At some point during your job interview, you are going to be asked, “Did you have any questions for me?” And you don’t want to hear crickets after this. You need to be armed with a question, but it has to be a good question. You’re at a slight disadvantage because you know the least about the company. Still your question has to demonstrate your head’s in the right place and you know a little bit. Here’s some important issues that most interviewers/hiring managers will likely appreciate your curiosity of.

1. Growth.

Ask a questions that shows you understand the size of the organization (midsize, small, startup, etc.). Ask if the company is planning on growing and what the hiring goals might be. You don’t have to tee up much here to get a good enthusiastic answer.

2. Career path.

Now you can ask about opportunities for your career. Don’t worry, this isn’t a selfish question, or if it is then it’s the good kind of selfish. Companies are looking for ambitious hires. They want you to grow because that incentivizes better work from you.

3. Culture.

Hiring managers are going to want to brag about the work environment. Let this happen. Here’s another place where you won’t need to be very specific to get some good information from the person.

4. Challenges.

Ask about the top challenges they’re facing and try to loop in your role and how their decision to hire you addresses those problems.

5. Big Upcoming Projects.

It’s likely the company you’re interviewing with has just won some business. If it hasn’t come up yet ask about any significant projects on the horizon and again speak to how your role addresses those needs.

When you’re just getting familiar with a company it’s less about making knowledgeable statements than it is being able to ask the right questions. At your interview, you’ll likely have to demonstrate this. It’s probably best to be sort of vague in your line of inquiry, and let the interviewers fill in the blanks. All of your questions should revolve around clarifying the expectations each party should have. That’s the big goal. Once you have clarity there, you can start providing value, and that’s what every company is looking for.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.