Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

By Zebriod (c) 2007

Always go to any interview with prepared questions to ask. Always ask questions; the quality of your questions is as important as how you answer questions!

-What do you consider ideal background and experience for this position? If you get an opportunity early ask this question, it sets you up to correctly answer all following questions.

Prepare questions in these 3 categories:

Questions about the job / opportunity
Questions about the company
Questions about the interviewer


Sample Questions:
-What would you expect me to achieve in the first 6 months?
-Is there anything I can tell you about my qualifications that I haven’t said yet?
-What are the principal challenges I would face in this job?
-What results would you like me to produce?
-Based on what I’ve told you, don’t you think I could deliver all you need in this position? (Closing Question)
-What goals do you have for the territory in the next 12 months? What do you think it will take to get the territory to those numbers?
- Is this a new/existing/revised job? If it's new/revised, why was it created?
-What are the principal challenges facing your staff right now?
- Where does this position fit within the company's structure?
-Can you give me more detail about the position's responsibilities?
- With whom does a person in this position interact?
- Is there an opportunity for growth and advancement? If so, what other career opportunities might be open to me here?

-What future plans does the company have?
-What are the challenges the company is facing?
-What's the culture like? What are the values?
-How would you describe the atmosphere of this department?

-How long have you been with the company?
- What has your career path been?
-Are there any concerns you have about me filling the position? (Closing Question)
-Can I count on your recommendation for the next step? (Closing Question)
-For initial interviews: Where do we go from here? Can we set that up right now? (Closing Question)
-For final interviews: Where do we go from here? When can I start? (Closing Question)