Introduction

You applied for a sales-related job, landed an interview and your interviewer asks the inevitable question: “So, do you have any questions for me?”.

Your answer to this question should always be “yes”!

Interview follow-up questions are a great opportunity for you to highlight strong points that for whatever reason weren’t probed in the interview and also to demonstrate to your interviewer that you actually care about the job or organization you are applying for.

So make sure you ask questions after an interview – if you do it right, it will definitively boost your chances.  We’ll show you how.

Assessing the first part of the interview

Before diving into the follow-up questions, you should take a second to assess how the first part of the interview was – when the interviewer asks you the questions.

Was it a great interview and you only want to end on a high note?  Was it an interview where you aren’t sure you did your best?  Or was it an interview where you didn’t perform at your best and it needs to be salvaged ASAP?

The questions you’ll ask depend a lot on your assessment of the first part of the interview.  Unfortunately, I can’t give you a hard and fast answer to the questions you need to ask – you need to think about which questions would benefit you the most.

Below are some questions split up into broad categories to keep in mind as you wrap up your interview.  Mix and match those questions to maximize your chances of getting hired.

Questions about the organization and the role you are applying for

1. What is the culture at this organization?
2. What is the culture in this department?
3. What can you tell me about the team I’ll work with?
4. What do the people who work here love the most about this organization?
5. What is the leadership team at this organization focused on fixing right now?
6. How does this role fit within the broader organization?  Is it a strategic role?
7. What is the process for giving feedback in this organization?
8. How is success measured for the person in this job?
9. Do I have a say in setting my targets and goals?
10. Does the organization expect evolution or revolution when it comes to this role?

Questions about the work that has to be done

1. What’s the biggest challenge facing the person that takes this job?
2. What kind of resources would I have available?
3. In how much time does the organization expect results from my work?
4. Do you feel the biggest challenge facing this role is internal or external?
5. How much freedom do I have in setting up my workflow?
6. What are the organization’s biggest competitors?
7. What is the organization’s biggest challenge?
8. What common mistakes have people in this role done?
9. Is there a product or initiative pipeline?  How does it look?
10. How much attention will I get from my immediate superior?

Questions about long term commitment

1. What kind of training and development opportunities are available?
2. Does this organization do broadening assignments?
3. What do I need to do to advance my career here?
4. Is this company profitable/growing?  Only ask this in case the information is not publicly available.
5. Ask about benefits if this information hasn’t been provided yet.
6. Do you see this role having expanded responsibilities in the future?
7. Does the company have a long-term vision?
8. Does the company have plans to go public (in case this is a privately held company)?
9. How transparent is upper management with the rest of the employees?
10. What is the company’s employee churn rate?

Questions you should not ask in an interview!

1. Did I get the job?
2. How did I do?
3. How did I do compared to the other candidates?
4. How soon can I request days off?
5. How soon can I ask for a raise?

Closing the interview

While asking follow-up questions is absolutely crucial for a successful interview, don’t go overboard.  You might have allocated a whole afternoon to an interview, but your interviewer might have only 30 minutes!

Therefore, you have to play things by ear and gauge how much time the interviewer has leftover for your questions.  In some cases, you’ll only be able to ask one question, while in others (especially for jobs higher up in the organization), it is not unheard of chatting for hours after the formal interview is over.  Though keep in mind that the person you are chatting with will definitively still be in “interview mode”!

One last question you must ask the interviewer is pretty straightforward: What are the next steps following this interview?  This shows you are interested in the job and it will also help you feel less stressed while waiting for an answer.

Practice for your interview!  Here’s how:

Interviews are very stressful and can break down even the most confident applicants.  One way to make sure your confidence is solid is to practice your interview.

Prepare for the interview appropriately and practice with a platform like Voomer – you’ll be able to practice and receive feedback on those very questions listed above (and more!) in an environment that is very similar to the real interview.

If you are curious about how Voomer’s AI-powered video assessment tools can help you to prepare thoroughly for your upcoming video essays click below to get started!

If you feel we’ve left any out any questions would like us to update the list please email us: [email protected]