“So….have you any questions for us”? Asked the interviewer.

What questions can you, and should you ask when at an interview?


“Don’t clamour for an interview. Instead search for the INNER VIEW”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba (Indian Spiritual Leader, b 1926)



I was delighted to perform a hat trick at the Back to Business Club in Peterborough last week. They invited me back for a third time to present a seminar to local executives currently looking for their next job, the topic was interview techniques.

One of the areas I was asked for my opinion on was what questions should you ask at the close of the interview…when the interviewer smiles, leans forward and asks, “so, is there anything you would like to ask us?”

Whilst this is still clearly part of the interview process and therefore an opportunity to try and impress the interviewer with your skills, talents, motivation and personality, it’s often tricky to think what to ask.

Here are my thoughts and general comments that I shared with the group last week on how to handle this part of the selection process:-

Tactic: Think about your questions in advance, write them down and take them with you.

Reasons – make life easy for yourself, (as you can’t possibly remember them all). Also, if you get a good interviewer they should have answered pretty much everything that you wanted to know, however, you want to demonstrate that you have been proactive and thought about this, so you can run through you list and say thank you for answering them.

Tactic: Do your research into the organisation, obviously the internet makes this easy, but don’t forget using your network of people, LinkedIn etc to really get to the bottom of who they are, what their current challenges are in the market, what strengths they have, and where they are going in the future.

Reason – people often don’t close the interview well as they ask questions that they really should have know the answers to, if they had bothered to do the research, and taken the time in advance to find out.

Tactic - Draft questions for the interviewer that will help you decide if you are going to take the job if you are offered it.

Reason – in my opinion this is by far the main reason for asking any questions of the interviewer. You have a really big decision to make here, is this job right for you, will you be happy etc, etc. You can never ever be 100% confident that you are making the right decision. However, by asking some probing, honest questions it can help you decide, rather than holding them and regretting, when after a month in the role, you really come to conclusion that you hate it, and would have been better off unemployed or still in your last role.

Wishing you good luck with your interview and questions at the end!