Questions to ask interviewer

Gael23

Theres probably loads of threads on this but its late and I can find them!
At the end of the interview when an interviewer says have you any questions for me, what should you say?
Job is a Graduate Accounting role

PanBrian

ryanf1 wrote: »

Theres probably loads of threads on this but its late and I can find them!
At the end of the interview when an interviewer says have you any questions for me, what should you say?
Job is a Graduate Accounting role

• What are the biggest short- and long-term issues I would need to focus on in this position?
• What would I need to focus on differently than the previous person in this position?
• What organizational issues should I be aware of?

IEG

- What is a typical day like
- Ask about training, buddy program if they have one
- Who are reporting too
- What might be the initial challenges

Mr. Loverman

I hate these threads, sorry.

Obviously the questions you ask are the concerns you have about the job or any unanswered questions you have.

If everything has been answered during the interview, you tell them your questions were already answered during the interview.

If the HR person is too thick to understand this (a real possibility), you don't want to work for that company.

Boskowski

Read a really good one on this very forum recently. Will use that myself in the future.

Ask them whether they like it here, is it a nice company to be working for.

jethrothe2nd

Boskowski wrote: »

Read a really good one on this very forum recently. Will use that myself in the future.

Ask them whether they like it here, is it a nice company to be working for.

Really? I have to say I would not view that as an appropriate question to ask at the end of an interview, and I am not entirely sure what would be achieved by asking it. You really think the interviewer is going to say 'no, it's a **** place to work and I hate coming into work every day?'

If they haven't already been answered in the interview, I would be asking things like

What kind of career progression opportunities are there
What do you see as the main challenges within the role
Are there any education and training opportunities

Boskowski

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

Really? I have to say I would not view that as an appropriate question to ask at the end of an interview, and I am not entirely sure what would be achieved by asking it. You really think the interviewer is going to say 'no, it's a **** place to work and I hate coming into work every day?'

If they haven't already been answered in the interview, I would be asking things like

What kind of career progression opportunities are there
What do you see as the main challenges within the role
Are there any education and training opportunities

You never gonna get honest answers no matter what you ask. It's more about how you handle/assert yourself in that reversed role. I think it's a great question which may throw them off a bit and allows you to gauge a reaction. It also shows you're not doing it straight out of the interview handbook. It will only be deemed inappropriate by people I probably wouldn't want to work for in the first place.

Gael23

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

If everything has been answered during the interview, you tell them your questions were already answered during the interview.

If the HR person is too thick to understand this (a real possibility), you don't want to work for that company.

Alot of the companies I have had interviews with do not have a dedicated HR department so its just been with a director and a senior manager.
I have been in situations where questions I had prepared were answered during the interview but I just feel saying you dont have any to ask demonstrates a lack of interest in the Job.

Mr. Loverman

ryanf1 wrote: »

Alot of the companies I have had interviews with do not have a dedicated HR department so its just been with a director and a senior manager.
I have been in situations where questions I had prepared were answered during the interview but I just feel saying you dont have any to ask demonstrates a lack of interest in the Job.

I understand where you are coming from, but interviews don't really work that way.

Within a few minutes I know if the person is suitable for the job, so by the time it gets to the end of the interview, if they say confidently "You answered all my questions during the interview, so I'm grand" I would have no problem with that.

Think about the process:

If I've called you for interview, that means I already think you probably have the skills to work in my department.

The purpose of the interview is to see:

a) is your CV bull**** (20%)
b) do I like you (30%)
c) do I want you on my team (50%)

So if I feel you are a nice person who will be easy to manage, by the end of the interview I've already made up my mind. I always ask if you have any questions, but just out of a courtesy. It's not some silly trick. If you have no questions, that's grand.

I obviously don't represent all managers though. If you are really worried, memorize a bunch of questions.

SJ.

Is there anything that I have said that would give you concerns about my ability to do the job, or is there anything that you were looking for that I have not demonstrated as well as you would like?

superelliptic

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

Really? I have to say I would not view that as an appropriate question to ask at the end of an interview, and I am not entirely sure what would be achieved by asking it. You really think the interviewer is going to say 'no, it's a **** place to work and I hate coming into work every day?'

If they haven't already been answered in the interview, I would be asking things like

What kind of career progression opportunities are there
What do you see as the main challenges within the role
Are there any education and training opportunities

It is'nt an inappropriate question, it just depends on the way you ask it.

OP, Don't ask the interviewer "Do you like working here" instead ask "Can you tell me a bit about the culture here". That's intervieweese for tell me what the people are like to work with. You can also drill down into this by asking how would they describe the team culture within the accounting/IT/HR/whatever department generally which is a nice diplomatic way of asking 'whats the possibility that I may be working with d1ckheads here?'.

Good words to hear in response to this question;
they are 'Inclusive'
they 'get along well together'
anything that hints that the team are mates as well as colleagues.
they are 'Mentoring' or 'Supportive'
the company/team will 'sponsor training'
We think you are a 'Cultural Fit' (Meaning they think you'd get on with the others on the team or in the office generally).

Mr. Loverman

It's kind of funny: asking if it's a nice place to work is probably the most important question

I always ask... and try to get them to tell me if it's disorganised (score) or run by psychos (run away).

