The Hidden Question In All Job Interviews
July 17th, 2008
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The year was 1998, and we were at the peak of the tech boom. I was about to graduate from Virginia Tech with a master’s degree in computer science, and I had a 4.0 GPA. It was a good time to look for a job.
One company was flying in a few Virginia Tech students for interviews. We flew in to Raleigh-Durham, NC the day before, spent the night in a hotel, and a car was sent for us in the morning. We showed up at the office, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
They showed us around the building and pointed out all the groundbreaking work they were doing. Then they put on a fantastic presentation, and I was completely sold. During my interviews, I easily answered all the questions they threw at me, and I had a great feeling about everything. At the end, I smiled, shook the guy’s hand, and waited outside with the rest of the candidates. Pretty soon I would be told that I had taken one giant leap towards the American Dream.
Except that I didn’t get the job.
“What do you mean I didn’t get the job?” I shouted, with little concern for how I sounded. The lady just said “Unfortunately, the interviewers didn’t think you were a good match for the positions they had available.” Today, I know that that’s a euphemism for “You suck.” Back then, I thought they really meant that somehow my skills didn’t fit anything they had available.
I couldn’t stop trying to figure out what had gone wrong. I replayed my interviews over and over in my head, and I didn’t really see what I could have done better. I guess I could have answered some of the questions faster, instead of taking some time to remember the syntax of certain Unix commands, but I didn’t think that was it.
I decided that I had to email them and find out. So I wrote up a polite but direct email, saying I really wanted to work there, I was confused about why I didn’t get an offer, and I was wondering if they could tell me why.
The answer really surprised me. It was right then that I learned the most important question to answer in a job interview is one that doesn’t get asked. And that question is “Do you want the job?”
The lady said that the interviewers liked me, and they were impressed with my technical knowledge, but they thought I was just job shopping, and didn’t seem to have any real interest in the company at all. They said I didn’t ask many questions, or even say that I wanted the job.
Wait a minute, time out here–I have to tell them that I want the job? Why the hell would I fly in and interview for a job I didn’t want? And no real interest in the company? I had spent days reading their website and they were one of my top two choices. I didn’t ask many questions because I already knew what I needed to know. Why didn’t they ask me why I wanted to work there, if there was any doubt?
I thought that an interview was like a test: they ask questions, you answer them correctly, and you get the job. But actually, you pass the test by asking questions, not answering them. You ask questions to show interest in the company and convince them that you want the job.
I didn’t get my dream job, but I had a second chance. Right before I had hopped on the plane for the first interview, I had gotten a message from another person in that company, inviting me in for an interview in a different division. So when I returned, I set up that interview and got on another plane, this time to New Jersey. Time to test out my new interviewing skills.
I knew the company’s drill by now, so I was a little impatient with seeing the tour and the presentation again. I wanted to get to the interview. While I thought I’d do better in the interview this time, there was something going against me. At the first interview, I was competing against other Virginia Tech students. This time, I was competing against people from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Carnegie Mellon. Would asking a few questions be enough to stand out against them?
It was. I got the job. In fact, I had multiple people fighting over me, and I got an offer for about 50% more money than my next best offer.
What made this moment even better is that I recognized one of the people there from the first interview. She was the one I had emailed to find out why I didn’t get the job before. She came up to me, smiled, and said “I’ll pass this news on to your friends from the other office.” (Incidentally, I’ve sometimes wondered how my life would have turned out if I had gotten the job in North Carolina instead of New Jersey.)
So my tricks worked, but I didn’t know why. All I did was ask questions that weren’t really important, or which I already knew the answer to. My natural inclination is to ask questions to obtain information, not to impress people. But apparently, asking questions is an effective way to show that you want a job.
Here are some of my favorite interview questions to ask:
- How long have you worked here?
- What is your favorite thing about working here?
- If you had to pick something as your least favorite thing about working here, what would that be?
- What kind of person are you looking for?
- Can you talk about what would make someone a good match, or not a good match?
- Can you describe a typical day here?
