“Do you have any questions for me?” - How to counter-interview your interviewer.
The psychology of counter-interviewing.
In the last 5-10 minutes of an interview, your interviewer may ask whether you have any questions for them. Unfortunately, most candidates make one of two mistakes:
They don’t have any questions.
They ask vague questions that the interviewer does not find engaging.
You may think that the problem with making these mistakes is that - as a candidate - you are missing an opportunity to learn more about the role you are interviewing for.* But really, the core issue is that you are (unintentionally) suggesting to your interviewer that - over the course of the interview session - you have not developed any interest in learning more about them.
At a subconscious level, this can be frustrating for the interviewer. It can also make them feel like they were not able to create a pleasant interview experience for you (most interviewers do care about candidates!).
Here is the thing: most people enjoy talking about themselves and their experiences. So - as a general rule - good counter-interview questions are questions that get your interviewer to talk about them. Learning about them and their experiences allows you to find common ground and establish a connection.
* There are better times to learn about the details of the role. For example: you can discuss the role in your initial conversation with the recruiter or you can request a dedicated conversation with the hiring manager and the members of their team after you clinch a job offer from them.
Why is counter-interviewing important?
So, why is the counter-interview part of an interview important? Because it can spark a more relaxed conversation between you and your interviewer that can positively influence the interviewer’s perception of you:
If you aced the core part of the interview, this conversation will further consolidate in the interviewer’s mind the positive impression that you made on them. If they already thought you were a “hire”, they may now think you are a “strong hire”.
If the core part of your interview didn’t go too well, your interviewer will still appreciate your maturity, curiosity, and enthusiasm. Sure, maybe you didn’t pass... But perhaps you still earned a fan and made a useful professional connection who could be useful in the future.
In all other cases, this conversation may offset flaws in the core part of the interview, and sometimes even shift the interviewer’s decision from “no hire” to “hire”.
When it comes to job interviews it’s better to plan ahead and not improvise. Let’s take a look at some examples of good counter-interview questions.
3 examples of good counter-interview questions.
Here are 3 example questions that can help you get your interviewers to talk about themselves, their interests, and their experiences:
How has your leadership/technical knowledge/… evolved since you started working with this company/organization/team/…?
This question gives the interviewer an opportunity to tell you about their growth and how that growth happened (e.g. positive and negative experiences, lessons learned, etc.).What are some of the skills/competencies/areas of expertise/… that you and your team have developed together and that you are most proud of?
A question like this allows the interviewer to share with you examples of how they were able to use their talents to influence the team and support its growth and transformation.What projects/activities/topics/… do you find most exciting for your development and for the development of your team?
In this case, you create an opportunity for the interviewer to talk about their interests and how they may be trying to get the rest of the team to develop those same interests.
Remember: a key element of a successful counter-interview is to put the interviewer at the center of the conversation. Try to create opportunities for them to tell you about themselves and their experiences so that you can find common ground and establish a connection.
We hope that you found this article useful, especially if you are currently interviewing for a job. If you’d like to learn more about how to get personalized coaching to ace your interviews, please feel free to reach out to us here.
