Job Candidate Questions and What They Tell Us

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Is there an even better way to glean a job candidate’s fit for a position than asking great interview questions?

To discern the best possible future team members through the interview process, it’s important to ask unpredictable and thought-provoking questions, and I’ve long prided myself on doing so. But there’s another indicator to use in assessing their potential fit that is often as predictive as their answers to the questions I ask them: It’s the questions they ask me.

I always leave plenty of time for candidate questions at the end of an interview and tell them as the interview begins that I’m looking forward to entertaining their questions once I’m done asking mine. On notice, one might think the candidates would be thinking throughout the interview of good questions to pose to me when their time comes.

Some do, most don’t. When I’m done with my questions I always say, “Those are my questions for you. What questions do you have for me?” Here are some of the worst — and best — responses from the last twelve months:

“I don’t really have any questions.” This response tells me the candidate put almost no thought into the interview before we met. Really? Not one question? The likelihood of this candidate advancing to the next phase of the process is quite low.

“Can you tell me about the compensation?” As my first round of post-collegiate interviews began, I recall being coached never to ask this question in an interview. The idea was that I could always talk compensation if and when an offer came, but my job in the interview was to advance to the next interview. Something changed in the last two or three decades, perhaps because the market for talent became a seller’s one and shifted this way of thinking. Today, it seems, more than half of candidates ask this question in the first interview. I still think asking this early in the process is tacky and inappropriate, but I do my best to answer it without letting my disappointment show through.

“What about benefits?” See “Can you tell me about the compensation?”

“How much will I be expected to travel?” This one is often posed by candidates for business development and sales engineering positions, and it’s a close cousin to the prior two. Regardless of the candidate’s intentions, if they’re asking this question up-front, I suspect from the get-go that they don’t want to travel any more than they absolutely must. Not necessarily a good impression to leave early in the interview process.

Not only have the preceding responses not advanced the candidate’s prospects for securing the next interview, they have likely set them back. For me, however, they are valuable data points in my quest to find great team members. If this is the best they can do, they’re probably not the right fit.

“Who are your competitors?” This is a more thoughtful question than those above, at least, but what interviewer wants to be reminded of their competition during an interview? I always respond that when it comes to our mission, service, support, quality, lead times and culture, we are in a class by ourselves.

“What can you tell me about a typical day for someone in this position?” This question doesn’t tell me much about the candidate other than they managed to come up with a better question than the preceding ones. However, it does provide me with a nice opening to share what the candidate might love about the position, so I always take the time to highlight and emphasize the more attractive parts of the job while being honest about its challenges and our expectations.

“What will the first 90 days look like?” Similar to the prior question that leads to a discussion about the next.

“What is your onboarding and training process?” At a minimum this candidate is signaling their appetite for personal development and career growth. While still a bit predictable and mundane, it shows a little more preparation and depth of thought. We’re moving in the right direction.

“What are you looking for in a candidate?” or “How will you know you’ve found the right person?” From this question the candidate will glean an understanding of how they might structure future interactions or responses around what I’m looking for. Here again we’re getting warmer, however…

The questions above are what I call “situational” ones. They might be helpful to the candidate in assessing our open position, though they haven’t moved the needle much on my interest in them. But some candidates pose great questions that really set them apart. Like these:

“I’m excited to take the next step in my career, but also excited about my long-term future. What opportunities are there for future growth?” Not the most original question ever but this tells me I might be talking to someone who wants more than a place to go to work and earn a paycheck.

“Finding the right fit is really important for both of us. What can you share about your culture?” A great question. I love sharing our mission, core values and how we live them out. Every company has a culture, every individual has a personality. The best relationships result when the two fit together.

“What major trends are you seeing in the industry?” Yes! This candidate is looking to the future and — in a completely non-confrontational way — testing my knowledge and business philosophy while expressing an appetite for learning.

“How is artificial intelligence affecting your industry?” A takeoff on the prior question, this version is even better. Everyone is talking about AI and this is a memorable question that sets the candidate apart and my answer will inform them as to how forward-thinking we are as a company. Insert any other specific advancement affecting our industry and this question serves the same purpose.

The point should be clear: When their turn comes during the interview, candidates set themselves apart by asking thoughtful, original questions.

Interviewers ought be attuned to candidates who separate themselves from the rest by the questions they ask and should be prepared to offer enthusiastic and engaging responses when these questions come. These are the candidates you want on your team.