The first job interview may seem demanding, and the pressure of external factors can influence your behavior when you are a candidate for a position. The success of a job interview depends on a mix of factors, from your training as a candidate, to how you convey the information and get actively involved in the discussion.
The job interview does not just mean that the employer asks the questions and the candidate answers. It will be much appreciated if the competitor asks questions meant to clarify certain aspects.
In most cases, the interviewer will invite the candidate to ask questions about the vacancy. If the employer does not issue the invitation to ask questions, you, the candidate, can request this, in order to clarify the issues that are not clear enough.
The decision to fill a certain position belongs to both the employer and the candidate. The candidate can accept or reject a job offer, and this decision must be made on the basis of solid information, which the company provides in the interview.
The interaction during an interview should be as natural as possible, free from rigidity. The employer is interested in finding out useful information about the candidate, indicating to what extent he / she fits the vacancy. On the other hand, the candidate must also obtain information about the job for which he / she is interviewing.
In principle, candidates must ask questions in order to create a clear picture of what that job entails, as the choice will be made by them as well. The work environment and the organizational climate can significantly influence a person's career, and choosing the right job that will allow them to grow and develop is extremely important.
Moreover, when a candidate asks relevant questions about the position presented, it denotes an active presence in the discussion, confirming to the employer the alignment with the job requirements and the level of clarity obtained as a result of the discussion.
In other words, asking the right questions not only serves to clarify certain issues for the employee, but also to validate his/her ability to understand and assimilate. An employer can be convinced of the candidate's involvement, considering him/her suitable for the vacancy, in view of the questions he/she asks.
Generally speaking, your questions should be asked in the last part of the interview, at the end of the talk. The series of questions initiated by the employer should not be interrupted, as it usually follows a predetermined structure.
If, however, there are any doubts that you want to clarify at the moment, take advantage of the part allocated for the answer you have to provide, and at the end, ask the employer to allow you to ask him/her a question.
In most cases, the interviewer will assign a stage in the last part of the discussion, intended for questions from the candidate. If this invitation does not take place, you can ask for some time for questions.
Usually, your questions, as a potential employee, should be prepared from home, after studying the job advertisement, the company's website, the projects in which it was involved. There are a wide variety of interview questions and these largely depend on the specifics of the job, but also on the clarity with which a job advertisement is written.
The wording should be as clear and concise as possible so as not to risk receiving vague or off-topic answers. If your curiosities are related to the company and its actions, you can also specify the source of the initial information. Your motivation to seek information about the organization is generally appreciated, denoting seriousness and involvement.
It is important to mention that the questions you can ask depend, first of all, on the complexity of the discussion and the information that the interviewer provides. If complex information about the employee's responsibilities or the work team has been offered, the questions should no longer cover such topics. Therefore, the list of questions must always be adapted according to the topics covered in the discussion.
However, a candidate may ask the interviewer questions such as:
Evaluating an employee's performance is an extremely important step in the work process. The values obtained will influence salary increases, promotions, assignment of new tasks and much more. Therefore, it is important for a candidate to be able to anticipate the demands that the future employer has on his performance, knowing which of the aspects to focus on.
The performance indicators must be communicated to the candidate together with the requirements of the post. Only in this way will the potential employee be able to perform and improve his work.
Professional development is an issue pursued by most employees. A company that invests in the development of its employees and in improving their performance is a company that values human resources and an employer for which it is worth working.
Thus, in order to find out how the company can support your professional evolution, it is recommended to ask during the interview if training sessions or workshops are organized, if the company supports the promotion of employees and so on. You can suggest to the employer to give you some of the latest examples of such initiatives.
At Michelin, career opportunities are presented in the candidate's first interaction with the organization, so that he understands that employees are valued and their development is important.
This question applies if the description of the employee's responsibilities was brief, without too many details. It is absolutely necessary for a candidate to know what the daily duties will be, in order to decide knowingly whether the position suits him/her or not.
The interviewer may omit to give details, but these are especially important if the candidate has no experience in the labor market. Therefore, ask the employer to describe in detail a normal working day, with all the details and responsibilities that the job will entail.
You can ask what are the benefits that the employer offers. If your interlocutor has failed to mention such issues, you may be interested in whether you will benefit from meal vouchers, health insurance, additional days off, etc.
Depending on the organizational culture and financial capacity of each company, employers offer such benefits to employees to keep them motivated. Knowing this list of benefits, the decision to accept or not to accept a certain role can be much easier.
In Michelin, from the first discussion, the salary expectations of the candidate are also surveyed, to check if they are aligned with the company's salary policy.
The candidate may request the communication of a response period from the company to which he/she has applied, as well as the mention of the channel through which it will be offered.
If, for example, the employer has stated that they will reply by the end of the week via e-mail and this has not happened, the candidate may request a written response.
For a unique candidate experience, Michelin documented the entire recruitment and selection process, making it available to potential employees in each recruitment announcement. In this way, the candidate knows all the stages that take place during recruitment.
The above set of questions is indicative. The candidate should build their own questions, based on the previous interaction with the organization or the complexity of the job advertisement. The questions can be noted and selected at the time of the discussion, so that there is no risk of repeating certain topics previously discussed.
If you do not know what questions to ask in an interview, it is a good idea to analyze all the materials received from the employer, but also the resources available online, noting your curiosities. Perhaps some of these will be clarified along the way, while others will need further discussing.
There may also be more specific questions about organizational culture, teamwork, how to report or distribute tasks, and so on. And these are worth discussing, especially because, at some point, they will become defining aspects of the work.
If the candidate is at the beginning of his / her career, it is important to mention that the questions addressed to the employer are an important resource of information and represent a confirmation of the fact that he / she is actively involved, validating his / her compatibility with the vacancy.
A set of questions for the job interview is extremely useful for the interviewer as well, giving them the opportunity to communicate things they missed and helping them to form a solid opinion about the candidate.
The pandemic period has significantly changed the way companies perceive flexibility in the workplace and working remotely.
Having strong communication skills is an important asset for any employee, regardless of their work field.
At Michelin, we often say that we recruit for a long career, not just for a one-time job.
