights the areas of your CV that you should spend the most time talking to and the successes you had in those roles/delivering those skills.
What does the career path for this role look like?
This question helps you find out if the company offers a structured career path and if that career path aligns with your professional goals, it can help you work out whether you could see yourself with the company long-term. Michael also adds that asking this question ‘exhibits a healthy measure of confidence in the candidate’s ability to meet the objectives of the role, as long as it is delivered respectfully of course.’
What KPI’s will I be required to meet/how will I be measured?
Regional Manager Teresa Romanovsky said that understanding how you will be measured is critical to knowing whether you can meet the expectations of the role. If any of those KPIs are areas where you have specific experience, skills or knowledge about, it’s a good time to bring them up! It also helps to identify what training gaps you may have and whether you need additional training to be productive in the role as early as possible.
Who are the key stakeholders that I will be working with, both internally and externally?
This question should be asked to gain a good indication about the types of people, departments and seniority of people that you will be working with, as well as identify whether you will have just internal stakeholders or will also have external stakeholders to manage. Their answer will give you a sense of the level of communication they will require and the impact their role will have on the business.
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