Powerful Phrases for Successful Interviews

by Tony Beshara

Q. How often is there turnover in the job I’m discussing with you?

  You may already know this from the interviewing process, but you might want to confirm it. If it seems higher than normal, it is fair to ask “Why?” If the answer is, “We promote out of this position often,” it is one thing. If it is, “We can’t find anyone to do the job right,” you may want to ask more questions.

  Q. What are the major problems facing the company and this department?

  Notice if this is consistent with what you have heard before. Often, in the final stages of the interviewing process, a hiring authority may come clean with you about issues in the company or the department that no one wanted to mention before. Up until now they didn’t want to discourage you as a candidate, but now they don’t want you to be shocked at some issue the first day you show up for the job.

  Q. What are the traits you see in me that are good for this job and made you want to hire me?

  You need to know how you are perceived by the hiring authority.

  Q. Based on what you know of me, what might my weaknesses be in light of this job?

  Again, you just want to know what the expectations are. The perception of you and how you really are once you are on the job will be different. Don’t worry about the weaknesses; we all have them. Again, you want to get an idea of expectations.

  Q. Why do you want to hire me? What did I demonstrate to you that the other candidates didn’t?

  Listen closely to this answer. You might have assumed certain reasons why you’re being offered the job. You will also learn what you did to outdistance the other candidates. This information may come in handy if you need to negotiate regarding salary and benefits when the time is right.

  Q. Why didn’t you hire from within?

  You probably already know the answer, but it doesn’t hurt to ask again, now that things are getting serious. Don’t be surprised if you hear, “We sure came close to promoting from within and if we don’t work things out with you, that is what we might do.” A little leverage just slipped away.

  Q. What aspects of the job or the company am I going to be surprised about?

  The hiring authorities probably will think a minute and then either drop a bombshell on you with a fact or some information that will shock you, or they will say something neutral like, “What a nice person I am.”

  Q. What are the worst aspects of the job?

  These issues may have been mentioned somewhere in the interviewing process, but now that things are getting serious you need to make sure you know them.

  Q. Is the company planning any layoffs or downsizings?

  This will be a simple “no” or “not that I know of,” or “oh, yeah, we go through that every year or so.” When you get this last answer, be bold and ask, “If there are layoffs, how will it affect this job?” It is obvious that no one is going to intentionally go to the trouble of hiring anyone and then lay them off soon after they hire them. But I have seen candidates who were hired and within a month or so laid off. No one can predict these things . . . or at least will never admit to it.

  Q. How will my success be measured in this job?

  You need to know exactly how your success will be measured. If you are in sales, it is obvious that you will be measured by the sales you make and the quota you attain. But success in other professional positions is not quite as easy to measure. Also find out if and how this measurement will be reflected in salary reviews. Get specifics and write them down. You don’t want to take a job and later be surprised by the way performance and salary reviews are practiced.

  Q. How is performance measured? How often? How does that relate to the job I’m considering?

  You may be shocked to find that many firms have no formal performance measurement systems. If there is a formal performance measurement procedure, you’ll now find out what it is. Pay particular attention to find out if salary reviews or incentive bonuses are associated with the tools the company uses. Don’t fret if a company doesn’t have a formal performance measurement program; just know what they do use. Get copies of the procedure or performance measurement tools if you can.

  Q. What happened to the last person in the job?

  You need to know this. If the person was fired, you need to know the circumstances. If you learned the answer to this question during the interviewing process, you will want to get clarification now. I have known candidates to track down the person who was fired to get an idea about the situation. If a person was promoted out of the job, ask to speak to that person. You want to learn as much as you can about what you are getting into and this is a great way to do it.

  Q. Is the company seeking to grow? How?

  Very few organizations are going to tell you that they don’t want to grow. But, if you have done your homework, you will know what the track record of growth, or lack of it, has been for the company itself. You’ve probably also picked up the direction that the company is going during the interviewing process. Some organizations will admit that they don’t want to grow too rapidly. If a company intends to grow by acquisition or merger, it may affect your particular position. Acquiring a company or a merger can create function duplication. If they are in the process of being sold, you need to know that, too.

  A standard follow-up question here, no matter what you’re told should be:

  Q. So, how might that affect this position?

  Listen carefully to the answer. Most of the time, you’re going to hear something like, “Oh, it really won’t matter!” You’d better listen to how the person says this more than what they say. Often, companies need to hire somebody because they need a certain task or job done immediately. They may or may not be thinking, or even care, about what might happen to the position in the future. Growth, or lack of it, may not affect the job you’re interviewing for one way or the other. Simply listen to the answer, and then follow your gut.

