“So, Do You Have Any Questions for Us?”

If you follow my advice about interviewing, you know that I think most people make the mistake of talking about what they have done instead of talking about what they’ve done in the context of what an employer is looking for and cares about.

Thus, you already know I do not believe that you wait for an employer to ask you whether you have any questions to find out about the job. You ask about the job at the beginning of your interview so you can use their description to tailor your answers to what they care about.

But the problem with this is what do you ask an interviewer when they get to that part of the interview when they get around to asking, “So. Do you have any questions for us?”

After all, in my philosophy, they told you about the job long before so when they ask you about whether you have any questions, you need something to ask them instead of the typical question about the job.

So, the best initial question you can ask them is something to the effect of, “It’s 6 months after I’ve started working for you and we are reviewing my performance. What would I have accomplished in those 6 months that would cause you to give me a spectacular review and help you exceed your objectives with your management?”

This question is fabulous because the answer will tell you a lot about your manager’s goals and objectives, it will let them also know that you are their as an ally to help them succeed PLUS a mediocre answer tells you a lot about either your manager and/or how you did on the interview (a mediocre answer may signal that they don’t care enough to try to answer the question).

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