Why you aren't getting the call back: Asking the right questions in the interview
A few yearss ago, I decided to make a change. I was working in an industry that no longer served as a path towards my desired career progression. It was time to make a change. I began putting my resume out there. I had a professional resume writer go through and redo it to make it more appealing. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. I'd go through streaks of interviews and then long waits hearing nothing back. Sound familiar?
It finally all changed when I realized that the problem was not in my skills or qualifications. In some instances, I was actually overqualified for the positions I was applying to. As I learned in a conversation, the problem was that I was not asking the right questions. Once I realized this, I immediately began getting called for 2nd and 3rd interviews, and even landed an amazing job after only a single interview. The interview process isn't about the education you received, the honors you have been awarded, or the jobs that you've held. Those things can all be learned by looking at your resume or your LinkedIn profile. The interview is about learning who you are as a person, how you fit with their organization and how you fit with their vision of the role.
Though this article is not going to delve into how to answer the questions that you are asked, there are a few points that I want to make on this first. Most interviewers will ask you a question at the start of an interview along the lines of "What do you know about our company?". This is possibly one of the most important questions of the entire interview process. This is where they find out how much effort you put into your decision to apply for a job with them. Did you just click a button on the computer or did you actually take the time to think about if this was something you were actually interested in pursuing? You don't need to know everything about a company but you should know something. Know what they do, what kind of client they serve, what markets they serve. Take time to look up the company before your interview. Look at their website, check LinkedIn or other industry magazines to see what they are in the news for. Maybe they just landed some big new contract, maybe they are rated as one of the best places to work for. Especially important, look into their core values, their purpose, and their organizational mission statement. Find ways to express how these tie in to your own personality and work. These are all things that you need to know before you ever walk through that door or answer that phone call. Don't worry about if you don't know every detail, they will be happy to fill in the blanks or clarify/expand on your knowledge as long as you know at least a little about them.
The next point I want to make is always answer honestly, not just what you think they want to hear. At one interview I was asked about my experience in working with instructional design tools. Instead of rattling off some tools and programs that I'd heard about, I was honest and told them that I had very little expereince in many of the available computer programs and tools for instructional design as the ID roles that I had filled didn't require the use of them. I was adept at developing my courses the old fashioned way using pen and paper, and microsoft office, but I was taking the initiative to teach myself some of the available programs and looking for opportunities to learn them as I knew that they could make my job easier. Companies appreciate this honesty. They can teach you a skill, what they can't teach you is integrity or motivation. If they see this and know that you have the facilities to understand it and the drive to achieve it, your honesty may just move you ahead more than the answer you expect them to want. Now, keep in mind, in certain scenarios this may not give you the outcome you are hoping for. If the role that you were interviewing with requires you to be an expert and able to train others in a specific computer program and you don't have experience in it, then both of you know that you will not be a good fit for the role. But they will still respect your honesty and may keep you in mind for a more entry level role.
I learned very quickly in the interview process that the worst answer you can give to the question "Do you have any questions for me/us before we finish?" is "no". Always have questions ready, prepare them in your head before hand. Have backup questions ready in case what they are telling you during the process answers some of those questions. There are a ton of articles out there about "ask this in your interview". I can tell you from expereince, that in many cases they won't work. Some come off as if you are trying to hard and some can come off as disingenuous. Through trial and error, I learned the right questions to ask that will either get you the job or at least give you the knowledge you need to do better in your next interview.
The first thing is don't be afraid to ask for clarification on the questions that they ask you. In learning how to be an educator/trainer, I learned that one of the most important things to do when asked a question when you are giving a class or a lecture is to think about the entire question, and then repeat it back paraphrased and ask if you have the correct understanding. This allows you to move forward with a more thoughtful answer or possibly even make sure you are giving the correct answer in case your understanding of the question was incorrect. Now I must stress, DO NOT do this for every single question they ask. It will get old and your interviewer will get annoyed. It will take longer to get through the interview and may result in them not having adequate time to ask all of the pertinent questions or yourself not having adequate time to anser all of the questions. Save it for the more complex questions that require a thoughtful answer or if there are multiple parts to it. This will ensure that you answer the entire question and gives you a moment to reword it in your own mind to provide the best answer.
Every interviews always ends with them discovering what information you want to know. This is to find out how engaged you actually were during the interview and how serious you are about moving forward. Here are some important things to ask once this is brought up (make sure you save it for the end when they ask you).
Start with a question that let's them know you were listening during the conversation. For example, "During our conversation, you mentioned "[this], in what ways can this role help the company to acheive this goal/meet this requirement/etc.?"
Next, ask a question that reineforces you not only at least know who they are but you learned a little more during the interview. For example, "In my research of your company I learned that you have offices in cities x,y, and z. You mentioned that this role will be working in office x in this capacity. What kind of travel, if any, will be expected of this opportunity?"
Last is possibly one of the most important. I spent several years in sales and I learned that if you ask for the business, you may not get it. But if you don't ask for the business, you definitley won't get it. Ask for the business! Up to this point, the questions that I have given you have been example of the type of question you want to ask. This next question, when asked exactly as I describe, is one of the most important you can ask (and SHOULD ask) because it will not only cause your interviewer to stop and think before answering, but it will help you manage your own expectations and learn how to correct any issues you may have shown.
"Before we go, so that I can have a better understanding of how I can best contribute to your team, would you mind telling me how my answers so far have fit with your expectations and vision of the role?"
I cannot stress enough the importance of finishing your interview with this question. I've never met an interviewer not impressed by this question. It requires an honest answer, they can't just give you a "yes" or "no" or a quick response. Asking this quesiton with sincerity will elicit a sincere response. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the answer that they give you to this question will do many things for you. First, it allows you to manage your expectations for how the interview went and whether you may be a right fit. Second, it allows you to learn what specifically impressed or concerned your potential employer. And finally, even if you don't get the job, it will help you understand how you can present yourself differently the next time you go for an interview. Again ask it with sincerity and be willing to listen and take to heart the response that your interviewer gives. Once they give their response, make sure to say "thank you" because they just gave you something that most people don't get from an interview, direct feedback.
Follow up with one last request for the business. "What happens from this point in the interview and hiring process? When should I expect to hear something regarding next steps?"