I’ve heard several times that at the end of the interview, you should explicitly state that you want the job. If you can find a natural way to say that, fine, but I like to ask “Is there any reason you wouldn’t hire me?” This makes it clear that you want the job, and it has the added benefit of possibly giving you a chance to address any perceived weaknesses.
There are other questions that will implant the idea of you working there, such as “Can I meet some of the people I’d be working with?” or “Where are the good places to have lunch around here?”
You should send an email after the fact as a thank you, and you can use this to clarify that you really want to work there. I sent one thank you email where I said that I was wearing the temporary tattoo they had given me. Later, they said they hired me specifically because of that. (Their second reason for hiring me: because they were in Virginia and I was in New Jersey, they wanted to know if I could be available for an interview in the next couple of weeks. I said I could be there in 4 hours.)
In a logical world, these dumb tricks wouldn’t work. But most people aren’t logical. So if someone is going to give more weight to your temporary tattoo than to your ability to get the job done, slapping on a tattoo is an easy way to game the system.
I made the mistake of thinking that you aced an interview by answering the questions they asked. I had no idea that you also have to answer the hidden question of “Do you want the job?” Once I learned that, interviewing became much easier.
Have you ever made a mistake? Catherine Lawson will link to you if you fess up by July 22nd (see that link for details).
This post appeared in The 7th Edition Of The Carnival Of Careers, hosted by Erik Folgate.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Very good points, Hunter, about the “obvious” questions that people forget to prepare for in an interview.
I used to be a Recruitment & Selection specialist with BT (the UK’s largest telecoms company), and I was involved in the process from initial application right through to hiring.
A major part of this role was to conduct job interviews and it never ceased to amaze me the number of times interviewees- often well qualified- failed to prepare the basic answers to the checklist of questions you outline. Nor had they done their homework on the job itself or the company.
If someone isn’t interested enough to learn the basics and convey their enthusiasm to be hired, then you can’t expect your prospective new employer to be enthusiastic about you.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:54 am
Hi Hunter – That was a great story and I loved how you turned your initial mistake round and got a job with the same company, even though the competition was higher.
I have not had a job interview for years, but I used to be much the same as you, doing heaps of research and running out of questions to ask when it came to the interview.
The questions you listed are good and they may come in really useful for me. If I emigrate to Canada, I may have to actually get a job until I get permanent residency.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Is Blogging Putting You at Risk?
July 17th, 2008 at 3:26 am
That was a fantastic story, Hunter.
I can honestly say I’ve never been in a job interview in my life (I’ve always been self employed), but while I’m in Australia I’m certainly going to find myself in many interviews. I’m sure this post will be invaluable.
Thanks!
July 17th, 2008 at 3:46 am
Hi Hunter,
As an employer, it’s important to have an interviewee ask questions. If they just sit there and don’t show a lot of interest in the job and what it entails, we often think they aren’t that interested.
Over the years, we’ve had many enthusiastic people come in who say, ” I would love this job”, or “I would love to work here”, and they are the first ones we consider. Ironically they are often hired over someone who has years of experience who tell us they “know it all, can do it all”. That’s a huge turn off!
Your lesson served you well. Getting hired over Harvard and Princeton grads, says a lot. You should be very proud of yourself.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:18 am
Sorry Hunter – by the time I’d read the article, I forgot to say thanks for the link. Thank you.
July 17th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Great article!
Now that I”m in a position of interviewing people for my office, it’s so funny to realize that mostly what I want is someone who is CLEAR about wanting to be there. Not just someone who wants a job. I love your own lessons and process of learning here!
July 17th, 2008 at 7:26 am
This story illustrates to me why it’s best to work for yourself – so often the people who are very good at job interviews are not necessarily the best people for the job.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:37 am
@Robin – agreed! Where I work, we have a huge problem with the people in charge of hiring — they can’t read between the lines in an interview and end up hiring complete bozos.
@Hunter – Great post! I especially like that you gave questions to ask in an interview. I’m at that point in my life when I’m considering my first career and I can use all the interview help that I can get. Thank you!
rld – taekwondo happinesss last blog post..Sunday Meditation: “That is why you fail”
July 17th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Good story, but what made you think of it? It’s relevant to your blog’s theme insofar as what Robin said–proof that the Hiring Game has few logical aspects.
