It has happened to everyone at some point: you're in a job interview, and it's going well, and the interviewer suddenly asks you, "So, what questions can I answer for you?" And you sit there like - uh - well - er - and you've got exactly nothing on your lips.
Don't let it happen again! Here are twenty perfectly useful interview questions from the job candidate's side of the desk. (Do we still say "side of the desk? Does anyone sit behind his desk anymore to conduct interviews? Let us know, please.) Some of these questions have a "Why?" question following - of course, let the interviewer answer your initial question before softly interjecting, "Why's that?"
Don't ever pose your question in two parts like a sixth-grade social studies exam: What are the greatest challenges associated with drilling for oil in Alaska, and why?
1) What do you view as the department's principal challenges this year? (why?)
2) When you think about the perfect candidate for this job, what are the personality traits he or she will bring to the assignment? (why?)
3) How does the company brand itself against [name a relevant competitor]?
4) I'd love to hear about the motivation for creating or filling this position - is it a new position? What took place with the last person in the job?
5) What do you view as the principal three or four deliverables for your new hire in the first three months?
6) What's been most challenging to find as you interview candidates for this spot?
7) Can you please help me understand this new hire's principal internal clients, and how they'll rely on this new person to get their jobs done?
8) How would you describe the working style or culture of the team in this department?
9) [If this job existed before right now] What have been the greatest accomplishments of the person or people in this position?
10) What would a person in this position most likely be most attuned to, day to day or week to week - which metrics will be most critical to stay on top of?
11) How will you gauge the new hire's success after, say, three months?
12) Who are the people and the roles internally that will intersect most often with this new hire? (why?)
13) Can you please tell me a story that will illustrate the company's culture? (DON'T ask the interviewer to describe the culture - ask for a story.)
14) What would you expect will be most frustrating to the person who gets this job?
15) What major process or processes would you expect a person in this job to tinker with, or overhaul?
16) Can you please tell me about the customer or client interaction that the person in this role will have? Also, the travel?
17) Can you please fill me in on the company's or this team's norms where it comes to how work gets done? Do people work from home, always here at the office, standard office hours or different hours, etc?
18) Can you please tell me how this position fits, reporting-wise, into the structure of the department and the division?
19) Can you share with me the manager's style [if your interviewer is not the hiring manager]? How do other employees interact with him or her?
20) What is your process, after this interview today, for moving forward with the selection of your new hire?
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p.s. if you want more details on my gender-related props, check out my website, www.worldwit.org