The 10 Questions to ask if you want to nail your next Job Interview.

You’ve breezed through your job interview and the end is almost in sight! The interviewer hits you with one final question “Do you have any questions for me?”. Your heart races, you scramble through your brain bank and come back with a defeated “Ahh no, no questions from me.” Womp womp womp – WRONG ANSWER. Interviewers expect you to have questions prepared for them.

Asking well-thought-out questions helps you to decide whether the job and company are the right fit for you – essentially you’re interviewing them just as much as they’re interviewing you! Through your nerves and the stress of the interview, it’s understandable to be completely overwhelmed and have nothing to say. To make it easier for you, we’ve made you a list of the 10 questions you need to ask in order to nail any job interview;

1: What is the team like?

The team you work with can make or break your work-life experience. Remember you’ll be working and interacting with these people daily, so it is important to identify whether the team dynamic suits you and your personal dynamic. Some teams are quiet and work autonomously whilst others might be loud and work collectively as a team. What dynamic are you most productive in?

2: What does a typical day in the job look like?

Knowing what a typical day looks like for any role will help you understand what you’ll actually be doing day in and day out. Knowing exactly what your daily responsibilities are will help you to figure out what the job actually is and if it’s what you expected when you applied.

3: What sort of person would do well in this job?

This is an important question because it will tell you what the employer is looking for in the successful candidate. This will give you the opportunity to see whether you’re a good match for them and also the focus of the role. They may say they’re looking for someone with a flair for design when you haven’t got a creative bone in your body. Once you have this information you can make the decision as to whether you’re a good fit or whether you should cut your losses and pursue other opportunities.

4: Why has this job become available?

Has someone quit? If so why? Did they get a promotion? Is the company expanding? Asking this question can tell you so much about the business, how they treat their staff and whether opportunities for growth exist.

5: What do you like most about working here?

While everyone is motivated by different things this will give you an insight into what inspires your interviewer and why they love coming into work each day. Asking this simple question will give you an insight into the perks of the business. The answers may also give you some tips on whether it sounds like a happy and healthy place to work or not.

6: How does the team fit within the organisation?

Are they a respected part of the business? How are they viewed internally? Finding out this information will tell you a lot about the challenges you may come across in the role and the company. Being part of a team who is constantly disregarded may mean that your ideas will not be heard and make it difficult to demonstrate your talents. This can also lead to frustration and low job satisfaction or lack of motivation.

7: What are the more difficult parts of the job?

In every job, there are parts that are difficult and challenging. Knowing the challenges before starting will give you the chance to either prepare for them in advance or give you the opportunity to counteract them. You may find that what one person sees as difficult you breeze through – although it never hurts to be prepared!

8: What is important to this organisation?

Do they value their staff? Their bottom line? Their environmental footprint? Knowing what motivates the company and their values will help you to decide whether your values are similar. You want to work for a company you are proud of, and sharing similar values makes this a heck of a lot easier.

9: What learning and development opportunities are available?

Does the business upskill their employees? Will you have the opportunity to grow in your role and learn new things? In order to remain happy in a job, it is important to find a company that makes developing their staff members a priority. This will allow you to grow in the role as well as in the company and ensure a long and happy career.

10: I want to leave this interview knowing I have done everything I can to convince you that I am the perfect fit for this job. Do you have any concerns or questions which I can address right now?

If you ask no other questions, ask this one! Be sure to leave it to the very end of the interview. This question can be the difference between nailing the interviewing and receiving a rejection email. This question gives the interviewer the final chance to discuss any minor reservations that you can quickly and easily diffuse.

This question will also indirectly emphasize your eagerness to start and demonstrate your willingness do whatever it takes.

Most importantly, when your interviewer asks the dreaded “Do you have any questions for me or about the job?” use this opportunity to find out as much about the company as you can so you can be sure that not only are you going to enjoy working and growing within this company, but also that the company feels the same about you.

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