Interview ?
 

OK any advice for people out there interviewing about questions. I know I went on an interview today that I think went great, but they asked if I had any questions and I said no. Its like if I think of anything they answer it before I can ask so Im always left with nothing.

I always feel bad cause I think you should ask something, but I never have a clue what.

Any tips on interview questions to ask and any ?'s anyone can think of even when it seems they answered it all.

Also what are your thoughts on thank you emails? I want to send one saying thanks for the interview but also say I really want this job without sounding desperate?

I always run into the problem of them answering the questions I would have before I ask them too. So I have a question that I always fall back on, because I have always been told that you should ask something, or else you could come off seeming like you're not interested. I ask something like, "What is your favorite thing about working for this company?" That puts a personal spin on it, and it helps because you know how some people love to talk about themselves. You're also finding out, from their perspective, what's so great about working there.

Re: Interview ?
 

Not sure about the thank you emails. I think note cards are better.

uck, don't send an email. Send a thank you card or a note on nice stationary. Always send it as close to the interview as possible so it gets there quickly. Thank yous are VERY important

Just don't send it on floral paper. Or irreglar sized paper. Above all, suppress the urge to spray the letter with perfume.

LOL.

Re: Interview ?
 

1) It's bad you didn't ask questions. I am assuming you want me to be honest. In the future come up with something specific to them and not a stupid question like how many vacation days or do people love their jobs.

2) I always sent thank you emails. Be very quick and very short. Most places are not fond of thank yous because they have to sit there opening them and all that crap. You want to get your message there ASAP so do it with email or it will be too late. Don't make it lengthy, or you will annoy the employer.

3) Check out vault.com or wetfeet.com

-Rudey

Thanks for the advice everyone. In terms of thank yous, I dont like to send them through email, but this is the only way I could.

My interview for office manager was at a coffee shop because the place I am interviewing for is still being built. They only have dry wall up at the office building and it isnt ready to be moved into for a month Im told. I only had their email addresses of the two people I interviewed with so as soon as I came home I sent out a thank you to both of them.

I did receive a email back saying thanks for the note, they also said they are in the process of finishing up the rest of the interviews and will let me know. I was told too that they enjoyed meeting with me. They kept complimenting me on my resume and experience and answers I gave to their questions. I really hope they meant that and were as impressed as they said. Hopefully Ill hear back and get the job.

As far as not asking any questions, I do feel bad about it because I always try to come up with something to ask, but I mean I literally drew a blank. They told me all about them, why they chose their field, where they were from, what they have degrees in, where they live, also all about the position, the benefits, the pay, the duties, programs Id use, the people Id hire, I mean everything, they asked me certain things about my resume and about myself and even told me why they wanted to start this new place. It was so hard to come up with something. Between the two of them I practically know their life stories and without asking personal questions I wouldnt know what to ask. They told me on the phone and in the interview how impressed with my experience and resume they were so Im hoping mine is better than anyone else they interview. One of the gentlemen told me how when he read my resume he felt like I wrote it with a smile and now that hes met me he knew I had to cause I have a wonderful personality and smile all the time. They then said I was a interviewers dream lol. I hope that means I did good. I hate getting my hopes up and then they pick someone more qualified or something........

Oh well Im keeping my fingers crossed.

As for the interview questions I need to think of something to always ask at any interview...

Trust me, email is the way to go so you did good on that.

Next time come up with something...I mean the questions are the closer. When you bust out info on a particular office on a particular client they've worked on they get impressed. When you ask what they dislike about their job...eh...but better than nothing.

I always like to write 2 or 3 questions down on a piece of paper while researching the company. Just keep them on you and memorize them.

We have all been disappointed about not getting jobs. It comes with the whole territory. We've all been fantastic candidates who they can't wait to have on board and then gotten a rejection. But you can't let it hold you back :)

-Rudey

I found it a lot harder to come up with questions when I had less professional experience. I've eventually gotten better at it. All you have to do is listen for holes when listing your potential job responsibilities and ask for further details.
I wouldn't worry about it too much. Sometimes they really do cover everything for you. I've not asked any questions and still gotten the job before anyway.