Was the company Lucent?
July 17th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Interesting.
It actually makes sense to me that an interviewer would be looking for enthusiasm. If you seem to just be going through the interview motions, so to speak, you don’t seem very eager to work there. I can see how that would be a turnoff.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I guess it’s kind of like how they tell salespeople to always ask for the sale. Your initial reaction might be: “of course I want the sale, if I didn’t want it, why did I just spend 40 minutes talking to this person about the product?”. Ask for the sale, ask for the job, ask people to subscribe to your blog, ask people to digg or stumble your posts . . . When you want something you’re supposed to ask for it. OK, I’m off to my blog to make sure that I’m asking people for what I want them to do
Marelisas last blog post..What is Love?
July 17th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Oh, the plethora of things they don’t teach you in college! As a frequent interviewer, I always felt uncomfortable if the candidate wasn’t asking me questions, although I admit if someone had ever said, “Is there any reason you wouldn’t hire me” I probably would have snarfed my coffee all over them from sheer surprise.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
I’ve seldom failed at an interview. I always go well prepared. But I must say that your tips here are far superior than what I’ve been practising. Not that I need to anymore, anyway! I don’t intend to return back to corporate life.
But my husband and I are employers now and it is interesting that we are on the other side of the table. Rapport and a two-way conversation is very important, I feel. You are right to say that if the interviewee can have the confidence to ask questions, he is really interested about the job and at ease.
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Maps last blog post..Practising Awareness Of The Mind
July 17th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Hi Hunter – great post. I think it was awesome that you were compelled to get them to tell you why they didn’t hire you.
I just came across a NY Times article with this comment:
… a common mistake in interviews is that employers often choose the “first date” format instead of focusing on specific past experience and job-related hypothetical scenarios…
I couldn’t help but think about your article when I read it.
Al at 7Ps last blog post..Which Superhero Blockbuster Movie Are You?
July 17th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
@ Scott, in school they gave us some basic interview training, which included doing homework on the company. Apparently it wasn’t common for students to have even basic interview skills. I heard of one interviewee who just walked in, put his feet up on the interviewer’s desk, and said “so, what can you offer me?”
But regarding this:
“If someone isn’t interested enough to learn the basics and convey their enthusiasm to be hired, then you can’t expect your prospective new employer to be enthusiastic about you.”
I think it’s interesting that the responsibility for this falls entirely on the interviewee. I don’t recall an interviewer ever having shown enthusiasm about me during the interview. In many cases they hadn’t even read my resume beforehand, and they certainly didn’t end the interview with “we want you to work here.” But would it make sense for me to reject their offer because they didn’t show enthusiasm about me?
It seems that things should be more balanced, or even in the interviewee’s favor (especially during the great economic times we were enjoying back then). After all, the interviewee is taking the bigger risk. They’re giving up a huge chunk of their life. The company is only giving up money.
@ Cath, my problem was that I didn’t know I was supposed to ask questions. I knew I could ask questions if I wanted to know something, but I didn’t realize that my questions were part of the test. When you wrote your post about mistakes, I immediately thought of this as a big mistake I made that I was able to correct, so I thought it would make for a good post.
@ Jamie, that’s so cool that you’ve never been in a job interview! I guess when you start a business at 14, you don’t have to!
@ Barbara, the thing is, I would have gladly asked questions if I knew I was supposed to. They didn’t cover this part in the interview training I had at school, and it just didn’t occur to me that I was supposed to ask questions.
I wanted to know how many employees they had, but I got this from the website. I could have asked the interviewer what he liked about working there, but I figured there would be time for chatting later, after I got the job. But knowing what I know now, I definitely would have asked these questions that didn’t seem necessary at the time.
I’ve heard people say they gave the job to the one who said “I would love to work here,” but I’ve always wondered how someone can say that. In my case, I knew that I would love to work there, but most of the time I don’t know how you could possibly know if you’d love to work there until you had actually done it. Very often, what you see is not what you get, because of course they want to present their company in the best light.
