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Interview Questions
February 5, 2002
One of your primary goals as a Jobhunter is to get to the Interviewing stage. At this point the abilities of the remaining Job Candidates, at least theoretically, shouldn't be too disparate. Most hires occur at this stage because of the chemistry between the Employer and Employee during the Interview process. And one of the most important components of the Interview is when the tables are turned, and your Interviewer turns to you and says, "Do you have any Questions?" Hopefully by this time you have impressed your Interviewer with a good sense of your relevant Job skills. And perhaps you have developed a decent rapport with them as well. While many career counselors and Jobhunting experts suggest it is taboo to ask about pay, I think the point is over-dramatized. Any reasonable person would expect rate of pay, health benefits, and what comprises your workweek to be vitally important topics. To pointedly ignore them diminishes the honesty of your relationship with someone who may become your immediate supervisor and mentor at work. Similarly, it is rude to walk into an Interview with the attitude that 'you're lucky to get me', and I'm not working for any less than X amount. But by the end of the Interview you should feel comfortable in asking questions like these: Will this position provide a salary similar to my last position? Why is this position vacant? Do you foresee this Job involving significant amounts of overtime or work on weekends? How will my work here be evaluated, and at what intervals? How long have you worked here, and what position did you start with? Does this firm focus on promoting from within? If I excel at the tasks I'm given, where might I be within the company in five years? There are no right and wrong answers here. It all depends on the personality of the Interviewer, and how you feel you are relating to them at the moment. It may be take several Interviews before you develop a knack for this, so discretion is probably the better part of valor. Interviewers have to sit through a lot of Employee wannabes blowing hot air (and saying all the 'right' things), so one way to stand out in their mind is by NOT playing the game by a strict set of rules. If you come across as too formulaic you may leave a bad taste in their mouth, or equally disastrous, no taste (or memory of you) at all.
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