It is no surprise that a job interviewer doesn’t only interview one person at a time, for one to manage to stand out among a number of Interviewees and clients, we present to you some Unique Interview Questions To Ask An Employer.
You should always keep in mind that an interview is more than just an opportunity for an interviewer to question you, it is more than that. Treat it like an opportunity to ask your hiring manager all the right questions and figure out if the job is right for you while the interviewer figures out how right you are for the job.
Your preparation should not only be inclusive of your answers to the question, they should include various queries regarding the position, department or the company that you might have since that reflects on the sincerity as well as your diligence with which you look forward to the job.
Keeping this very spirit in mind, we have come up with a set of questions that would get your interview thinking and even appreciating the enthusiasm with which you have come. While some of the questions would be right there waiting to be asked, in some cases you will have to go deeper, and dig beyond the surface with your unique questions to ask an employer regarding a number of things like the hiring process, company culture, a typical day at work, how the company measures success, company values, core values as well as the professional development opportunities that they offer.
11 Unique Interview Questions To Ask An Employer/Hiring Manager:
Q.1 How Can I Focus On My Professional Development And Be Successful In This Company?
Asking this question would show the employer how focused you are on finding success in a particular role. This is one of those unique interview questions to ask an employer that makes the hiring team a lot less worried about you failing in the particular role. Their stress regarding you taking a long time to get “up to speed,” vanishes and they become much more positive. And those are some of the biggest concerns that employers typically have about new employees.
Apart from that, this one of the unique interview questions to ask an employer also demonstrates that your agenda is not just to pay your bills and be an average performer, it reflects that you’re aiming to be the best in your career. Not to forget, any employer or hiring manager would love to see such traits in an interviewee.
It becomes relatively easy for them to find someone or at least to shortlist a couple of people with the basic skills to do a job, and they can determine that on your resume, but in the job interview, they’re looking for way more from the job seekers.
A hiring manager would ideally like to find someone who is coming in with an optimistic attitude and also thinking ahead about how to be successful for and in the company. It makes you look like someone who is going to be working hard from the very first day in your new position just after clearing the job interviews for your career advancement.
Q.2 For My Job Description, What Are Some Skills That You Are On a Lookout For?
Unlike one of the unique interview questions to ask an employer which was more future-oriented, the employer’s answer to this question focuses on and covers the area of the interview process by the hiring managers and shows that you are genuinely interested in the rest of the job candidates. It aims at getting an insight into what they’re thinking behind the scenes. It’s a very thoughtful and interesting question while also being bold. The cherry on the cake here is that not many people gather the guts to ask an interviewer such questions, therefore, it makes the interviewer stop and really think the answer through for the new job.
Q.3 Could You Mention Some Traits That Would Make Someone Not Fit For This Role?
The purpose behind asking this question is to show the employer that you are an extremely careful and thoughtful person, especially when it comes to a job hunt. It makes you not look desperate for a job and instead you come across as someone who is looking to be the right fit for their work and not just taking up the first job that is offered to you.
Q.4 What Made You Accept the Position You Are In After Your Own Job Interview?
If you get the opportunity to ask only one of the unique questions to ask an interviewer, this might just be the perfect one. There is almost no person on earth who doesn’t like to talk about themselves. This could be your window to learn more about not only the company but an employee’s personal experience of working there.
Asking creative, opinion-based questions gives you the liberty of asking the same question to multiple people in the company. Therefore, even If you meet with three employees from a company, you can ask all three about this topic without looking bad in the interview as rest assured, the experience is going to be subjective.
Q.5 If I Were To Ask a Few Of The Biggest Concerns Faced By Your Department As Of Now, What Would They Be & Why?
This question can give you a good amount of insight of what you are getting yourself into. This is thought evoking and nudges the interviewer to be honest and vocal about the downsides of working in that particular company. You would get the required information about what you are getting yourself into with this one of the unique interview questions to ask an employer.
Q.6 Talking About The Internal Structure Of The Company, How Often Do People Get Promoted?
