Interview ?

[ReachTheLimit]

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.

[blueangel]

Originally Posted by ReachTheLimit

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.

[CarolinaDG]

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.

[CarolinaDG]

Originally Posted by blueangel

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.

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

[navane]

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

[SoCalGirl]

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.

[Dionysus]

I absolutely hate hypothetical questions.

[blueangel]

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

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.

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.

[ForeverRoses]

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!