Interview Question: Do you have any questions?

You’ve probably been doing great since the beginning of the interview- your CV is impressive, you dressed appropriately, you have the confident smile, maintained eye contact, your responses are precise and accurate… and just as you are about winding up, your interviewer asks- ‘’do you have any question?

More often than not, the first thing that comes to mind is “No”, but it’s not a good response in a job interview. This is because interviewers don’t like to feel they bore their candidates and the “No” response grows that impression. Even though you might not want the interview to stretch a minute further, your interviewers shouldn’t get that signal from you.

Another wrong approach to this question is asking irrelevant questions like “is lunch usually served here?” or “will I have a Company car to myself if I get the job?” You might be thinking there’s no harm in asking this type of questions; besides, the interview is unofficially over, right? Wrong! Your interview starts from when you step your foot on the Company ground till the time you move out of its premises… everything you do or say within that time matters, even more important while you are being interviewed. Your words reflect your thought and your potential employers are able to determine your level of interest in the job by carefully listening to you. It’s only safe to assume all questions posed by the interviewer are relevant, no matter how silly or unimportant they may sound to you.

That said, so how do you ace interviews with questions?

You do so by asking the right questions- questions that connect with your potential employer’s problems, fears, goals and achievements.

With the right questions, your interviewer is even more impressed knowing you lookout for the progress of the Organisation, s/he feels important to know somebody cares- just like you would if a person you met for the first time asked about your latest achievements-, s/he will most likely conclude you’ll be valuable to the Company and it ultimately increases your chances of getting that job.

Here are some of the questions you can ask in a job interview:

1. What’s the biggest change this Company has gone through and how has it affected the Company’s progress?
2. How does this role contribute to the progress of this Company, what are the things I can do to achieve the Company’s set goals?
3. What challenge is the Company presently facing?
4. This Company has shown an outstanding record in the past few months, how can this role help sustain it?
5. What’s your biggest worry for the Company these days?
6. Who are the role models in this Company and what are their responsibilities?
7. What are the key accomplishments you’d like to see in this role by the end of the year?
8. I understand there might be days we’d have to work extra hours or during weekends, does the Company fix days like this on a monthly basis or it depends on the project/task being handled at the particular moment?
9. Does this Company organise occasional trainings or workshops for its employees?
10. How does this Company relate with competitors and who’s your strongest competitor?
11. When should I get back in touch with you?