OK, call me crazy, but what if you were just honest with them and said, "Wow, I had all of these questions about the company and you guys did such a thorough job, you answered them all! Thank you so much for anticipating my questions!" (I mean, not verbatim, but you know what I'm saying)

Also, I had heard that e-mail thank yous are only appropriate if you know that the hiring decision will be made within the time it would take for a written thank you to arrive in the mail. For some jobs, I've even heard that it's better to go ahead and attempt to hand-deliver.

I totally disagree with Rudy regarding e-mail. E-mail is definately NOT the way to go. It makes the interviewee look lazy. As someone who hires, I don't mind getting resumes via e-mail, but I really hate when the people I interview send me a thank you by e-mail. It's about as tacky as getting an e-mail birthday card. Shows no thought and effort... and leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth for the person who I interviewed. Makes me think he or she will be lazy on the job.

If at all possible, I would recommend you follow up your e-mail thank you with a snail mail thank you.

As far as questions... the best thing to do is to research the company and ask a few general facts about it. Such as, "I heard xxxx Enterprises is expanding to Europe. What is the long term growth plan for the company?" or xxxx Enterprises is adding a new product. How else is the company changing?" or "I read about xxx Enterprises in the news and see that the company is changing its advertising agency. How will that effect it's marketing plan?" The questions you ask depend on what you find out about the company.

It shows you were interested enough in the company to check them out. A little googling goes a long way!

That totally depends on the interviewer and the HR department. I could name at least 5 who I have talked to who DO NOT like to get snail mail thank-you's, for the reasons Rudey noted. A lot of HR and hiring people are extremely busy, and don't want to sit reading thank-you notes or opening cards that will just end up in the trash anyway. A short email can do wonders.

Just to make it clear, I am not in the HR department of my company. However, I do hire-- along with my other duties.

I am extremely busy at work, which is why I rarely take phone calls. However, I do appreciate a snail mail thank you. It isn't as if we get mail-bags full of thank-yous! In fact, sad to say, very few people send any type of thank you's at all. Those that do, definately get the edge.

I can't imagine anyone not appreciating a hand-written thank you note. I have never, ever heard of anyone looking down on a hand written note.

If time is of the essence, then yes, I would send an e-mail thank you.. but I would ALWAYS follow it up with a hand-written note.

Not to hijack this and turn it into a thread on the differences between sexes, but I wonder if this is a case where hand-written thank yous are more appreciated by women and emailed thank yous are more appreciated by men. ??

I remember my mom harping on me about writing thank you notes any time anyone sent me anything. But, with my brother, she wasn't so insistent. From conversations I've had with other women who have brothers, my mom wasn't the only one who did this.

So, I guess my point is, generally, women value a hand-written note while men see any kind of thank you as, "Wow, they said thanks for the interview. Hmm."

You mentioned that one of the interviewers was male... were both of them? If so, then (according to my theory, anyway) you don't have to worry about the email. If the other person was a woman, look out! ;)

My aunt used to get PISSED at me when I didn't send a thank-you card for birthday presents, etc (even when I was little & could barely write), but she never said anything about my male cousin when he didn't. I think there's some truth to that.

I think it depends on the family and your circle of friends and associates, rather than gender. I don't think we (my family and friends) expect them from each other.

You know.. you bring up a very good point. I never thought of it from that perspective. I would still recommend that one cover themselves with a hand-written note.

I was always taught to send hand-written thank you notes for gifts. I wouldn't say it is a man/woman thing as far as that goes. To this day I continue the practice.

However, I still don't think it is needed or necessary after an interview.

Well, it's necessary if you interview with me! ;)

It definitely makes a difference with me, too!

I used to work for a Fortune top 10 where the HR department told all of the interns in a round table discussion that if it didn't arrive electronically it got thrown away unopened. They also threw away the cover letter without reading (takes too much time). This was also the kind of company you couldn't send a letter to anyone in the building without their mailcode and good luck getting that - most people didn't even know theirs.

I hire people all of the time although I'm not in HR. My preferred method of communication in all things is e-mail. I do not give preference on how the thank you comes, and truthfully I only care about the person's work ethic and qualifications. If I liked you in the interview you get the job whether you send a thank you or not. I have way too much going on to not hire a seemingly good employee based on whether I get a thank you card from them or not... Maybe this makes me more like the men in business, I don't know.

