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Questions To Ask Employers (When You’re Interviewing For A Job)

June 3rd, 2010 | By Rob Kelly | Category: Career Advice | Tags: , ,

2 Comments

A friend of mine asked for my career advice the other day as he was preparing to interview for a job — I told him: turn the tables on your employer and ask THEM all the questions.

You may recall from A Simple 4-Step Approach on How To Sell Better (SPIN Selling), that I agree with the SPIN Selling approach in which you ask lots of questions to close a deal.

And this applies to a job interview in which you’re interviewing THEM as much as they are interviewing you.

Note: “Closing” the deal can include you closing it “out” (as in you don’t want to pursue the position)).

So, I rattled off these ideas of…

Questions To Ask Employers

Big-Picture Questions To Ask Employers

  • Does the company have a purpose statement or mission statement?
  • Does the company have a set of company values — if yes, may I see a list of them?
  • What are the company’s greatest challenges right now?
  • What are the company’s main priorities right now?
  • How is the company structure organized (e.g. is it by department or by brand (with each brand having its own departments)?
  • Who are the shareholders/owners of the company? (Do any of them work at the company?)
  • What’s the “secret sauce” to how you make money (or create value)?

Performance, Compensation & Benefits Questions To Ask Employers

  • How are priorities set? (e.g. within your group)
  • Are there performance reviews? If yes, how often?
  • How does compensation work — is it just salary? Is there potential to earn bonuses or equity?
  • What’s the company’s approach to its employees having families (how does maternity work?)?

Questions To Ask Employers That Related To Just You

  • Who would my manager be and who do they report to?
  • What is the company’s room for moving up the corporate latter?
  • Are there any training opportunities I could potentially take advantage of?

I’ll add other questions to ask employers as I think of them…feel free to do the same in the comments section.

If you ask a lot of questions, and listen carefully, you’ll be in better shape to size up the job opportunity.

2 Comments

  • Frank Falkenburg

    Rob….as you know I have been on the hunt for gainful employment since the winding up of my business…this is actually the first time in my 45 years of life that i can recall having to do formal interviews.

    But, if you are looking for high paying work you gotta play the game and my interview skills at the outset were less than stellar.

    Of course I sat and talked with you and just watching your style and manner of “drilling” down into lines of question and organizing conversations was beyond helpful for me and in trying to emulate your calm analytical style I really learned a lot.

    Now before every interview and conversation which may lead to an interview I review this simple article…it helps me calm myself, organize my thoughts and I truly believe that my interview skills have improved immensely as a result.

    No matter what happens with my job search I already come away from these conversations with a great sense of self satisfaction and improved confidence that I have presented my best self and that is a good feeling.

    Thank you for taking the time to work with me and to put this simple reminder down in writing…Frank

  • http://www.robdkelly.com/about/ Rob Kelly

    Thanks for the kind words on me and my job interview questions, Frank.

    It’s easy to have meetings with evolved professionals like you. I’m looking forward to your next venture!




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