Page 135 - John Kador - 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview-McGraw-Hill (2002)

THE QUESTION LIFE CYCLE

? Memorably Good Question

#11
My research shows that Company XYZ is your most aggres-
sive competitor. Is that your judgment as well, and what
steps are you taking to differentiate yourself?
This question demonstrates the candidate has done his home-
work and understands a key business concept. Ideally, the can-
didate will be able to offer some value around the concept of
product differentiation. Notice, also, how the question enlists
the opinion of the interviewer.
Charles Handler
Rocket-hire.com
San Francisco, CA

9-2
How much time should be devoted to each area of responsibility?
This question asks the interviewer to identify what is most important
and then to prioritize. Often interviewers will find this question very dif-
ficult because they don’t really know. But how can you succeed with-
out agreements on what’s most important?

9-3
What initial projects would I be tackling?
Like the question above, this is another attempt to prioritize, this time
looking at projects.

9-4
What is my spending/budget authority?
This question goes to how much responsibility you will have before
bumping into someone else’s responsibility.
9-5
What are you hoping to accomplish, and what will be my role in those
plans?
You want to know what the company’s strategic goals are and how the
company hopes you will contribute.

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