What Can I Tell You About Working Here
A few years back at our CTO Summit, Kellan Elliott-McCrea gave an incredible talk on how Etsy grew their number of female engineers by 500% in one year So we werent surprised that his take on interviewing was similarly deep and insightful.
The former SVP of Eng at Blink Health and Etsy CTO finds that the fundamental model we use to interview within the tech industry is wrong. It assumes we’re panning a stream of high performing technical specialists for a few gems.This may have been true once upon a time, but it isn’t the world we live in anymore, says Elliott-McCrea. Software is a straightforward technical project, but a difficult social, cultural and operational one.
Heres his take on what interviewers should focus on instead:
Treating the interview as a collaboration to make sure that the role is a good fit is the first priority. Making sure the candidate has a positive experience is the second priority. Everything else is a nice-to-have.
How Many Questions Should I Ask In An Interview
You should prepare at least four to five solid questionsmore is great of course, but less can lead you down a dark path.
Why?
Because odds are some of your questions might be answered during the course of the interview and if you havent prepared enough, you run the risk of ending up at the end with nothing left to askand weve already covered how that looks.
Okay, Im readylets get started!
Before you run off and begin writing down your questions, remembertailor, tailor, tailor! Just like youve tailored all your responses so far, tailoring your questions only helps to reinforce the idea that youre the perfect candidate!
How do you do this? The same way you do for traditional and behavioral questions. Do your research. Find Qualities, and infuse them into your questions to ask. Heres an example of a question to ask with a Quality infused:
In my past role I was leaned on heavily to provide leadership to a team of individuals, which I felt was an area that I succeeded in. What are the main responsibilities I would have that would require an elite level of leadership and could you see my past experience as a team leader benefiting me?
Wow! If I were a hiring manager, I would be blown away by this question. The candidate is proving that they really care about the job and making sure theyre able to do their absolute best if they were hired.
What To Ask During A Job Interview
It’s your turn! As your job interview comes to a close, one of the final questions you may be asked is, “What can I answer for you?” Your interviewer will expect for you to have some questions.
Not asking any questions could make you seem unprepared or disinterested, so take the time to have some questions of your own ready to ask the hiring manager.
Plan ahead and have interview questions of your own ready to ask the interviewer.
You aren’t simply trying to get this jobyou are also interviewing the employer to assess whether this company and the position are a good fit for you.
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What Do You Like Least About Your Job
Tread carefully here! The last thing you want to do is let your answer devolve into a rant about how terrible your current company is or how much you hate your boss or that one coworker. The easiest way to handle this question with poise is to focus on an opportunity the role youre interviewing for offers that your current job doesnt. You can keep the conversation positive and emphasize why youre so excited about the job.
Read More:What Interviewers Really Want When They Ask, What Do You Like Least About Your Job?
+ Questions To Ask In A Job Interview
Job interviews should feel like a conversation, with two people asking and answering questions. You should follow the lead of your interviewer and prioritize giving them information about yourself, but know that interviewers expect you to ask questions, too. When you do, it shows that you have enthusiasm for and genuine interest in the job.
In this quick video, Indeed recruiter Linda gives examples of questions you can ask your interviewer.
Your opportunity to ask these questions typically comes at the end of the interview. Its a chance to learn more about the company culture, the challenges and opportunities the organization is facing, and what being in this job is really like.
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What’s Your Definition Of Hard Work
Some companies move at very different paces, projects that might be allocated a week at a large corporate might be expected in a few days time at a fast growing startup.
This question is a great way of telling you whether a candidate can keep pace with your team and fit in with your company’s definition of hard work.
Look out for the “hard worker in disguise”. A candidate who’s currently operating at half capacity at a slow moving company and is keen to, , ramp up.
How Many Questions Should You Ask In An Interview
You should ask four to six questions in your job interview. Ask a mix of questions about the position, the team and company, and the interview process and next steps.
As you move through your job interviews, think about each person youre speaking to and try to ask questions that theyre best-suited to answer, too.
Dont worry if youre not sure about this, but as an example, youd want to ask a CEO higher-level questions about the companys direction, strategy, growth.
Youd want to ask a recruiter about the basic duties of the job, the companys story, etc. And for the hiring manager who would be your future boss, youd want to ask about career path, training, what type of person they feel is the best fit for this role, etc.