Just adding to this-- email is ok, but hand dropping a thank you note the next day is even better.

Also, if you find yourself coming up blank, this is definitely a problem. Write a list of questions that you need to have answered in the course of a first interview. Read Ron Fry's 101 Interview Questions Book. It will help a lot.

You should be doing most of the talking in an interview, but not every interviewer is so skilled-- they may spend more time trying to sell you on their company and not so much time learning about you! If you're struggling for questions at the end, you can ask things like "Tell me about the corporate culture" and "What brought you here to XYZ?" "What has your career been like?"

Your thank you can be along the lines of (take this loosely and put it in your own voice.)
DATE

Dear NAME,

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me yesterday to discuss the available BLANK position. I enjoyed speaking with you and I'm extremely interested in working for COMPANY. If you require any additional information or references, please feel free to contact me at PHONE or EMAIL. Thank you again. I'm very excited about the next step!

Have a wonderful day!
Sincerely,
Your name here

It is not "Cheesy" or "wrong" to affirm or reaffirm your interest. Real enthusiasm goes a long way!

just to add..
 

martin yates' KNOCK EM DEAD is also a great resource. whenever you are interviewing it is always best to do your research. look at org/company websites, specifically look at any and all information about the department you could be working on. you can develop questions to ask from there. it shows that you are interested in the company. if you know who you you will be interviewing with, do some research on that person. i just interviewed with an org and they were impressed by my interest in one of their articles written several months ago.

additionally you should always ask things like the start date for position, what would be the first assignments, why did the last person leave the position, benchmarks for rating performance and what are the 5 important personality traits for success in the position.

i just recently did 2 e-mail thank yous. i include some 'selling points' to remind the interviwer why i am the best person for the job. i did this before and the interviewers were impressed. unfortunately they hired within. i do prefer hand notes, however, what i include is rather lengthy and i dont want to risk jacking up my handwriting. i tend to send notes after the second interview.

I havent been on here in sooooo long. They blocked greekchat from work. Anyways, I want to say thank you for all of the advice and the good wishes. Its been a while I know, but I did get that job. She took her sweet time thats for sure, but she picked me out of all the canidates she interviewed. I waited a month to get a call from her.

I started the end of May I believe and went through a ton of Ohio licensing tests and classes to get my license for the State of Ohio. We got a brand new office and were able to start working slowly from it the end of July. We officially opened August 1st and have been going strong since.

I love my boss, she is the same age so its a challenge sometimes when you want to treat each other as friends, but she is great. She is very open and very easy going.

My only problem is my co-worker. We hired a lady who worked for a different agent the end of July and because she knows what shes doing somewhat and I am still new, she walks all over me.

Yesterday, we had a meeting, our weekly meeting, and she basically did all she could to make me look bad for stuff I didnt do because noone ever went over I had to do those tasks. They dont train you with someone when you start, they throw you in and you learn. She just does all she can to belittle me all the time and whenever I stick up for myself she runs to the boss and says I dont respect her and the fact she worked part time for another agent. I have to just remain calm at work and then go home and tell my husband because if I tell the boss she hates when people dont get along and I dont want to be the one who complains and when I talk to her face to face, the other employee, she runs to the boss and says Im disrespectful to her when Im not. No win situation lol.

I just am going to do my job 110%. Thats all I can do. I do love my job and my boss. I wish I could just get a grea tall around job, not always have some psycho team member lol.

Congrat's on your new job! Do you think your co-worker sees you as a threat and may be trying to keep you "in your place?" Have you spoken to your boss about your concerns?

For your own protection, keep a little notebook in your purse and keep a diary of everything that goes on.. write down whenever you did something great at work.. and write down whatever this woman does or says that belittles you. Save any relevent memos.

Hopefully, you'll never have to use this diary, but if things turn worse and she tries to get you ousted, you'll have evidence to support your case with times and dates.

I always ask the following questions:

How long has this position been open?
Why is it open?
What can you tell me about the most successful person that has held this position?
What can you tell me about the least succcessful person that has held this position?
What is your company turnover rate?
How long have YOU been with the company? (If it's less than 6 months, then you can disregard the answers to all of the above).
What did YOU do before you came to this company? (This will tell you if the person you are interviewing with is even qualfied for the job which is very important if this will be your new boss).
If I am hired, will you be one of my managers? (If it's not a recruiter).

