Here are five great questions that can set you apart from other candidates.
This post originally appeared onLinkedIn.
To them, what theyaskis a lot more important than the answer to the question.
Great candidates want to hit the ground running.
They don’t want to spend weeks or months “getting to know the organization.”
They want to make a difference right away.
Plus they want toknow how they’ll be evaluatedso they definitely want to understand objectives and expectations.
“What are the common attributes of your top performers?”
Great candidates also want to be great long-term employees.
Every organization is different, and so are the key qualities of top performers in those organizations.
Maybe thetop performerswork longer hours.
Or maybe flexibility and creativity is more important than following rigid processes.
Or maybe landing new customers in new markets is more important than building long-term customer relationships.
“What are the one or two things thatreallydrive results for the company?”
Employees are investments, and every employee should generate a positive return on his or her salary.
(Otherwise why are they on the payroll?)
In every job some activities make a bigger difference than others.
“What do employees do in their spare time?”
Granted this is a tough question for an interviewer to answer.
Unless the company is really small, all any interviewer can do is speak in generalities.
“How do you plan to deal with…?”
Say I’m interviewing for a position at a bike shop.
Another shop is opening less than a mile away.
“How do you plan to deal with the new competitor?”
Everything else he picks up fromghostwriting booksfor some of the smartest innovators and leaders he knows in business.
Image adapted fromBoBaa22(Shutterstock).
Photos byMaryland GovPics(Flickr) andGangplank HQ(Flickr).
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