  Q. Exactly how much travel is involved with the job?

  Usually, if there is an inordinate amount of travel involved in a job, you would have heard about it during the interviewing process. However, if there is travel involved in a particular job, you need to know exactly how much. So, get a very specific number of days and number of nights per week or per month that travel is required. One person’s definition of “some travel” is different than another person’s. You need to know in terms relative to what you can or can’t do.

  Q. Is there relocation now or down the road?

  If immediate relocation is involved in the position, you will probably learn about it in the initial part of the interviewing process. Relocation is an expensive venture and companies don’t do it unless there’s real value for them. It is often cheaper to find someone in the local area to do a specific job than it is to relocate someone, even a proven employee, to where the job is. If relocation is involved now or later, be sure that you are clear about what the company will and won’t do regarding relocation.

  Q. How long do you plan to be in your position with the company?

  How someone answers this is as important as what they say. Once in a while, a hiring authority will tell you how long they plan to stay in the job. It is good to know if the hiring authority has plans beyond his or her present position. If you get an answer like, “Most people here stay in their positions for about three years and then rotate to other departments of the organization,” you’ll realize that you will be faced with the same opportunity. If you get, “ “I have absolutely no idea. I just take things day-to-day, month-to-month, and year-to-year,” then at least you have an idea of how this person feels about his or her future.

  Q. Why have people in the past failed to do well at this job?

  This is a great question. Often, you will have gotten a sense of how people did in the job you’re interviewing for before you get to this point. However, it’s a really good idea to ask this question at the time of getting an offer. If you hadn’t gotten the real reason as to why people have failed before, you will probably get it now. T
he reason you hear can be very revealing and may end up making a difference in your taking the job. Listen very carefully to the answer that you get to this question. Whatever the hiring authority tells you, they may be saying this same thing about you some day.

  Q. What are the company’s major strengths and weaknesses?

  Now that the company is strongly considering you and they’re trying to hire you, you might hear more than just the party line. Don’t necessarily expect something different than you’ve already heard, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Since you’re now being invited to be an insider in the company, you may get a more realistic idea about strengths and weaknesses.

  Q. What are your personal strengths and weaknesses?

  The best time to ask this question is right after you ask the same question about the company. You asked a similar question when you asked this person what it was like to work for them. Let this person talk about their personal strengths and weaknesses. Listen carefully to what they say. The kind of strengths and weaknesses this person describes will be the kind of things he will look for in others, that is, you! Take good notes. See if what you hear is consistent with what your potential peers say about this person.

  Q. Can you explain the organizational structure of the company and of the department?

  This is pretty simple and straightforward. You may have been unable to find this out before this interview.

  Q. What are the trends in your industry?

  If you’ve done your research correctly, you will know the answers to this already. But it doesn’t hurt to find out what your potential boss thinks.

  Q. Does the company have any present or pending legal issues?

  You’ll probably be one of the few, if not the only, candidates who asks this question. If you’ve done your homework, you already know most of the legal entanglements that the company may be involved in. This is not only asking about those but also any pending ones. It’s rare for businesses not to be involved in some minor litigation, but major litigation can literally put small businesses in great jeopardy. If the hiring authority does not mention a legal issue that you know could have some major impact on the company—and therefore your new job if you accept it—now is the time to ask about it. Be sure you understand where the litigation might be before you accept a job.

  Q. How is the department perceived by the rest of the company?

  Notice the metaphors that the person uses to describe how the department is perceived. Whatever description the hiring authority uses is likely the way he thinks he is perceived. So, if he says something like, “We are very respected because we provide accurate information on time,” or, “The performance of the department affects everybody in the company, so we’re very careful,” you probably know what you’re getting into. Likewise, if the person says, “We are the most hated department in the company because we say ‘no’ to everything and everybody,” you’ll have a different impression.

  Q. Are there written goals for the department? Who sets them?

  Even if there are not formal goals for the department, this is a good question to ask. If the department has formal goals for the year, it would be a good idea to ask to see them. If the goals are imposed on the department, you’ll find that out. If the department does not have any written goals, you’ll find that out, too. The sales department with no written or formal goals cannot be very effective. The accounting or purchasing department may be a different story.

  Q. How many people have been in the job in the last five years? Where are they now?

  Listen carefully to this answer. If no one that had been in this job in the last five years is still with the company, it may not be a good thing. If people are promoted regularly out of this position, that may be good. If there is a high degree of turnover in this job, you need to know why. If you hear, “Everyone who has been in this position has been incompetent,” watch out! No matter how good you think you are, the same thing may be said about you in the future. If you hear, “Well, I really don’t know why people leave this job so often,” you need to do further investigation. See the next question.

