Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What are the best ways to frame interview questions without appearing too obvious?
For example, if you want to know what their style is for providing assistance (or not) when someone needs help, how do you ask this without revealing your personal preference?
How do you ask questions to determine if there are red flags at a company? I'm not too good at this, but sometimes I repeat some of the things I heard. As an example if a manager says a particular word of phrase multiple times I have said, "I heard you say ____ a few times. Can you tell me what are the core values behind ____, and what a successful candidate has done to gain/do/be part of it/etc.?" Other than that, I'm not too proficient. I want to learn how to ask or explain things more succinctly, without cutting back relevant detail.
Ask what their training involves for a new employee. If you are a person who learns through reading, say this and ask what they have to support training. "Everyone learns in different ways. I personally learn best by reading the manual. What supporting documentation is available?"
What is the culture of the company?
Why did the previous person leave the position you are filling?
What is your management style?
Ask what their training involves for a new employee. If you are a person who learns through reading, say this and ask what they have to support training. "Everyone learns in different ways. I personally learn best by reading the manual. What supporting documentation is available?"
What is the culture of the company?
Why did the previous person leave the position you are filling?
What is your management style?
What do you say if they turn the question back on you and ask "what culture are YOU looking for?"
You could say that you're open but interested in hearing more about their company culture, putting it back on them.
Hello, Seain....
So often I am finding fault with posts but in this case I am posting only to 'spread the word' about something that happened to someone I know who was interviewing. Your response triggers my wanting to let you all know what happened to this other person.
'Putting something back on them' can backfire, especially if the interviewer(s) feel the person being interviewed is not answering the question and is trying to artfully dodge it.
IOW, jousting (it will or may appear to be jousting) can backfire or cause someone on the interviewing side to get their back up.
Okay, having said all that, here is what happened....something many of us were 'trained' to say that backfired on the person interviewing:
When asked the age old question, "...where do you expect to see yourself in five years?', the person being interviewed replied that he hoped to have that person's job.
That used to work and maybe somewhere it still does but boy, did he ever get a bad reaction from the interviewer for that one.
So when one is interviewing and wants to take control of the situation or a question in particular, it really takes an artful person nowadays to pull it off.
So just be careful.
And for those in the Peanut Gallery reading this, know that an interviewer does not have to totally 'get it' to react negatively....sometimes they get a negatively intuitive feeling about what was said and suddenly you are sunk and there is no saving the situation.
So if you are going to be clever in an interview, be very clever or what you do may cause the interviewer to take a bite out of you.
Paul, while I understand what you're saying, you're really stretching on this.
To answer a question like where you would be in 5 years and saying I want the interviewer's job isn't smart, nor is it even close to answering the question with a comment like "I am open in regards to culture", while it might be considered vague it is answering the question.
Paul, while I understand what you're saying, you're really stretching on this.
To answer a question like where you would be in 5 years and saying I want the interviewer's job isn't smart,
nor is it even close
to answering the question with a comment like "I am open in regards to culture", while it might be considered vague it is answering the question.
Hello, Seain....
Can't recommend a vague reply.....not when being in the recruitment business means I can give better advice than that....
The person who said he saw himself taking the interviewer's position (it was not my idea!!) used to work. I date back to when fire was discovered and the wheel was invented and I clearly remember that using that line would, back then, get you a patronizing ruffle of the head and a grin.
The interviewer who reacted negatively was being a pill. Either he did not see himself progressing and needed to hold onto his job or wanted to keep his job and avoid being Peter Principled.
In that case, I got the impression, from speaking to the person who committed this faux pas, that the interviewer seemed to take his reply personally. It seemed he was more bothered personally than given the lack of originality of the response.
Had I been asked, I would have suggested he form his reply in the light of advancement, giving consideration to the company's organizational structure. My person is in Logistics.
Were there a SVP or EVP over Logisitics in that Fortune company, I might have suggested a reply about working toward advancement within the logistics chain of command.
IMO, it would be hard to find fault with this since after all, aren't we expected to seek advancement and if so, working one's way up the [in this case] logistics org chart would not be out of line.
Some jobs are stepping stones and others are a start or continuation toward career progression within the same company. It being a Fortune company, suggesting one's desire for career progression within one's specialty does not seem out of line. But then, this is dependent on what the org chart looks like and this can be determined by a look at the company's Annual Report to see what the titles are of the top dogs.
Being so obvious as to say we want the interviewer's job is a little too bald in this day and age where people are generally watching their back to see who is getting ready to put a knife between their dorsal and lumbar vertebrae.
Maybe the interviewer had been reading too much Shakespeare.
To pull the discussion back onto topic, I am an entry-level worker. I believe it's important to find a company that will be the best fit and know we can meet halfway. The only way to accomplish this is through the interview, so if there are simple but effective techniques I'd like to know. I am not really interested in reading more into something than needed, nor is it helpful to anyone else.
I agree with Seain and Veuvegirl. Perhaps you could say you've heard of a wide range of scenarios for training new hires and would like to know where they fall. "I know of one company that assigns a mentor to each new hire, in another new hires are free to ask questions as they arise for as long as they feel the need to ask, and a third company feels it's best for new hires to figure things out on their own. I'm wondering which style would best describe your department."
You're not giving away what your preference is, although they may give you a nebulous answer like, "It's a little of each...."
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Interviewing Questions to Get Info