@ Christine, see my previous paragraph to Barbara. It applies to your comment as well. How would someone be clear about wanting to be there before they had actually experienced what it was like? Seriously, I’d like to understand this.
And to turn it around, what if the interviewee wanted to work for someone who was clear about wanting them, not just someone who wanted to fill the position? Shouldn’t it go both ways?
@ Robin, I agree. I know one person who was hired as a software developer, despite never having used a computer before. Apparently she read some books that told her what she needed to know for the interview, but her experience never came up.
@ rld, good luck preparing for your first interview. Just be sure to use some other sources in addition to me!
@ Matt, yes, it was Lucent – how did you know? What made me think of this is that Catherine Lawson offered to link to posts about mistakes. This story was on my “to do” list anyway, so I just decided to do it now.
@ Vered, as far as being alive and polite and friendly, I agree that you should be expected to do that. But I saw an interview as more like a test than a date. I had no idea that there was such an emotional aspect to it. But if I were the interviewer, I would have asked “why do you want to work here” instead of just assuming that the person didn’t want to.
Actually, I still don’t see why it matters. Even at the second interview (where I got the job), they didn’t seem very eager to hire me. But that was perfectly appropriate to me, since it’s just a business transaction involving people I had just met.
@ Marelisa, that’s a very good analogy! And while I often use that principle, I still don’t understand it. In the case of diggs and stumbles, yes, I understand that people won’t remember to do it. But for the most part, I don’t see why people have to be asked.
Christopher Columbus didn’t sit around waiting for someone to ask him to discover America, and Martin Luther King didn’t need someone to ask him to have a dream. It makes me wonder what kind of a person thinks “gee, I REALLY want to do this…why won’t someone ask me to?” Nevertheless, I agree that it definitely works.
@ Annie, I’ve asked that question a few times…no snarfed up coffee yet!
@ Evelyn, but what if the interviewee has the confidence to ask questions, is really interested in the job and at ease, but it’s one of their first interviews, and they just haven’t learned what the rules are? There were questions I could have asked, but I figured they weren’t relevant to the interview and I’d have plenty of time to ask them after I got the job.
@ Al, thanks for sharing that article! I was just about to submit my comment when yours came through–notice that in my response to Vered I called it a date as well!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Hi Hunter ~
I’ve heard that it’s important to have three questions to ask at an interview but never understood why…now I know. I’m like you – I ask questions to get information that I don’t know, not to ask them for the sake of asking them.
I guess it’s kind of like getting to know another person. If they ask you all the questions and none are asked back, they may think you’re not interested in getting to know them.
Laurie | Express Yourself to Successs last blog post..Social Skills: Get the Most Out of Your Practice Time
July 18th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Hi Hunter–
It reminded me of my friend’s initiation into Lucent. He also was hired in Spring 98… and somehow held on well into the 21st century despite the deteriorating situation.
His name is Matt. Last name rhymes with Jetty.
Maybe you know him!
July 18th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
@ Laurie, I hadn’t heard that rule about asking three questions. These days I ask a lot more than three, but maybe if you have three prepared, then the rest will just come naturally. Your “getting to know another person” analogy fits in with the date analogy we’ve been using in some of the comments. It makes sense that you should ask questions if it’s a date, but I don’t think it’s obvious that that’s what it is.
@ Matt, that story sounds familiar…for me it was actually fall 98 though.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:00 am
[...] Nuttall explains The Hidden Question In All Job Interviews posted at Hunter Nuttall . com. The idea is that asking questions in an interview is more important [...]
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Hunter,
You are a great storyteller. I’m glad it had a happy ending.
Not asking the right questions and not asking enough questions is one of the two most common pitfalls of the interview process. (The other is sharing information that is not relevant to the hiring managers – diluting an otherwise excellent interview).
Hiring managers are always looking for ways of reducing their risk of hiring the wrong candidate. Sharing with the hiring managers your interest in the position is a good strategy. And your assumptive close, “Can I meet some of the people I’d be working with” is a jewel.
If I could, I would like to add one more piece of advise to job seekers. A great time to ask a question is right after you have shared an important piece of information. They ask for your salary requirements, you ask for the salary range. They ask for your strengths, you ask if your strengths will be of value to their company. They ask where do you want to be in five years, you ask what is the career path for the position.
