When I was a recruiter, I would sometimes hear from the manager after the interview that they weren’t sure the candidate was truly interested since the candidate didn’t take any notes or ask any questions. Later I’d hear from the candidate, “But all my questions were answered during the interview so I didn’t have anything left to ask.”
This taught me to coach job seekers to always take at least a few notes during the interview and always have two or three pre-written questions. It’s good to write them down in case your mind suddenly goes blank when you get the question, “Do you have any questions?”
Okay, so here is one of my special interviewing tips – it’s a little secret that has served many of my clients well over the years.
Even if you have all of your questions answered, say this when they ask you if you have any questions: “Well, actually, you have answered all of my questions, especially the one about x and the one about y.”
Simply adding that little ending to the sentence will give you three advantages:
- First – It shows that you truly did prepare for the interview, which demonstrates your interest in the job. It proves that you actually came in the door with some questions.
- Second – It might trigger the interviewer to then expand on the topics you are most interested in, thereby giving you even more information than you had before.
- Third – Now the interviewer knows what’s truly important to you, which is a great way to start an employer/employee relationship.