13 Questions to Ask an Interviewer

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Well-prepared and germane questions for a potential employer not only allow you to effectively gauge the strength of the opportunity and how well it matches your requirements, they also provide the interviewer with a strong impression of your commitment and professionalism. The following questions have all proven to be highly relevant and effective:


1. What does it take to excel in the position and your corporate environment?

Establishing the ground rules and characteristics for success from day one is a fantastic way to ensure that management and its employees are both aware of the expectations the company has.  It also allows you to craft a strongly tailored response as to how you can utilize your knowledge and skills to succeed with them.

2. Have the employer discuss his/her career and their development at the current company. Why did they choose to work there and what keeps them happy?

Who better to convince you that the company they are working for and the opportunities within it are superb and worth your hard work?  If the interviewer cannot do this adequately then perhaps they have misgivings about their current environment that must be taken into consideration. | Continue reading |

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Lessons Learned from an Unexpected Candidate Placement: Part 2

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In my last post I outlined the story of an individual who took great initiative and was rewarded with the best job of his career. Here are some of the important points I was able to mine and utilize from that and other similar experiences in recruitment.

Generate your own luck
Did I have a great deal to do with this placement? Aside from helping to construct the contract and attending to all final ancillary items, the general and seemingly obvious answer would be no. However, the individual who produced the successful candidate may very well have never been located and prompted to action without hard, focused work, a strong presentation of the benefits of the position, and a willingness to continually strive to improve one’s professional approach. Diligence and perseverance always seem to be hallmarks for most people who are perceived as having more than their fair share of fortunate breaks. | Continue reading |

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Lessons Learned from an Unexpected Candidate Placement: Part 1

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Five years ago I was in the process of helping a client locate an exceptional sales leader for a high-profile global account position within their organization. I had arranged for the VP of Sales to meet with a very well qualified, proven group of five individuals – all of whom would undoubtedly represent the company with great aplomb and, most importantly, greatly improve customer relations and rapidly increase revenues generated from all pertinent accounts.

The interviews had been set up to take place in successive order over a period of five hours. The hiring manager and I had agreed to dissect the discussions immediately after all had been completed. Unbeknownst to me, one of the account executives (let’s call him Mark) had spoken with an associate at another company about his candidacy for the position and, upon further discussion, both had apparently decided that our new player (designated Steve) would be a better match for the role. | Continue reading |

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