Status: 18.12.2023, 15:15 PM
By: Carina Blumenroth
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If you want to change careers, you can't avoid job interviews. In doing so, you should not only answer questions, but also ask them yourself.
Shortly before the end of the year, many people reflect on their professional decisions and plan the next steps. In most cases, if you want to make a career change, you browse through a lot of job advertisements, you optimize your application documents and prepare for job interviews. If you want to excel at the latter, you should definitely take a comprehensive look at the company and your possible position. Likewise, you should not only passively answer the other person's questions, but also ask questions yourself. What questions come to mind.
Questions to ask in the interview
As an applicant, you should also ask questions during the interview. © Westend61/Imago
The interview is not only for the employer to get to know you as a potential new employee, but also for you to see if the position, the company's goals or the general way of working suits you. In this context, you should not be afraid to ask questions. The career portal Kununu informs that nowadays you can even ask questions about bonus payments, vacation days or benefits. However, general questions about your new job may also be important:
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- "What would a typical working day look like for me in this position?": If you ask the question like this and refer to yourself in it, you will make sure that the employer imagines that you are in this position. "It's a great psychological trick, because it's hard for people to let go of images that are anchored in their brains," career coach John Lees told Manager Magazine.
- "How do you define success for this position?": If you ask the question, check out the expectations and possible challenges you are facing, the Career Bible portal informs.
- "What challenges await me in the first 90 days?": When answering, pay attention to the nuances, what are the challenges in general, are there any conflicts at the moment and what does the team composition look like?
- "What are the most urgent projects/tasks I would tackle?"
- "What do you like most about working here?": When answering, you may be able to draw conclusions about the working atmosphere, dynamics and culture. If you don't have any luck with this, you can ask the following question:
- "How would you describe the company culture?"
- "Are there employees in the company who work remotely?": Be aware of which benefits are important to you, if these points are not addressed in the job advertisement or in the course of the interview, ask the questions. According to Kununu, one approach could also be to ask for an official regulation for working from home.
- "How do you promote employees?": If it is important to you that you can develop further, you should ask yourself how the company handles this. Are there internal opportunities or is it possible to take educational leave?
- "How do you deal with mistakes in your company?": This question can save you from a rude awakening later.
- "What are the next steps in your hiring process?"
The questions are only a selection. You should not ask all the questions, but choose questions that are suitable for you. Be aware of what you want from your new job and your new employer, and also pay attention to what is said between the lines.