Any manager or recruiter that cannot answer the first 4 questions, that sends up a red flag for me.

These are GREAT questions, RTL! There's nothing worse than when you ask a prospective employee if he/she has any questions, and they say "no." It makes them look like they aren't that interested. It also gives the impression that the person is not a "go getter."

If I may add to that advice... see if you can come up with one or two questions that show you've done your homework about the company. Just save the benefits and salary questions until the interviewer brings them up.

Maybe this is a partial hijack, but in response to your questions, what is a high turnover rate vs. low turnover rate?

My company has a 20% turnover rate, but it seems like it should be higher (normally people last a year or less), so I'm just wondering what a high vs. low turnover rate should be.

PS-Our turnover rate is not high because it's a bad company... it's because the job requires lifestyle-type changes that people either love or hate.

In my experience, when they start listing benefits, that is a VERY good sign...

When I've been asked if I have any questions at the end of the interview, I usually ask, "If I were hired for this role, what would be the first task you would want me to accomplish?"

Sometimes the interviewer talks a lot about the role itself and the actual tasks involved. In that case, I might say something to the effect of, "You've explained a lot about the role and I feel confident that my skills and experience would be a good fit for the task. Since we spend so much of our time at the office, can you tell me a little bit about the office culture here at XYZ Company? How would you describe the office 'personality'?"


Of course, I kind of have to go with what CarolinaDG said earlier. If the interviewer(s) cover everything you could have possibly asked, then I would just go ahead, be honest, and say something like what CarolinaDG suggested: "Wow, I had all of these questions about the company and you guys did such a thorough job, you answered them all! Thank you so much for anticipating my questions!"

.....Kelly :)

How do you answer the "What are one of your weaknesses?" question? I always want to try to put a positive spin on it but feel like I don't quite accomplish that.

I absolutely hate hypothetical questions.

From an interviewer's point of view, this is just a bad question. But, unfortunately, it still is being asked.. alot. So.. here are a few suggestions.

A good strategy is to present yourself as someone who is constantly taking steps to improve. Find something that you truly are weak at, but is not required for the job-- for example-- public speaking. If this is something that you know you wouldn't need to do in the job, you could say, "I get nervous talking in front of crowds, but I'm taking a Dale Carnegie Course to help me learn to feel more comfortable."

Another idea... again if you know this isn't something you would need to do, "I'm not good with spreadsheets," but then you can tell them how you weren't good at another program, but you worked hard to learn it, and now are good at it.

It's probably not good to say, "I'm a work-a-holic" or "I'm a perfectionist".. that's the stock answer, and the person interviewing you has heard that answer a million times and probably won't believe you.

Remember, overcoming a weakness is considered a strength.. so think about what your real weaknesses are or were, and explain what steps you have taken or are taking to overcome them.

I am in HR and I conduct trainings for our managers who conduct the second and third round interviews. A good rule of thumb that I always tell them is be prepaired to answer any question that they ask a candidate. For example: if you ask "why do you want to work here?" be prepaired for the candidate to ask "why do you work here?".

So if at the end of the interview you don't have any questions, turn around some of the questions that they have asked you. Such as:

Why did you chose to work here?
What attracted you to here?
What would you consider the biggest positive about this company?
What one thing would you change about this company?

Asking questions always shows interest (at least that's how I enterpret it when I am doing a screening interview). And if I am not impressed, you don't move on to round 2.

As for thank you notes, either e-mail or written is fine with me, just keep it professional. And while it might not make or break if you get the job, it does serve as a reminder that you are still out there- we sometimes get busy and resumes get shuffled to the bottom of the in-box or e-mail box!

Always ask about the culture, and ask every person that you meet.

So I interviewed for an internal position on Friday and plan on sending thank yous to the Executive VP and three assistant VP's that I interviewed with that day. Do you think it's okay to internal mail them? I don't want to seem cheap, but at the same time I worry that if I mail them externally by the time that they receive them the decision will have already been made.

I think internal mail would be fine. Depending on the size of your company, you could always hand deliver them as well.