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What 3 or 4 questions do you have on your mental check list when it's your turn to ask questions?
My 2 main ones are:
*is this a newly created position or is it a backfill position?
*(since i am in the accounting field) how does your monthly close schedule work? is it business day -4 all the way to business day +4?
Location: In a city within a state where politicians come to get their PHDs in Corruption
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No company hires unless they have a need.
Listen carefully throughout the interview for potential problems the company is bringing you on to deal with, and when it is your time to ask questions, ask only relevant probing questions that will help address those problems.
Neither of your questions in your opening post do that. It seems to me that your questions are boiler plated (as are for vast majority of applicants).
What 3 or 4 questions do you have on your mental check list when it's your turn to ask questions?
My 2 main ones are:
*is this a newly created position or is it a backfill position?
*(since i am in the accounting field) how does your monthly close schedule work? is it business day -4 all the way to business day +4?
Thanks!
I would ask if it's a newly created position, and if it's not, how long were the previous two or three people doing the job. Why did they leave? What is the turnover like in the department? If it's high, I would have no problem asking if they've identified the reason for it.
Most hiring managers will be honest about these things knowing if they hire you you'll find out anyway, and it may give you an opportunity to see if any red flags arise.
For an external position, I usually ask something about their current business.. I do some research ahead of time and ask something relevant to the position. I also try to ask the interviewer(s) something that they have to give a personal answer to... If they have been at the company 10 years, for example, I would ask something along the lines of "It came up earlier that you have been here 10 years. In this day and age that is amazing, so that tells me that you must really enjoy it here. What do you like the most about your position and working for the company? What do you think is the biggest challenge you are facing?"
You then take their answers and use that as a way to give them more information on yourself.
Apparently, it's a good idea to ask about salary, benefits, bonuses, etc. I've heard this from several employers/interviewers.
It shows a genuine interest in a long-term position with the company.
Many are just scared to ask, but from what I hear, it's one of the better questions to ask.
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As a hiring manager that asks that question at the end of all interviews, the examples given would not help the OP get selected. The approach given by IonRedline08 is much better. With all else being equal, we want to hire someone that wants to be here. We can easily tell whether someone is just looking for "a job" or is wants to make a career with us. I am happy for my employees when they are able to promote to a position elsewhere in the company, but it's costly to hire and train someone who stays a few months or a year and moves on. Questions that demonstrate that the candidate has done research and shows interest in the overall goals of the company will go a lot farther than the typical, almost selfish questions about days off, working hours, or the reason for the current opening. For example: "I understand from your annual report that. . ." or "In your 5 year plan I read that . . ." followed by a question about how your position would be involved in that.
Short/long term goals for the position. Interviewer almost always remarks that is a good question and thinks for a moment.
Team makeup. Who would I be working with? Who would I report to? Who would report to me?
I always try to come up with a question about company culture. This may change based on the company. For example, I applied at a pet insurance company and asked some specific questions about their pet policies (and made sure it reflected that I read what they had on their website and was trying to expand upon it).
Yes, do ask if it is a newly created position.
These are of course go-to questions as asked by the OP. Certainly you should research the company business and have a question or two about that and come up with some as the interview progresses based on what is discussed (and how this role fits). Always beware that one or more of your questions may get covered before you ask. And know who your interviewer is. Some specific things can't be answered by HR that can be answered by the HM.
I really like the advice about asking a personal question of the interviewer about their experiences as an employee. I will certainly use that in the future.
1. why has this position become available ? and if they tell you the person moved up then that tells you that they promote from within , however if they say the person left us , then that leaves me wondering why the person left , no raises ? pay is very small for the workload ? etc
2. If they use the word team player then you know an unsurmountable amount of work is going to fall on you as the new guy or girl ...Just my opinion however .
What would you say would be my biggest challenge in this position?
What are the goals of this 30, 60, 90 days in?
What are your backgrounds?
If I were to start next week what would say one look like?
Always ask "When should I hear back". You could have the best interview in the world but if you don't ask that and do not receive it then it what then?
With government work you can find quite a bit more from reading agendas, minutes, budgets, collective bargaining agreements and of course the news. So much to the point where I'd advice just a simple google search the day of because things can change.I had a interview and noted I sometimes read a local news site they have which is actually legit journalism it's a good site. To the reply of "Well you must know I'm leaving at the end of month"...actually I didn't! The news came out Friday and I didn't go to it after thursday.
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