Page 31 - 201 Best Questions To Ask On Your Interview

THE RULES OF THE GAME

ing to make you an offer may nevertheless reject you because they have
no confidence you know what you would be getting into. “At the end
of the day, as the interviewer, I need to feel satisfied that the candidate
has enough information on which to make a decision in case I make an
offer,” says Richard Kathnelson, VP of human resources at Syndesis,
Inc., in Ontario, Canada. Open-ended questions that generate informa-
tion-rich answers signal to Kathnelson that he is talking to a resource-
ful candidate who knows how to make informed decisions, a skill vital
to any job.

A QUESTIONING ATTITUDE
Asking just the right questions is your chance to demonstrate that you
are the best candidate for the job by communicating five different im-
pressions:

• Interest. You have taken the trouble to investigate the job.
• Intelligence. You really understand the requirements of the job.
• Confidence. You have everything it takes to do to the job.

• Personal appeal. You are the type of person who will fit in well.
• Assertiveness. You ask for the job.

Of course, there is a sixth objective for your asking critical questions:
to help you assess whether or not you really want the job. The job in-
terview is a two-way street. You get to estimate the quality of the organ-
ization as much as the organizations gets to estimate your credentials.
The other important point is to avoid “What about me?” questions
until after you get a job offer or a very strong expression of interest.
“What about me?” questions are anything that goes to what the candi-
date receives as opposed to what the candidate offers. Remember, you
have two roles in the interview: buyer and seller. For the first part of
the interview, you are a seller. The only time you are buying is when
they make you an offer.
Listen to Susan Trainer, senior information systems recruiter with
RJS Associates in Hartford, Connecticut. She interviews hundreds of
candidates to determine if they represent a good fit for her client com-

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