Interviews Are a Two-Way Street: How to Ask Questions Too
An interview is your best opportunity to make sure you don’t step into a minefield if you get an offer. Unfortunately, most of us spend all this time just answering questions. It should be a two-way street. Here’s how to take control and make sure there is really traffic on your side of the street.
It’s easy to get nervous when preparing for a job interview. Each tip and article suggests that you must answer each question correctly, prepare for what may be asked of you, and make sure your body language is sending the right signals. Just thinking about it can be nervous. It’s easy to forget that an interview is a two-way job: not only is your employer testing you, but you have to figure out if the job is right for you. Just like a hiring manager leaves and decides if you are a candidate for their job, you need to decide if this company, this manager, or this team is someone you want to spend 40+ hours with every week. for the next few years of your life. Here are some real-world ways to prepare and use this limited interview time wisely.
Brace yourself, but it’s enough to build confidence.
You probably know that you should prepare for your interview by pondering the questions you will be asked . This is doubly suited for interviews with skill-based components like coding or job trading, where you will need to validate some of your knowledge. Getting ready is good, and you should definitely tell a few stories that really showcase your experience and skills. Once you understand this, stop practicing.
Seriously. Don’t overdo it trying to come up with a standard answer to every possible question you might have. As with most things in life, you will do better if you are confident but not arrogant. Remind yourself that your resume and skills did not catch the attention of this company for nothing. Think about how proud you are of your accomplishments – be it a college degree, professional certifications, work history, or the good work you’ve done up to this point in your career. Remember, the company you are interviewing for is also interested in you , and this is very important. Bring that confidence to your interview. The feeling that you are an active participant in the conversation, empowered, during the interview puts you in an advantageous position. You will be ready to interrupt and ask for clarification, interrupt the conversation, ask questions, and generally become an active participant.
This attitude is hard to come by, and while it’s natural for some, it’s extremely difficult for others to reinforce it. If you have any problems, try doing a mock interview with a friend . It’s also important to read your interviewer (or interviewers) and their reactions to your confidence or your humility and adjust accordingly. What you and your friends think is confident may seem arrogant to someone. You must be able to adapt. Pay attention to body language and non-verbal cues, and you’ll know when to loosen the reins and let the interviewer take over, and when you can step in and direct the conversation yourself.
Use every opportunity for conversation, not just to answer questions
One of the most important but often overlooked interview tips is the simplest: make sure your interview is a conversation, not an interrogation. Whenever you are asked a question, answer, but take the opportunity to ask about the job or why you think they are asking. For example, if someone asks you about your level of SQL proficiency, answer them directly and clearly, and then ask the question, “Are you guys a big SQL store, or do you also use other database software?” This, of course, answers the question, but it also expresses an interest in the company and in what they (and presumably you would) do. Not only will this help you look good, but it will also give you some valuable information that you can use to decide if you want to work in this place.
The Get Rich Slow section has some great examples of questions to ask in a conversation. For example, when you hear things like “schedules are flexible” (a good time to ask “how is this handled or approved? Does anyone on this team have flexible schedules?”) Or “have some trips” (good time to ask : “Where was the last time someone left? How long did they stay in this area?”). The more you can make your interview information useful, the more rapport you will have with your interviewers, the more likely you will leave a good impression, and the more informed you will be when you leave. You will be sure you left a good impression and answered their questions well, but you will also really understand what is expected of you at work. This is also important: the more you communicate, the more natural the conversation becomes when you start, not if you get a job. You probably know this feeling: your conversation consists of things like “these are the people you will work with” and “this is what you will do” instead of “this is our team” and “this is what we do … … »It is always a good sign that you have made a good impression and fit well with the interviewer.
Ask questions whenever you can, instead of waiting until “do you have questions for me?”
Likewise, the best interviews – the ones you know you got after you left – leave you confident and informed. You should leave knowing what the hiring manager wants, what the team is, and ideally what your workday will be like and what tools you will use for your job. Don’t wait until the last few minutes when you are about to be walked out and you get the courtesy, “So you have questions for me?” to get this clarity. If you try your best and don’t get answers, or you never got a chance to get your questions answered, this job may not be for you. Sometimes follow-up interviews or follow-up calls give you the opportunity to get answers to additional questions, but if you did not have the opportunity (or the interviewer did not have the information or desire) to get answers to your own questions, this is probably not the case. not where you want to work.
Don’t get hung up on the “right way” or “secret methods”: you’ve all heard them all before
Finally, in the same vein as when trying to answer questions like “What’s your biggest weakness” with answers like “I’m a perfectionist” (which, by the way, everyone is wise, so don’t try ) don’t fall for “secret interview tips “or” tricks to finish the interview. ” They are a dime a dozen, and while I’m sure we’ve shared some of them here and there, the truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all method to nail down interviews. Don’t clutter your mind with too many “gimmicks” and don’t get hung up on the “correct” answers to every question. Instead, look forward to a good conversation. Do enough research ahead of time so you have something to talk about and don’t ask obvious questions and be prepared for random weird questions, but don’t get hung up on articles full of “X crazy interview questions you won’t believe” or “Y secrets. that can kill interviews. “
In fact, the only real “secret” to nailing down an interview is to make sure it’s a good conversation between all parties. Even that may not be enough to get you a job offer. This may not convince you that you want to work here. Some of the best, most informative, and funniest interviews I’ve done turned out to be places where I actually decided not to work. Don’t get caught up in the notion that an interview means you have to go to a bad job because you got an offer or because you can’t get another interview. After all, if you have to be a completely different person or rely on gimmicks to do well in a job interview, you probably won’t be happy when you land a job and suddenly have to start being yourself.
When people say a job interview should be a two-way street, they mean it, but you have to make sure you actually sit in the driver’s seat and take control of the conversation. Of course, don’t be arrogant, but be sure. You too have an important decision to make. Finally, don’t let yourself walk away from the interview hoping that everything went well without even knowing if it was right – as if the interview just happened to you , and not something you were actively involved in . If this is how you feel after the interview, this job may not be for you anyway.