IEG

I think it's not a good idea to say- it's ok you have answered everything (even if I have). Asking us about the career opportunities, educational scheme etc shows that you have a genuine long term interest in the company

Tramps Like Us

I had an interview recently and while I had questions to ask I asked them during the interview rather than at the end (interview was not as formal as some I've had), interview went really well but at the end I panicked when they asked if I had any more questions and asked about the salary, is this really such a big no no? Tbh I felt the question went down fairly well and the interviewer went off into a big explanation of the pay, commission, saying it was comparable to other jobs etc was nearly like she was making excuses for the relatively low pay and trying to sell me the job

I was happy with the interview but when I was talking about it after i got looks of horror when I said I asked about the pay so I'm a bit worried now. I asked other intelligent questions and answered the competency questions really well, can asking about salary really screw it all up? (Note I had to do and pass an aptitude test to get the interview)

Gael23

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

I had an interview recently and while I had questions to ask I asked them during the interview rather than at the end (interview was not as formal as some I've had), interview went really well but at the end I panicked when they asked if I had any more questions and asked about the salary, is this really such a big no no? Tbh I felt the question went down fairly well and the interviewer went off into a big explanation of the pay, commission, saying it was comparable to other jobs etc was nearly like she was making excuses for the relatively low pay and trying to sell me the job

I was happy with the interview but when I was talking about it after i got looks of horror when I said I asked about the pay so I'm a bit worried now. I asked other intelligent questions and answered the competency questions really well, can asking about salary really screw it all up? (Note I had to do and pass an aptitude test to get the interview)

It's the one question you should never,ever ask. Obviously she answered if you asked but it's not an appropriate question

Tramps Like Us

ryanf1 wrote: »

It's the one question you should never,ever ask. Obviously she answered if you asked but it's not an appropriate question

Why? When should you ask? If I'm leaving another job for it And interviewing for several others I kinda need to know what the salary is. One of the guys I was talking to didn't find out till his first paycheck which seems ridiculous to me

Gael23

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

Why? When should you ask? If I'm leaving another job for it And interviewing for several others I kinda need to know what the salary is. One of the guys I was talking to didn't find out till his first paycheck which seems ridiculous to me

Any advice I was given was under no circumstances mention salary at interview stage. When your contract it will tell you and if you really want to know then I would think its ok to ask when you get offered the job but never in an interview.

IEG

Tramps Like Us wrote: »

Why? When should you ask? If I'm leaving another job for it And interviewing for several others I kinda need to know what the salary is. One of the guys I was talking to didn't find out till his first paycheck which seems ridiculous to me

That is ridiculous and stupid too. And I actually dont see how that happened either- when he was first contacted about the job- did he not ask or did the employer not tell him? Or wheh he got his contract- was the salaru not there? Just even roughly 30-40k or something?

There no point doing that and its complete waste of time too- what if you dont tell the candidate about the salary, spend time conducting 2-3 rounds of interview, get an offer and then realise that its 15k lower than you current salary? Complete time waste.

If you are going through agency, it is absolutely ok to talk about money. Especially if it is a sale job! I would find it extremely weird if someone going for a sales job didnt ask me about salary,commission and bonus- lack of interest in money tells me he is a bad sales exec. A good one first of all asks me about money before going any further at all. You want to see a sales rep who raves about being the no 1 on his team, he will tell you without you asking how much he made last,. how he bet his targets etc- even as you talk and regardless of whether he wants to go for the job or not- he will try to sell himself.

If you are interviewing with employer- obviously dont let that be the first question you ask, if its not brought up in first round. Then by second round interview, make sure you ask.

Tramps Like Us

IEG wrote: »

That is ridiculous and stupid too. And I actually dont see how that happened either- when he was first contacted about the job- did he not ask or did the employer not tell him? Or wheh he got his contract- was the salaru not there? Just even roughly 30-40k or something?

There no point doing that and its complete waste of time too- what if you dont tell the candidate about the salary, spend time conducting 2-3 rounds of interview, get an offer and then realise that its 15k lower than you current salary? Complete time waste.

If you are going through agency, it is absolutely ok to talk about money. Especially if it is a sale job! I would find it extremely weird if someone going for a sales job didnt ask me about salary,commission and bonus- lack of interest in money tells me he is a bad sales exec. A good one first of all asks me about money before going any further at all. You want to see a sales rep who raves about being the no 1 on his team, he will tell you without you asking how much he made last,. how he bet his targets etc- even as you talk and regardless of whether he wants to go for the job or not- he will try to sell himself.

If you are interviewing with employer- obviously dont let that be the first question you ask, if its not brought up in first round. Then by second round interview, make sure you ask.

He didn't ask and wasn't told - he didnt mention the contract but he said to me he didnt know till his first payslip, I imagine he just signed the contract without reading it.


I asked about the interview process and if there was a second round of interviews they said no that its just this one (I imagine with the aptitude test they whittled the numbers down quite a bit) so then I asked a few other questions about the training, exams etc and then lastly about the pay...

The interview was for a sales job and was with the employer. You reckon it was ok for me to ask?

I dont understand why employers aren't upfront about it, as you say it would save a lot of time.

Panda_Turtle

Ask them a stupid question that they might ask from time to time, like:

What kind of animal would you be?

Gael23

So far i've just been asking things like what accountancy qualification would I be doing? How many jobs are available? and When will I hear back from you?

Third interview with 3 different firms done now and only one rejection so hopefully one will lead to a second round interview