What’s the Best Question to Ask at the End of an Interview?

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Answering a Facebook follower’s question, I offer the best question to ask at the end of an interview

I’ve referred to the single Best question you should ask on any interview and I did a Google hangout about it some time ago.The image isn’t all that good (it was 1 of my 1st hangouts) so I decide to we do that video here.

What is the single best question you should ask on any interview and when should you ask?  Real simple.  Let me start off with what the typical interview seems like.  It starts with them going, “Tell me about yourself.”  Then you do.  And then you play interview karate for a while.  They throw up a question that you that feels like a punch and you have to block it away.   They throw another one about you and you have to use I a hip check to throw them over your shoulder. Back and forth and back and forth..

If you are in a profession where there in-depth questions that could be asked, they will get to that  until finally they will say, “So, do you have any questions for us?”  You say, “Tell me about the job..”   They do that..  You do that and say, “That’s interesting!”  They say, “Great!  Will get back to you.”  That’s the typical interview.

Let me tell you what the single Best question is and when to ask it.  You walk in and sit down and as you lower your butt into the chair. Before they have a chance to speak, you say, “I appreciate that you made time to meet with me today.  I reviewed the position description and it was really interesting to me.  But I want to get your take on the job.  Could you tell me about the position as you see it and what I can do to help?”

BOING!

What that does is, instead of waiting until the end of the interview to ask them about the job, you do it at the beginning of the interview before they get role in.  You do that because, at the end of the interview, there is really nothing that you can do with that information.  But sometimes, even if you see the job description, they’ve often changed it a little bit, Your thoughts have morphed, they start looking at it differently and they’ve never changed the formal requirements.  So even if you got this description from a recruiter, it may be slightly different or even wrong.

Thus by asking this question, “I took a look at the job description, and was really interesting to me,, but I want to get your take on the job.  Could you tell me about the position as you see it and what I can do to help you?”  You get the information at the beginning when you can use it.  Thus, every time they are asking you a question, you want to tailor your answer to what matters to them and not just talk about what you’ve done, but talk about what you’ve done that relates to what they are looking for from you.

This gives you a huge advantage over your competition which is sitting there like lumps waiting until the end to ask about the job.  Now, you get this information at the beginning when you can use it.

Ah!  There is one small problem.  Now that you can’t ask about the job at the end, you need to be prepared with questions to replace the one about the job, right?   Here’s what you do.

When they ask you, “So, do you have any questions for us here,”  you say, “The job seems great to me.  I’m really interested.   I do have a few questions.  Is my 1st question: let’s say I join, what would your expectations be, what would I be doing over the 1st 30, 60  and 90 days after I join?”

If you find out there are unreasonable expectations, isn’t it better for you to know before you join?  That’s one question you can ask.

Here’s the 2nd one that I have also shared in another video and podcast.  “Let’s say I join and it is a year from now.  I have just done a good job, It’s been the best, or at least 1 of the best you have seen someone perform.  What I’ve accomplished during that year that would cause you to write such a review?”

BOING!

Right off the bat, It lets them know that you are interested in doing great work, not average work.  Again, it’s giving them an idea of you AND it’s giving you the idea of what you are going to be doing over that 1st year that would cause you to be an extraordinary employee.

It’s a great question.  I hope you like it.  I hope you use these in your interviews.

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ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ careers easier. Those things can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 3200 episodes. 

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