Page 42 - 201 Best Questions To Ask On Your Interview

WHY YOU HAVE TO QUESTION

tween the company and some of its customers. Can we talk about this de-
cision for a moment?

9. Avoid Asking Questions That Call for a Superlative
Questions that call for a superlative (“What is the best book of all
time?”) make people hesitate and also put them on the defensive. When
faced with a superlative, the interviewer’s mind gets vapor-locked and
he or she hesitates.

Poor: What is the biggest challenge for the company/team?
Better: What do you see as three important challenges for the
company/team?
Poor: What is the absolute best thing about this company?

Better: What are a couple of things you really like about the
company?

Avoiding superlatives gives the interviewer wiggle room to answer
questions more personally.

10. Avoid Leading or Loaded Questions

Leading questions signal the interviewer that you are looking for a spe-
cific answer. They also signal that you are, at best, an awkward com-
municator and, at worst, manipulative. In any case, skewing questions
is not in your interest. Be on guard that your questions are phrased to
be impartial. For example, this is a leading question:

Isn’t it true that your company is regarded as paying slightly better than
average?

This attempt to box in the interviewer is so transparent it will backfire.
Keep the question straight:

How do your company’s compensation schedules compare with the in-
dustry average?
The wording of this next question is arrogant and makes you look
foolish.

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