Interview questions candidates should ask

Interview questions candidates should askInterview questions candidates should askThe questions you ask during an bewerberbewerbungsgesprch often determine whether you get the job.Weve all been there. Its the point in the job vorstellungsgesprch when youve answered every question thrown at you in a pointed, authoritative, relevant manner.Now, do you have any questions for me? the interviewer asks.This is the make-or-break moment of the interview, say experts, especially in a market with mora candidates than jobs. Its your chance to demonstrate your insight into the organization at which youre interviewing, your industry acumen, your communications and people skills, and your desire for the job.The worst thing you could do in an interview - other than passing gas - is to say, I dont have any questions - youve answered them all, said Mitch Beck, president of Crossroads Consulting, an executive search firm and employment agency. Who wants to work with somebody who doesnt have any in quiries about the company? It shows that you have no brains.Its your last chance to win over the interviewer, and this scenario puts pressure on the candidate to enter the interview prepared to ask thoughtful, focused questions of their own, said Cheryl Palmer, a certified executive career coach and the founder of Call to Career, a firm that provides C-level executives with career coaching and resume- writing services.Thats your last opportunity to really show to that employer, Yes, Im the best candidate for the job, Palmer said. I always advise people to do their homework and to work any information theyve gleaned from their research into their questions so that they really come across as well-prepared candidates.Good questionJ.B Bryant is president of Strategic Alignment Group, a management consultant that helps businesses identify their competitive advantage. He said job hunters should look at the questions they ask during an interview as their opportunity to create a distinct competitive advantage.Something has to set you apart, more so, maybe, in this economy, because the employers are churning through so many potential people, he said.A stahlkammer way to impress an interviewer is to know everything there is to know about the company, the industry and the interviewer themselvesKnow everything you can about a company before you interview, Beck said. Do a simple thing like Google the person you are going to interview with.The questions you bring to an interview help the employer determine whether you are a good fit for the company, but they also help determine whether the company is a good fit for you.Prospective employees may be tempted to take any job port in an economic storm, especially if they have been job hunting for an extended period of time, but a bad fit wont benefit anyone in the long run.I think its helpful for candidates being interviewed to come up with good, thoughtful questions that are going to accomplish two purposes, Palmer said. They need to be able to demonstrate to that potential boss that they have really thought about the job and have some good, probing questions. But they also need to ask questions that will help them determine whether or not this is going to work out.Beck went further, emphasizing that the interview is the prospective employers opportunity to convince you that the company will be a good fit for your needs. The interview is also a chance for the job seeker to turn the tables and get more information out of the employer.Remember that an interview is a two-way street, Beck said. You have to convince the person who is interviewing you that they need to hire you. But remember Youre not there to beg. They need to convince you just as much as you need to convince them.Accordingly, one of the most important questions to ask during an interview relates to expectations, Bryant said.In my experience, expectations are not communicated very clearly, he said. Most people - at every level - come in, a nd there seem to be an awful lot of assumptions being made, both on the new employee side and on the employer side. You hear people say that it takes six months to get integrated into a company and to really be productive. Well, it doesnt need to. If you dont ask anything else, find out what the expectations are.Bad questionWorse than silence are bad questions that a prospective employer can not answer demonstrate your ignorance or worse, offend the interviewer that it eliminates a job seeker from consideration.There are some questions that have always been taboo during an interview - rushing into questions about salary, for example. But have any questions become no-nos since the economic downturn? No, experts said. The rules are pretty much the same as always.The rules are the same - its just that ( the questions) count more than ever before, said Call to Careers Palmer. Thats not to say that it was OK to ask about salary ( during an interview) before and now its not. It simply m eans that everything is much more serious because of the competitiveness of the job market. So, things that an employer might have overlooked before are really, really going to be a big deal now because you have so many qualified candidates looking for the same position.Stay away from questions that arent going to help you any, said Crossroads Consultings Beck. Getting into somebodys personal life is really of no interest. Asking whether someone is pro- or anti-Obama is not a good question to ask. I would stay away from questions about salary. I would stay away from questions about benefits. You want to ask questions that are relevant to the job and to the opportunity that you are being presented with.Bryant said its important for prospective employees to use their intuition to help determine which questions will resonate positively with interviewers.You need to feel out the personality of the person youre interviewing with, said Bryant. Are you going to ask, Are there any disciplin e issues with my (potential) direct reports? before you even get the job? That might be seen as meddling. But, Where did my predecessor leave off? Thats perfectly acceptable to ask in an interview.