There Are Three Interview Questions You Should Never Ask
If you’re fortunate enough to be invited to interview with a company, do yourself a favor and do not waste their time. What do I mean by that?
It’s simple. Most people who are assigned to an interview team probably don’t want to be there. To them, the interview is just an hour or more taken from their day when they could be doing something else—something productive.
Not to mention the time they already had to spend reviewing your resume and preparing questions for the interview. It would be like pouring salt in a wound to confirm their belief that the interview was going to be a waste of time.
The average professional job requires 4–5 interviews before it’s filled. If you estimate that it takes about an hour to prepare for the interview and another hour to conduct the interview, that’s 8–10 hours per job opening.
What Are the Three Interview Questions You Should Never Ask?
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- Don’t ask about information you could have easily found with a quick Google search.
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- Don’t ask about salary, time off, or vacation. (I call these the selfish questions.)
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- Don’t ask if they have background checks or drugs tests. Assume they do.
Don’t Waste the Interviewer’s Time
Don’t go in and waste the interviewer’s time by asking questions you could have found with a few clicks on the internet. It speaks of either being lazy or stupid—or both. You wouldn’t walk into Apple and ask what’s been your best-selling product?
You wouldn’t do that because with one quick search of the internet, you would have discovered that it was the iPhone. You would also have discovered that Apple has sold one billion of them and that it’s the best-selling product of all time. The interviewer knows this, so if you ask the question or any similar questions, they will wonder why you didn’t do your homework.
Don’t ask about salary. Unless your expectations are way out of line, I’m sure they can pay you enough to satisfy you. In thirty-five years of headhunting, I had fewer than a handful of cases where the salary spoiled the deal. The company was either flexible enough to accommmodate salary, or they made up for it with other perks. Besides, it’s up to you to sell yourself. Your résumé got you the interview, but it won’t get you the job. You have to do that yourself.
And if you’re concerned about salary, simply make yourself invaluable. Show them that they can’t do without you. Trust me. They’ll find a way to afford you if you convince them it’s the right decision.
And don’t ask if the company conducts background checks or drug tests. It sends a red flag if you ask that; in fact, it’s like waving a red flag in their face. The interviewer will wonder why you’re worried. Go into the interview assuming that a thorough background check and a drug screen will be conducted. If you have anything to worry about, you need to bring it up during the interview. Do not wait for a problem to show up and then try to explain it.
I’ve written blogs before on how to conduct yourself in an interview. This is simply more information on what not to do.
The Bottom Line
Remember how hard you worked to get an interview? Don’t blow it once you get there. Be prepared with the right questions, not the wrong ones.
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Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes nonfiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series as well as books about grammar, publishing., and children’s fiction and nonfiction.
When Giacomo isn’t writing, he’s helping his wife take care of the animals on their sanctuary. At last count, they had forty animals—seven dogs, one horse, six cats, and twenty-five pigs.
Oh, and one crazy—and very large—wild boar, who used to take walks with Giacomo every day.
He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with forty-five loving “friends.”
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