Are You Asking the Right Questions?

Much of the career advice out there focuses on interview preparation for candidates, specifically on how best to formulate answers to typical questions. But just as important—maybe even more important—are your questions during the interview. 

Any parent knows that asking a teenager, “How was school today?” will not get any meaningful response. You might get a grunt, “Okay” or “Fine” in response. This is because the question is meaningless. It does not ask anything specific, nor does it indicate a genuine interest on the part of the person asking. It also tells your kid, “I have no idea how to communicate with you, and I know nothing about your life.” It is canned, and your teenager knows it. Consider how you enjoy being asked canned questions, such as “Where do you see yourself in five years?” or “What is your greatest weakness?” 

It is undoubtedly true that, in any situation, the responses you get are driven by the questions you ask. You know that you should ask questions when you go to an interview. Are you asking the right ones or the equivalent of “How was school?” 

The best way to ensure that the questions you’re posing will elicit a meaningful response is to ask questions with a clear purpose that aren’t canned and designed to give you more information. I have a friend who, rather than asking her teenage daughter, “How was school?” instead asks her to tell her, “What was the most annoying thing that happened at school today?” As you can imagine, the latter always gets a substantive answer. Similarly, if you ask your interviewer, “Can you describe your management style?” you might get something like, “I believe in open and honest communication, I engender trust, I let people run with ideas.” It’s a non-answer, and it doesn’t tell you anything. If you say instead, “I read about the new regulation that you’ll have to comply with by the end of next year. How do you plan to roll that out to employees,” you will likely get an actual answer. 

The point is to ask questions that get people to tell a story. Humans are natural storytellers, and storytelling makes some of the most effective communication happen. No one enjoys having a trite, canned question posed. Allow your interviewer to talk about himself and describe how he handles problems, lays out a vision, or deals with outside pressures such as regulation. The way that those questions are answered will give you much more insight into the role and the hiring manager’s management style than asking directly about either will ever do.