1 type of question you should avoid during your interview!

The way you ask questions displays a certain level of sophistication. The quality of the question reflects your intelligence and this is certainly an area that your interviewer will be assessing.

But not all questions are good to ask.
The most detrimental type of questions are selfishly oriented.

For example, never ask what package is on offer. This is a classic mistake. The package for a given role is an information that you should find out prior to your interview or be patient enough to have this information when the employer deems it convenient.

Although no one would argue its importance in the final decision, Employers are looking for people interested about the role, not the salary.  Having said that, if your interviewer asks you what salary you expect, be sure to have an answer for that of course.

Another type of selfishly oriented questions, the working hours… This is also an information that should be found out prior to your interview, during the preparation stage.
Once again, employers expect that you should be interested to know more important things than the time you would start and finish work.

In the eyes of your employer, selfishly oriented questions will signal that the role you are being interviewed for is at a second degree of importance for you.

Remember that the purpose of an interview is to see if your “services” (skills, experience, know how, talent, personality…etc) can be a solution to the challenges that the company faces. Ask questions in that direction, ask about the company’s culture, ask about what employers think are your strength and weaknesses for the role, or ask what criteria / KPIs will be used to define success in your role. All these are smart, collaborative questions, unlike one sided questions around packages or working hours.

Please feel free to leave a comment below and let me know if you agree or not!

Until next time, keep investing on yourself!
Hamza Zaouali.