The Best Interview Questions for a Candidate to Ask

I think it’s safe to say that we have all been there at one point in our lives: interviewing for our dream job. The one that is going to change your life – maybe even your families.  Working as a Technical Resource Manager here at EDI Staffing, I get asked this question all the time: what are the best interview questions to ask a potential employer?  Well, over the next few paragraphs, I would like to cover some tips that could help relieve that stress for the big day.

Is this is a new position? Or replacement position? 

A good starting point is to find out if this is a new position within the company. Or are they replacing someone? If the position is new, you would want to ask about the ideal characteristics that the right candidate would have. If you are replacing a former employee, you may want to find out the reasons it didn’t work out for that particular person. What skill set was lacking?

What do you consider to be the key skills set for this position?

Another good question to ask is to try and find out the very specific skill set they are looking for. What does the employer envision as the top skill set for this position? What’s most important to them? Is it work ethic? Loyalty? A specific technology skill set?

What are the company’s goals for the present and future?

Another question to ask is what is the outlook of the company?  Where do they see themselves over the next few years? What are the company’s goals? What initiatives do they have in place to help get there?

What are the expectations of the person filling the position?

Inquire with the hiring manager about the expectations of the employee who will be fulfilling this role. What is his or her manager’s goals for that person – whether it be daily goals or yearly goals? This will give you great insight to what your day would be like. You would have a good handle of what is expected of you.

What are the next steps?

As you wrap up the interview, it’s always good to ask the interviewer what are the next steps? That way you can see if there is another round of interviews. Would they be making a decision by then? If you are working with an agency like EDI Staffing, they will probably circle back with us.

Conclusion

Interviewing can be very stressful for anyone. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time or you are a seasoned veteran. Being in the staffing industry, candidates that take the time to research and ask prominent questions to the interviewer always seem to do well. There are just a few of the questions that one can ask. Hope this helps and happy hunting!

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