When you reach this point in a job interview — where the interviewer is done with their questions and opens up the floor — you don’t want to be caught off guard. It’s important to have a plan for how you’ll respond, and a list of questions specific to that opportunity.
But what types of questions should you actually ask? And are there certain ones to avoid? I turned to two job interview experts for advice: Art Markman, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Bring Your Brain to Work, and John Lees, a UK-based career strategist and author of How to Get a Job You Love. Here are their recommendations for how to approach this part of the interview and sample questions they’ve seen work in practice.
The Best Questions to Ask a Recruiter Before an Interview
When preparing for an interview with a company you will want to know their interview process. This will help keep you informed on whether you have one, two, or maybe even three interviews? It will also help you plan your schedule accordingly to have time available should multiple interviews be necessary.
Is there a test or assessment? Should you be preparing for the Hogan test, or other types of evaluations?
Questions to ask during your job interview
Asking the right questions during the interview is essential. If you are asked âdo you have any questions?â whether you are on a pharmaceutical job interview, clinical research job interview, or medical science liaison job interview, the answer is always the same. YES!
Before asking questions, try to gage what kind of person the interviewer is: Can you have relaxed conversation? Or do they just want to talk business? This will help you when it comes to knowing how behave and what kind of questions will be appropriate to ask.
The questions asked during the interview are most important. Try and write down a few before your interview so you are not racking your brain trying to remember them. Make sure to cater your questions to your industry. If you are interviewing for a pharmaceutical job, you will want to adjust your questions accordingly.
What to ask:
What are the opportunities for career growth in this role? / What is the expected career path for someone in this role?
Asking about the career path and growth in a role shows initiative. It also shows you are ambitious and thinking about the future. Additionally, this question gives you insight into your potential future with the company.
What are your expectations of someone in this role in the first three months?
This question shows that you want to perform well if you are given this position. It will also give you an example of how the company evaluates employees. Perhaps their expectations are too high for you; if so it is better to know now than after accepting the position.
What are the training opportunities offered for this position?
This is important information to know. First, because it allows you to know how the company takes care of employees. Next, it exhibits how real the growth opportunities at a company are. Companies who grow employees from within through training usually have more concrete career paths.
What will be my biggest challenge or objective in the first six months?
There are two objectives in asking this question: Firstly, it will help you grasp what difficulties you are likely to run into, and secondly; it gives you the opportunity to really sell yourself on those points as someone who is willing and capable of taking on the challenge.
What does success look like in this position, and how do you measure it?
Itâs crucial to have a deep understanding of how a company measures success. What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) for the role? How often are they measured? This shows understanding of the role and will also give you more of an indication as to if this is something you could manage.
Who will be interviewing me?
If the recruiter has made it clear youve been invited in for the interview, ask about your interviewers. If youre chatting with an internal recruiter, they should be able to rattle off some names and job titles. With this list of names and/or titles in hand, you can better understand the types of questions youll be asked.
You can also spend some time on LinkedIn exploring these professionals backgrounds. It sounds creepy, but this can help quickly establish a more personal connection. For example, knowing ahead of time that someone started their career as a newspaper reporter — just like you! — will get the conversation rolling.
There are few things more uncomfortable than walking into a shorts-and-T-shirts kind of office in a three-piece suit. You also dont want to show up in khakis and a polo if the office is more formal. Its perfectly fine to ask a recruiter what they recommend you wear to the interview.