Do you have any further questions for me?

“Do you have any further questions for me?” 

There is a big chance you will hear the same thing from a Recruiter in your next job interview. I bet you have already heard it before, but it could come up again another time.

If you know already that you might face this question in an interview, there are no excuses to be surprised about it anymore. There is no apology to do not know what to reply when the time arrives. Certainly I can´t predict that you will for sure be asked a similar question, but in any case, why not taking advantage of the situation and think about it before your interview starts?

I personally ask this question in almost 100% of my interviews. I worked with other Recruiters that didn´t find this question that relevant, but I notice that most of the interviewers will consider giving you, candidate, the chance to come up with some questions, most likely at the last part of the interview.

You could wait for the Recruiter to ask you directly “Do you have any further questions for me?” (or the same question, but using different words) , or you can also create this situation, if it does not happen. How can you do that? Well, when you notice that the interview is coming to the very end, inquire politely if you can ask a couple of questions about the company and the job, in order to clarify details that you consider important.

Pay attention to it: a “couple” of questions; three or four maximum. Don´t go for ten questions at this part of the interview. I had candidates who asked me so many things when I guided the conversation to final questions that we spent almost as long as the whole interview duration clarifying his “further questions”. Two or three things to ask should be enough in this case.

I like to think about the interview process as a two-way street. The Recruiter will be evaluating you as a candidate, your skills, your profile and other aspects that he needs to check. You, as a candidate, should not lose the chance to also get to know better the company you are applying for, and make your decision about if it is what you are looking for or not. The interview should be a mutual discover.

If you ask further questions that show you did some research about the company, that you thought deeply about the job description or that you know well about the industry, you should be safer. Maybe those questions will not impress the Recruiter for some reason, but you won´t give a dummy image either. Be careful with the silly questions that you could ask, because those questions will definitely make you look bad and maybe loose the job.

We Recruiters want to see that you care about the job you are applying. Every interviewer will love to see that this is not “just one more job” for you. One way to show that is to spend some time getting ready for the interview and doing some research about the company you want to be part. If you don´t know a single information about the business, and you ask obvious or inappropriate questions, the Recruiter can start having doubts about your commitment and interest for the job. It happened to me more than once: I changed my mind about making a job offer to a candidate after hearing his extra questions.

If you get the chance to ask further questions to the Recruiter, take it as a gift. You have the power to improve the image you showed the Recruiter until that point. You can shine skills that you didn´t have the chance to demonstrate before. You can clarify aspects that are important for you about the job. So use this chance to promote your professional image as a candidate and increase the chances of getting the job.

Do your best and go ahead!

As you know, English is not my native language. I use it because I can reach more people and share my experience with you. Feel free to visit my blog at julianarabbi.blogspot.com and find more articles and videos.

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