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During an interview it’s always good to have some questions of your own ready to ask. Even though the interviewer may go through many topics of the job and company, and maybe even cover all of your questions, showing that you have taken the time to prepare some questions shows you have drive and initiative, both qualities that will help you secure the position you seek. In many cases if you decline to ask any additional questions the interviewer sees you as lacking any real initiative thus you have failed at this initial and most important stage of the hiring process.
The questions you develop should be those that are out of the ordinary, not those that interviewers routinely answer. You can develop a different line of questions if you take the time to research the company before the interview because the information you find will never cover all of the things you may want to know. Pick out events from the company’s history and ask questions that will provide the interviewer with a topic on which to expand. Be careful when you choose the questions—you don’t want to choose those that will stump the interviewer. Choose less obvious questions but also those that the company is more likely to make sure its employees know.
Although you may choose to ask questions about benefits if the interviewer doesn’t cover them, do not ask about salary. Many people want to jump into this one quickly, but it makes the interviewer think the salary is more important than the job and is a good way to lose the job before you are ever hired. If you have a minimum salary requirement you can discuss that when the company makes an offer of employment. You also don’t want to go too deeply into holidays and vacation thus making it appear you are more interested in the benefits the job offers rather than the position itself. You can get more specific when a job offer is made, and if you don’t like the terms you can negotiate or decline the company’s offer.
The questions you want to ask are those directly related to the job and the company—history of the company, how it has evolved over the years, sales records, quality standards and the like. As already stated, avoid topics that are specific to the position for which you are applying other than the actual job description.
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