The purpose of a job interview is as much for you to interview the company as it is for the company to interview you. So arrive at a job interview prepared to ask questions of your own.

You should get enough information about the company, the boss and the job to know if you’ll accept it if it’s offered to you. The boss makes it sound like a good deal because he/she wants to to accept if you get the offer. No boss wants to go through the whole search procedure, interviewing many candidates, and then have the first choice candidate turn the job down.

You should ask questions to find out exactly what’s involved in this job. And of course, you want indicate to the boss that you’re sincerely interested in what he or she has to offer. Also — and this is particularly important — you want the boss to reveal to you just what he or she is looking for in a new employee.

1) What, specifically, are the functions the person in this job will perform? You want to know what will be your responsibilities on a day to day basis.

(2) What do you feel is the profile of the ideal candidate for this job? What strengths and abilities are you looking for? When you know what the boss wants, you can show how you’ll fit right in.

(3) Do you see any changes in the future for this department? Would I be involved in those changes? How? You want to know what’s in store for the successful job candidate.

4. What are you aiming for in how this department functions? How does the department fit into the big picture of the company?

5) Who held the job last? How long? Why did he or she leave? You want to know if this is a swinging door position, in which no one can last very long, or whether it’s a launching pad for bigger things in the company.

6) What would I have to accomplish in this job to be considered first-rate? If you don’t know what the boss thinks is important, you’ll have no way to set your own work goals.

7. How often do does the company review compensation? Who would review me? You want to get a sense of how fast this company brings people along
If I’m as successful in this position as we’d both expect me to be, what might I be doing after a year? After two years? Be prepared for the response, “What would you like to be doing?” Go ahead and answer, but find out if the interviewer thinks your aspirations are realistic. You’re trying to find out whether there are good opportunities for promotion, or whether this is a dead-end job.

These are the kinds of questions that give you a feeling about the company, and how best to conduct yourself in this interview. Don’t be shy about asking them. The answers you get may save you from some rude surprises once you start work.

If you’re going to present yourself properly for any job opportunity, you have to know what the boss feels is important. Don”t volunteer anything about yourself until you know if it will count in your favor or not. Get the boss to talk first. Once you know what he/she is looking for, you can communicate only those things about you that are appropriate.