It’s extremely important for you to be aware of the structure of the company you are working at so that you know which way is upwards and where you want to put your focus
One way to follow up this one of the unique interview questions to ask an employer is by asking the interviewer, “Could you be kind enough to describe the company’s internal promotion process? I mean to understand what an employee should do if they’d like to apply for a higher role in the company, and not to forget, how are the employees able to hear about these internal opportunities?”
This sets the record straight that you are focused on landing a good job and there is no stopping you.
Q.7 What According To You Would Be The Reason Other People Failed During The Course Of This Position?
As students, we have all studied how we learn about the past in order to avoid mistakes in the future. Likewise, In your job search, it’s an amazing idea to come up with unique interview questions to ask an employer whether people have struggled in a role that you’re thinking of taking and if yes, why.
The answer that the hiring manager would give, could get you valuable information about how to succeed if you get hired, while also being a clear warning about a position with some potential red flags.
For instance, if the hiring manager complains that each person they’ve hired as yet has failed to get a hang of the required skills, it would be a smart move to ask the interviewer about the training process and how much time each person was given to learn the role.
Q.8 What Would Your Expectations From Me Be, In My First Year With The Company?
Even though you yourself might not know where you would like to see yourself in the coming five years, an employer wants to see if you’re planning to stay with the company for more than just a year
If you consider asking a question regarding what the employer hopes you’d do in the first year with them, and then about what they hope you do in the second year you would spend in the company, it could outline your journey. This journey would be inclusive of promotions as well as additional responsibilities.
This is one of the unique questions to ask an employer that would help you to know how that particular employer treats their employees beyond the initial training period and into future years.
Q.9 If I Were To Ask You That One Thing That You’re Hoping For A New Person To Bring To This Role, What Would It Be?
This question is quite creative and interesting to ask employers. The reason is, that it shows how focused you are on the role that this company is offering you and how you want to start helping them immediately. It also shows that you are looking to be present and then bring new opportunities and a new spark of new ideas into the company rather than dragging on the ones that already exist.
If you choose this among the unique questions to ask an employer, it will quickly show the hiring manager or the recruiter how smart you are, apart from being proactive. It also differentiates you from the other candidates who they’ve seen.
Q.10 What Are The Next Steps, After This Interview And When Can I Expect To Hear Back From You?
While this might not sound as creative as some of the unique interview questions to ask an employer that is mentioned above… This is one strong question as it shows that you’re organized and interested in the role.
Moreover, this question will give you insight into what and how much to expect after the end of your interview, this way you will be so less anxious while you are waiting for the feedback.
This would make sure that you know how long to wait for after the interview, and you’ll also be ready to follow up by email if you haven’t heard back in the provided time frame.
Q.11 What Are A Few Soft Skills That Are Most Important For This Role?
It is simple to figure out the kind of hard skills that are required for a job by looking at its job description, but it is comparatively tougher to know what type of soft skills an employer wants. So It is recommended that you ask them about this topic in your interview among the many unique interview questions to ask an employer.
Or, in case the soft skills are already mentioned in the job description, you can ask a question that goes like, “I saw the job description lists a couple of soft skills that are needed for this particular position, for instance, multitasking as well excellent communication. I’m quite confident about my abilities and expertise in those particular areas, but could you share how those would be used in the position and how strength in those areas would help me perform better at my job?”
Final Note
Throughout the course of your interview, along with answering the asked questions, even intelligent and unique interview questions to ask an interviewer is a smart way of catching their attention. However, it is important for you to realize that bombarding the interviewer with Questions is not a very good idea as it might give them the wrong impression. Asking ¾ questions from the mentioned set would be a good way to go and get that job.
When an interviewee comes up with some creative and positive-never-heard-of unique interview questions to ask an employer, they stick in the interviewer’s mind and subconsciously get shortlisted or at least separated from the interviewees who give a comparatively monotonous and one-sided interview.
As you prepare for your interviews, we hope that this set of the provided questions helps you to form a list of your version of them. Asking the same question in different interviews is also a great way of comparing which company you think that you fit well in and would prefer prioritizing. Making a great impression while doing that is just another perk that comes with doing the same.