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Comment by chrisbennet | Hacker News Reader

Re: "Do you have any questions?"

A few years ago I started asking the interviewer this question:

"I'm always looking to learn new things. Given what you've seen of my resume', what new things could I learn here?"

I sincerely wanted/want to know this but I discovered that there was an unintended side benefit: In response to this question, the interviewer often tries to "sell" you on the company which changes the dynamic. Instead of you trying to please the interviewer, the interviewer is now trying to please you instead - or at least it seemed that way to me.

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I also like the question "Now that you've interviewed me and seen my abilities, how do you feel my working here will impact the team/company? What will I help out the most with?" I found it to be an effective question at turning it around, but it also makes them think about just what I could accomplish for them. It gives me a good gage of how well I did before I even leave the interview.

I feel that question is far too upfront for an interview, definitely an initial interview anyways. You're not asking where they think you could fit, you've phrased it as where do I fit?. It's an interview, not a job offer.

This wouldn't happen in a phone screen. This is for the on-site interview after I've already gotten a positive feel for it.

Maybe I didn't word it perfectly, but it is partially out of a desire to know how they think I would benefit the company. Am I just another redundant cog in the machine, or am I really going to play a key role? I guess it is a good point to still make it in hypothetical language.

The problem with this question is that you are probably talking to a HR flunky at this point. It's a good question if you are interviewing with a particular department, but not something your average recruiter is going to have a clue about.

Oh I totally agree. I really dislike interviewing with anyone that I'm not going to be working with. It seems like that is a one way interview in that case. Why ask questions if the people who are answering them have no clue what the answers really are?

I always want to reply, "Are you asking because you legitimately want to enhance my understanding of this company and role, or is this a filter for how clever a question I can come up with?" ... because I usually can't tell, and it would affect my answer.

If I get asked for questions at the end and I genuinely can't think of anything I'll be honest about it and say something like:

"I think we've have covered everything I was curious about. I have your bussiness card though, so would you mind if I get in touch with you if I think of anything further?"

Which I suppose is a question in itself :)

I tend to ask a lot of questions throughout the interview so I'm not really the kind of person who waits until the end to seek clarification about something.

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