Thats just a rough example, so dont stress too much over which questions to ask which person in your interview. Almost any interviewer can answer basic questions about role, team, career path, and hiring process, and if not, the interviewer can go ask and find out for you.
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The Best Questions To Ask At The End Of An Interview
At the end of every job interview, the interviewer will likely ask you if you have any questions for them. At this stage, the answer is always yes. You are expected to ask a few good questions before wrapping up the interview. Keep in mind the interview isn’t just about making your potential employer like you. It’s also about finding out if you like the company and if you’d be a good fit. By asking genuine questions, you’ll show the employer that you’re interested and you care about the job. Keep reading for 39 great questions to ask as well as some tips on things to avoid.
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If You Had A Million Dollars
If you were given a million dollars to start up a company, what would you do, who would you hire, and how would you make your company different from the competition?
This question allows the interviewee to showcase their abilities for strategic thinking and pushes the interviewee to think on their toes.
Gina Curtis, SHRM-CP, aPHR, Executive Recruiting Manager, JMJ Phillip Group
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Questions To Ask At The End Of A Job Interview
Nearly every interviewer provides you with the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the interview. It’s important that you’ve prepared at least two or three questions that express your interest, as well as show them that you’ve done your homework by researching the company in advance. Here are the top questions to ask at the end of your interview:
A Snail Is At The Bottom Of A 30
Questions like these have become a lot more popular in recent years. The interviewer isn’t necessarily looking for the right answer but instead a little insight into your reasoning abilities.
All you can do is talk through your logic as you try to solve the problem. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself if you get it wrong — sometimes the interviewer is merely trying to assess how you deal with failure.
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Good Questions To Ask At The End Of The Interview
As the interview winds down, or when the interviewer has indicated that the interview is ending, you need to ask these end-of-the-interview questions.
Tell the interviewer that you are very interested in the job and enthusiastic about joining the organization. Then, finish by asking these questions.
Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years
A job candidate who has professional drive and lofty career aspirations is valuable. Look for someone who is engaged in their career and has clear goals, and consider mentioning how your organization can help them achieve those objectives. Finding a prospect who is interested in career advancement and sees opportunity with your company increases the chances that theyll be happy in the long run.
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E Interview Questions For Managers
If youre hiring team leaders, you want to make sure they can answer well to the above types of interview questions. But, hiring for each managerial position will entail an additional set of questions specifically to judge the candidates management skills . Depending on the seniority of the managers role, there are different interview questions to ask managers:
- Whats your approach to delegating work to employees? How do you ensure that tasks are completed?
- How would you describe your management style?
- Tell me about a time you had to deal with a team member who constantly opposed your ideas. How did you handle it?
What Is Your Salary Expectation
Choose a salary range.
Rather than offering a set number of the salary you expect, provide the employer with a range in which youd like your salary to fall. Try to keep your range tight rather than very wide. For example, if you want to make $75,000 a year, a good range to offer would be $73,000 to $80,000.
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When Did You Make A Bad Decision
Tell me about the time when you had to make an independent decision, which ended up being the wrong one getting you in hot water with the boss?
This question tells me a lot about the candidates ego and whether they take responsibility for their actions or if they become really defensive.
Poor answers to this question include vague situations like:
Oh yes, I made independent decisions all the time, and some were right, some were wrong, but I cant remember exact details right this moment > Candidate has clearly never made any independent decisions.
I made a decision to start working with a new client, but I made a mistake and didnt sign the Terms and Conditions before accepting the work, which caused a lot of problems. I had a stern talk down from the manager, and since then, I insist that I am made aware of when Im doing something wrong because I dont know it otherwise > This particular answer simply shifts the blame onto someone else rather than taking responsibility for own actions.
Good answers:
I once had to take over the department while my manager was dealing with a personal issue. I was dealing with a lot of responsibility and made a huge accounting mistake. I realized the mistake and owned up to it. When the boss returned, I accepted the harsh criticism because it was my mistake after all. But since then, Ive made sure to triple-check everything to ensure the mistake never happens again.