  Q. May I speak with the person that has left (or is leaving) the job?

  If the person presently in the job or the person that’s leaving the job is still with the company, you should be given access to them with no problem. If you can’t speak to the person who is presently in the job or has been at the position most recently, you will not get a tremendous insight into the job. In some instances, the company may not want you to get exposure to the person who is presently in the job. This shouldn’t be a deal killer one way or the other. Listen carefully to the circumstances that have caused the position to be open.

  Q. What would be my access to you? Daily, weekly, monthly?

  You’ll get a really good idea of the manager’s style when he or she answers this question. You will also get a sense of how much autonomy you may have in the job. Balance the answer to this question with the answer you get to how much authority you might have. If you have a lot of responsibility but very little authority, and you only see or hear from your boss once a month, you may be in for a real challenge.

  QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN THE POSITION INVOLVES MANAGEMENT

  What follows are questions for this specific scenario with further explanations.

  Q. Why are there no internal candidates for this job?

  This is the biggest question that you need answered. Companies have a tendency to promote from within, so if you’re interviewing for a management position, you better get a very clear and convincing set of reasons as to why no one has been promoted from within. There may be some very legitimate, reasonable business reasons as to why there are no internal candidates capable of being promoted. But it also might be that nobody in the company wanted the job! Even though you may want the job and it may very well be good for you, you must be absolutely comfortable with the answer to this question.

  Q. How much authority will I have in running the department (the group, the facility, and so on)?

  You already may have picked up on a lot of the authority you will have in the interviewing process. But, now you need to get a real, detailed understanding of your authority. Having profit and loss responsibility usually carries a lot more authority than not having it. Don’t assume you’ll have it because you think you heard it in the interviewing process. You were focused on selling yourself then; now you are focused on qualifying the job, your expectations, your ability to do it, and your desire to land.

  Q. I would like to speak to peers about the position that I am interviewing for. Can we arrange that?

  Unless the organization you’re interviewing with is replacing somebody confidentially, it should allow you to talk to managers in the same kind of position you are applying for. You’ll get more insights about the company and the job from your potential peers, and especially those in management positions, than you will from anyone else in the company, even the people you were interviewing with. If the organization doesn’t want you to talk to other managers, it should raise a big red flag to you. Even if filling the position is confidential and they’re replacing someone without their knowledge, a hiring authority should be able to provide you with other managers who may talk to you on a confidential basis. Don’t underestimate what you’ll learn by doing this.

  Q. Are there any difficult personalities on the staff that I will be supervising?

  Pay attention to the hiring authorities’ initial response to your question. If he or she hesitates and has to answer the question carefully or pensively, you know that you might have real challenges here. Let the hiring authority describe to you all of the people on the staff that he knows about. People are often really uncomfortable when they get a new supervisor. So you need to be prepared for any difficulties, especially difficult personalities that you may inherit.

  Q. Are there any members of the staff that should be let go?

  Many times when a new manager is being brought on board, people who ought
to be fired or moved around are left in their place until the new manager is hired. Upper management will insist that there is enough turmoil going on with hiring a new manager and simply leave the difficult task to the new hire. Be ready for any kind of answer to this question. If there are really big problems, you will probably have heard about them during the interviewing process. But now it is time to press on this. Unless you are very lucky, you will probably have to replace one or more of the staff members. You can assume these people should have been let go a long time ago, and their dismissal has been postponed because it is enough of a hassle to find a new manager. So, listen well.

  Q. How are the people in the department going to react to an outsider as a manager?

  You may have gotten a hint of this answer in the interviewing process. However, the hiring authority that you were talking to is so interested in the moment, that is, getting someone hired for the position, they don’t really care what reaction a new manager is going to get. Trust me, if you are in this situation, there’s enough emotion throughout the whole staff that it is going to take a number of months for everything to settle down. No matter what you’re told in answering this question, assume the worst.

  Q. May I speak with the staff I will be managing?

  Unless the present person is being replaced or the hiring is strictly confidential, you should be allowed to talk to all of the people that you’re going to be managing. You will have a much better understanding of what you’re walking into after you do this. I would recommend you begin with the administrative or support staff. These people always have a very clear idea of what’s going on in a department, both positive and negative. Should you take the job, you’re going to hear it anyhow, so you might as well start now. If you’re not allowed to talk to the staff that you might be supervising, take that as a big red flag.