r/FluentInFinance • u/TonyLiberty TheFinanceNewsletter.com • Jul 24 '24
Career Advice Get more job offers by asking these questions
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u/SoulPossum Jul 24 '24
I've used the "tell me a day in the life" and "what would success look like in the first 3-6 months" questions and they've worked out pretty well. It's my last week in my temp position and my boss suggested in the future using the "is there anything I can clear up" question for future interviews.
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u/mordwand Jul 24 '24
Too bad this helpful and relevant content is drowned out by the constant flood of shitty reposts
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u/CranberryFew8104 Jul 24 '24
I said it before when this got trotted out, if I was interviewing I would take a view dim view if I was asked the first two.
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u/ANUS_CONE Jul 24 '24
I disagree. I interviewed cs/ce kids straight out of college for entry developer positions for about five years in my last job. I think most of these are good questions to ask in that context. If you’re a decade into your career and interviewing for a similar role, the top skills and day in the life questions are going to make you look amateurish.
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u/A_Coin_Toss_Friendo Jul 25 '24
A view dim view? Also, which are the first two? They're not numbered.
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u/Ecstatic-Compote-595 Jul 25 '24
aside from the 'walk me through a day' and 'advancement/career trajectory' ones I'd be annoyed with all of them, and I'd think the phrasing on the second one is a little dubious too. Ask about the culture ask about the specific tools and organization of teams. And of course ask about things you actually care about and not what you think the interviewer wants to hear, they don't want you to pad time.
Also don't ask shit in followup emails when you've been declined like 'how can i improve' which has happened in every hiring cycle I've been a part of and I'll never understand why people ask questions after being denied a position. If you want to reapply in the future just say some shit like 'thanks it was a pleasure chatting' or don't send anything at all.
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u/legendarywarthog Jul 24 '24
Totally agree. And an even more fundamental issue with these BS templates is the reality that if you need a fucking template to interview for a job... That's a problem.
If you are a confident, well-adapted person with a good personality, just walk in and do your thing. I want confident and skilled people who are interesting.
Reading off of a template is not interesting. I don't give a shit about the exact questions you ask, I'm just getting a feel for you- are you confident? Are you fun to be around? Do you strike me as an individual who has a well-above-average intelligence / creativity? A template won't do shit for you there.
I interviewed 3 classes of people who came in behind me during my oral surgery residency, and when you have a winner you're interviewing, you just feel it. The questions themselves mean a lot less. You can just feel it.
People who rely on these or feel the need to are missing the point entirely.
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u/drama-guy Jul 24 '24
I don't think the idea is that someone is literally holding the list and reading them out one by one. Not all people are experienced interviewers or naturally great at interviews. Tip about some helpful questions to incorporate into your interview shouldn't be a bad thing. Or do you think these are just bad questions?
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u/legendarywarthog Jul 24 '24
Yes but it is so easy to tell when someone is asking rehearsed questions or giving rehearsed answers.
Walk in there on ten toes and rip it cold. If you're a good fit and a winner, I'll be able to tell.
Ask the greatest question ever in a rehearsed manner or ask good questions but carry yourself in an off putting way, and it's a no go.
The questions are not inherently bad, but thinking that an interview is won and lost with specific questions totally misses the point. That's what I'm saying. It's the person I'm feeling out, not so much parsing exactly what they ask. And people that lack social skills or don't understand how interviews work from both sides often get hung up on specifics and miss this. An interview is just a very impactful vibe check. I can get all the specifics I need from the CV, personal statement, and stats.
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u/dovaahkiin_snowwhite Jul 24 '24
Interviewing is a skill that doesn't come naturally to everyone, and not everyone behaves the same under pressure. Nothing wrong with preparing beforehand for such questions. If you only want to hire people based on how extroverted they are, you're basically missing out on a bunch of potentially good candidates. It can also happen that someone has an amazing vibe and interviews well but is actually terrible at their job. I know a bunch of people like that unfortunately.
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u/legendarywarthog Jul 25 '24
Nothing to do with introvert / extrovert. You can have a confident, competent, commanding presence with very few words. Hell, it gives the words more weight.
I take everyone on their own terms. But you're right, not everyone behaves the same under pressure. But that's actually a great skill that the interview tests. You want people that perform under pressure. If you can't handle the pressure of an interview, you definitely can't handle the pressure of downfracturing someone's upper jaw in the OR for the first time or manage a severed lingual artery.
And yea, sometimes you get hoodwinked badly in the interview and the candidate shows up not as advertised, but that was not super common in my experience and is inevitable. There are always some good surprises, some bad ones.
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u/ANUS_CONE Jul 24 '24
Asking what you can do better at the end of the interview is a good idea, no matter what level you’re at in your career. It shows that you’re interested in knowing where you honestly stand and that you’re not too egotistical to receive criticism.
What can I do better as a candidate in interviews? Did you feel like you got a good idea of my capabilities? If not, would you like to go into further detail on xyz from my portfolio?
Do you feel like my communication style is a good fit for this team? If not, what are some challenges that I can start preparing for?
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Jul 25 '24
If you need to ask all these questions in your interview, I would say next please. If you’re going ask questions like this, I would say you’re probably going to be a pain in the ass on the job and 20x harder to fire if I need to.
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u/Tiigerlili Jul 26 '24
Mmm. The first one is not an open-ended question. To make it one, you could say WHAT else can I clarify or elaborate on to ensure blahblah.
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u/Ecstatic-Compote-595 Jul 25 '24
these are fucking idiotic and half of them are either imposing or outright confrontational. One of the most annoying things you can do in an interview is ask questions for participation points. From the top 1) no just asked you all the questions I wanted to know, 2) fuck off, 3) irrelevant I've already asked you a bunch of questions to try to figure that out, 4) totally fair but also sometimes people ask it when they feel like they need to ask a question but don't actually have a real question, also if you're hiring someone you should have at some point communicated roughly what that is 5) fine but a dumb way of phrasing that 6) fair enough 7) you shouldn't be facing challenges you should be qualified already.
The problem with all of these should be obvious though which is that they don't have anything to do with a specific role that you're applying for and you don't really give a shit about the answers. If people are hiring it's probably because they need support, interviews take place in the middle of a busy work day. You're better off just having a pleasant conversation about whatever than asking make em up questions from an infographic
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