Deeyana Angelo, Managing Director of Blahtech and
Interesting Questions To Know Your Interviewee Better
via: Pexels / Christina Morillo
It is very easy to stick to a script when you are interviewing people, but those interview questions only give you a small insight into the person.
When interviewing, you should ask some get to know you questions, so you can figure out if the person will fit in with your company and other employees.
Here are 7 interesting get to know you interview questions:
8. Tell me about yourself.
This is a basic question but can be very revealing.
9. Why should we hire you?
A question that always puts someone on the spot. Most candidates will have an answer for this.
via: Unsplash / Austin Distel
Money is obviously the most obvious motivator, but some people’s motivation might surprise you.
11. What are your skills?
They may not be Liam Nesson with a very particular set of skills, but the skills they do have will tell you a lot about them as a person.
12. How do you feel when someone criticizes your work?
Taking criticism is all part of learning and if they don’t respond well, they won’t learn much.
13. Who are your role models and mentors?
You never know. You both might have the same role models.
That’s such a coincidence. My role model is Tom Brady too!
14. What are your favorite industry websites, books or other resources?
This question will give you an idea of how much they’re interested in this area of work.
via: Unsplash / Andrew Neel
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Questions To Ask In An Interview: Final Thoughts
When youre thinking about questions to ask an interviewer, remember that your goal is to appear like someone who has done their research on the company, is enthusiastic about the position, and eager to get started.
You dont want to raise any red flags or sow seeds of doubt or negativity about your qualifications or professionalism.
To help avoid this, when it comes to questions to ask in an interview, you should not ask about salary and benefits just yet.
Wait until you are in the final steps of the interview process to negotiate your compensation package with the hiring manager or HR representative.
Now that you are prepared with strong questions to ask in an interview, dont forget to practice aloud to help build confidence when the big day rolls around.
Pamela Skillings
Chief Interview Coach
Pamela Skillings is co-founder of Big Interview. As one of the country’s top interview coaches, she has helped her clients land dream jobs at companies including Google, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan Chase
Tell Me About The Toughest Decision You Had To Make In The Last Six Months
The goal of this question is to evaluate the candidate’s reasoning ability, problem-solving skills, judgment, and possibly even willingness to take intelligent risks.
Having no answer is a definite warning sign. Everyone makes tough decisions, regardless of their position. My daughter worked part-time as a server at a local restaurant and made difficult decisions all the time — like the best way to deal with a regular customer whose behavior constituted borderline harassment.
A good answer proves you can make a difficult analytical or reasoning-based decision — for example, wading through reams of data to determine the best solution to a problem.
A great answer proves you can make a difficult interpersonal decision, or better yet a difficult data-driven decision that includes interpersonal considerations and ramifications.
Making decisions based on data is important, but almost every decision has an impact on people as well. The best candidates naturally weigh all sides of an issue, not just the business or human side exclusively.
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Best Interview Questions To Ask In 2021
You found our list of the best interview questions.
Interview questions are questions that employers ask to determine the best fit for a position among a pool of capable applicants. Because interviewers have a limited amount of time to evaluate candidates, recruiters select questions that elicit informative and comprehensive answers. Examples of standard interview questions include tell me about yourself, and what is your greatest accomplishment? but interviewers occasionally pose difficult or unique questions to test applicants critical thinking skills and creativity.
These questions can also serve as icebreaker questions in awkward meetings.
This article contains:
So, here is the list!
What Do You Plan To Do If
Every business faces a major challenge: technological changes, competitors entering the market, shifting economic trends. There’s rarely one of Warren Buffett’s moats protecting a small business.
So while some candidates may see your company as a stepping-stone, they still hope for growth and advancement. If they do eventually leave, they want it to be on their terms, not because you were forced out of business.
Say I’m interviewing for a position at your ski shop. Another store is opening less than a mile away: How do you plan to deal with the competition? Or you run a poultry farm : What will you do to deal with rising feed costs?
Great candidates don’t just want to know what you think they want to know what you plan to do — and how they will fit into those plans.
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Have You Applied For Any Other Positions
If the interviewee has been applying for other positions, is a good idea to see what types of positions they have applied for. Are the positions similar to your opening or totally different?
If you speak to a candidate who is applying for many different types of positions in many different fields it may give you an indication that the candidate does not really know what kind of job they want and are just seeing whats out there.