My favorite general question is, “How would you describe the culture of your company.” This open-ended question that provides insight into the identity of your company. After their answer, you can share how your values (e.g. loyalty, customer service, entrepreneurship, flexibility, etc.) mesh with the company. It’s a nice way to close out the interview.
Mitch Byers, author of InterviewRX and SalaryNegotiationsRX
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:32 am
[...] Last week, I asked readers to share what mistakes they’d made, or things that they really suck at. Hunter Nuthall shared a major interview mistake he made and described how he turned it round. His story is a must read for anyone who wants to improve their chances of getting a job: The Hidden Question In All Job Interviews. [...]
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
@ Mitch, thanks for these great tips!
July 24th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Excellent story!
Might I ask for what NJ company this was? I was rejected 10 times before AT&T finally hired me (yes!). The two things that I implemented to help me finally snag the job was:
Fedexing a thank-you letter to the interviewer
and
Explaining my philosophy about problem-solving –
Where am I now?
To where do I want to go?
How do I get there from here?
Enjoy, Barbara
July 24th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
@ Barbara, the company was Lucent. Wow, you got rejected 10 times by AT&T before landing the job? That’s persistence!
July 25th, 2008 at 4:28 am
Persistence is a trademark of mine.
And Lucent! The company with the Coffee Cup Stain Ring Logo! Oooooo, I remember the brou-haha that arose once that logo was chosen. Oh, memories……
Barbara
July 25th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
@ Barbara, I always liked that logo, but I think I was in the minority!
October 10th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I am so late to the party. I have recently rediscovered your blog (as happens to frequently) via Jamie Harrop, and I really missed the boat not seeing this post earlier.
This is a wonderful story, and excellent advice. This is something I would imagine reading in the pages of Inc., the CNN Money section, etc. Your writing style, the way you crafted the post beginning to end.
Not only is it a great story, but it drives the point home and is beautifully written.
Well done. Stumbled, well deserved.
October 12th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
@ Sid, at my place, no one is ever late to the party! I read and usually reply to all comments, whenever they come in. I don’t know about Inc. or CNN, but glad you liked the post!
October 14th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I learned this one the hard way as well. One of the things that helped was learning that the word “interview” meant “to see about each other.” It’s a give and take exchange. Even though you’ve learned everything you need to about the company it’s expected for you to ask your interviewer questions. This seemed absurd to me, but its a good thing to discover. At one company I interviewed with I asked about a policy that they had that had received a lot of press coverage because of its cutting edge ideas. The interviewer had no idea what I was talking about… ??? Changed my mind about that company pretty quickly.
Philip´s last blog post..Kevin Spacey’s amazing impersonations
October 14th, 2008 at 11:33 am
A very informative article and that is why I submitted this to reddit. Seems like everyone is enjoying it by looking at the reddit votes. Keep up the good work Hunter….
eranda´s last blog post..Are you making enough money from your blog?
October 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
@ Philip, I guess the word interview does mean that: inter + view = to see about each other. I’ve had some interviews where the other person made it clear that the purpose was for both of us to determine whether there was a match. I think that’s how it should be. I’ve had experiences where I asked a question and the interviewer had no idea what I was talking about…which made me wonder why I was supposed to ask questions!
@ Eranda, I have no idea where all these Reddit votes are coming from. I didn’t even have a Reddit button until a couple months after I wrote this!
October 14th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
@Hunter – It’s a great article.
I noticed earlier and voted it up and told my friends to too. Of course, with your 200+ votes, I don’t think our handful of votes matters – it’s just a well written article =)
October 14th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
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October 15th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
@ Sid, thanks. It’s close to 300 votes now, so I wonder if your friends told their friends, etc. You seem to have triggered an avalanche!
October 15th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
@Hunter – Well deserved. I love it when articles that truly deserve social media attention get it. Kudos!
May 26th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
One interviewer who didn’t hire me once told me afterwords that, while I was a good candidate, he wants to hear the interviewee ask about professional development opportunities. It’s been a standard question of mine ever since.