Job Search Tips: Q3 – Questions for the Interviewer
Intro | Q1: You | Q2: Company | Q3: Interviewer
Assessing how well the job and company fit your needs, skills, and interests
Use the interview opportunity to learn more about the organization, and see if the position or company meets your needs. Prepare about four to five questions focused on the job and the organization itself. Save questions about salary, benefits, or overtime until the employer actually makes you an offer.
- What are the major responsibilities for this position?
- Are there any changes expected in the responsibilities of this job?
- What organizational changes do you anticipate?
- What personal qualities would you expect the successful candidate to possess?
- What are the greatest challenges facing the person in this position?
- What are prospects of future growth and expansion of the company/organization?Are there opportunities for advancement within the organization?
- What new products/services is your organization thinking of implementing?
- Why is this position open?
- Who would I be interacting with the most in this position?
- How does this position fit in with the structure of the organization?
- Do you have an employee training program?
- When can I expect to know your decision?
Think of questions to which you genuinely want to know the answers. What additional information excluded from the job description might be helpful in deciding if this is the position you want?
Remember that interviews are a two way interaction and the goal is for both you and the employer to determine if you or the position is the best match.
Just as the interviewer should gain enough information from you to determine if you are the most suitable person for the position, you should also be able to glean enough information to decide if the position is something you want.
By preparing throroughly for the questions in a job interview, you’ll be one step closer to impressing the employer and finding out if it’s your dream job after all.
Re-read Job Search Tips… Intro | Q1 | Q2 | Q3
Justine endured over 25 job interviews in her co-op internship program as a student and is quite happy to take a break from interviewing while she works in her current job, writing for this website. Principles were compiled and rewritten from handouts collected from the Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development, the Simon Fraser University Student Employment Centre and personal experience.