CHAPTER 1

WHY YOU HAVE TO QUESTION

QUESTIONS ARE NOT AN OPTION

"Now, do you have any questions?"

Every job interview, if the job seeker is lucky, gets to this stage. What you donow controls whether or not you get an offer. The résumé gets you in the door,but whether you leave as a job seeker or an employee depends on how you conductyourself during the interview.

Some candidates think that when the interviewer says, "Now, do you have anyquestions?" it's a polite indication that the interview is nearly over and theinterviewer is about to wrap up. They couldn't be more mistaken. The questionreally signals the start of the main course. Everything that came before wasjust appetizers.

Recruiters are unanimous on this point: job seekers who fail to ask at least afew intelligent questions are destined to remain job seekers. If you don't askquestions, you leave these impressions:

• You think the job is unimportant or trivial.

• You're uncomfortable asserting yourself.

• You're not intelligent.

• You're easily intimidated.

• You're resistant to learning.

• You're bored or boring.

Not one of these impressions works in your favor. Of course, not any oldquestion will do. If you don't think about this in advance, you run the risk ofmissing a critical opportunity by not asking intelligent questions or byplanting your foot in your mouth by asking stupid ones. Good questions show theinterviewer that you are interested in the job. Great questions tell theinterviewer that you are a force to be reckoned with.

Great questions make you look better. As you ask questions, remember that forthe interviewer, the interview has three purposes. He or she wants to know that:

• You are qualified to meet the challenges of the job.

• You are willing to meet the challenges of the job.

• You will fit into the organization.

Make sure all your questions advance the goals of the interviewer. At the sametime, you have your own goals. In order of importance, you want to:

• Sell yourself as qualified to meet the challenges of the job.

• Evaluate the position and offer to make sure it's right for you.

• Get the interviewer's commitment or expression of interest for the next stepin the process.

VESTED IN THE INTERVIEW

"I want to know that the candidate in front of me is vested in the jobinterview," says Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder, CEO, and chairman of Torrance,California–based ACT-1, the largest female, minority-owned employmentservice in the country. "If the candidate doesn't have any questions for me,that really clouds my estimation of his or her interest and ability to engage."

In fact, Bryant Howroyd's practice is to ask just one question and thenimmediately throw the ball to the job seeker. Bryant Howroyd's first question,after greeting the job seeker, is:

What is your understanding of our meeting today?

How's that for turning the interview topsy-turvy?

But Bryant Howroyd understands she can tell more from candidates by the qualityof their questions than by the quality of their answers. So the next instructionis:

I would now like you to ask me seven questions.

Depending on the quality of the applicant's response to the first query, BryantHowroyd invites the applicant to ask her from three to seven specific questions.The higher her initial estimation of the applicant, the more questions sherequests. What's more, Bryant Howroyd gives the applicant permission to ask herany questions at all. No limits. And then she listens. "I learn a lot more aboutpeople by allowing them to ask me what they want to know than by having themtell me what they think I want to know," she says. True, the hiring companyultimately selects the applicant, but "the applicants I most admire insist onbeing full partners in the selection process," she says.

Now, are you really ready for an interview with Janice Bryant Howroyd?

Ask for the Red Flag Question

There are many ways for applicants to demonstrate they are vested in theinterview. Diane Asyre, principal of Asyre Communications, a St. Louisconsultancy specializing in employee communications, recalls an applicant whosequestion at first put her off, then impressed her, and ultimately resulted in ajob offer. I'll let Asyre tell the story:

I was interviewing candidates for an entry-level communications assistant.Everyone, as expected, tried to convince me of his or her accomplishments,drive, creativity, and dedication. This was true except for one applicant. As wesat down he asked if I'd read his résumé. I said I had. And then he asked me:

What looks to be the weakest part of my background? Can we talk about thatfirst? I know you're talking to a lot of people and you're probably looking towhittle down the list.

At first I was put off, but then I had to smile. He was right. I was approachingthe interview by concentrating on whom I could eliminate from the process. Bypositioning himself the way he did, he showed me that he could think outside thebox and he had initiative. He had thought about the interview from myperspective, and he helped direct the conversation in a way that was better forboth of us. It's unlikely I would have hired him had he not asked this question.He turned out to be the best assistant I ever hired.

Andrew Reese, an executive search recruiter with the McCormick Group inArlington, Virginia, calls these "red flag questions." Reese says, "While it'shard to ask questions that focus on your perceived weaknesses, it's often thebest strategy to invite the interviewer to challenge you on any red flags he orshe may have." Sometimes, according to Reese, the question is as direct as:

Is there any reason why you wouldn't want to hire me?

This is really a more direct version of the previous question. They are bothdesigned to uncover perceptions and attitudes that, unless...