{"id":2495,"date":"2014-06-24T09:34:40","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T14:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kbicblog.com\/blog\/academic-medicine\/?p=2495"},"modified":"2016-10-06T14:17:36","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T19:17:36","slug":"5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

The 5 Best Questions a Job Candidate Can Ask<\/h1>\n

By:\u00a0Jeff Haden<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Published: June 23, 2014<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While you certainly have questions you like to ask (like these three<\/a>), and maybe you askone question to identify a superstar…<\/a>\u00a0if you\u2019re an experienced interviewer you may almost always feel it’s a waste of time when you ask the candidate, “Do you have any questions for me?”<\/p>\n

Why? The average candidate doesn’t actually care about how you answer their questions; instead they try to make themselves look good by asking “smart” questions. To them, what they\u00a0ask<\/em>\u00a0is a lot more important than how you\u00a0answer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, great candidates ask questions they actually want answered because they’re actively evaluating you and your company\u2026 they’re deciding whether they really want to work for\u00a0you<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Here are five questions great job candidates ask:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you expect me to accomplish in the first 60 to 90 days?\u201d<\/p>\n

Great candidates want to hit the ground running. They don’t want to spend weeks or months “getting to know the organization.” They want to make a difference right away.<\/p>\n

Plus they want to\u00a0know how they\u2019ll be evaluated<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 so they definitely want to understand objectives and expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are the common attributes of your top performers?\u201d<\/p>\n

Great candidates also want to be great long-term employees. Every organization is different, and so are the key qualities of top performers in those organizations.<\/p>\n

Maybe your\u00a0top performers<\/a>\u00a0work longer hours. Or maybe flexibility and creativity is more important than following rigid processes. Or maybe landing new customers in new markets is more important than building long-term customer relationships. Or maybe spending the same amount of time educating an entry-level customer is as important as helping an enthusiast who wants high-end solutions.<\/p>\n

Whatever the answer may be, great candidates want to know because 1) they want to know if they fit, and 2) if they do, they\u00a0definitely want to be a top performer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are the one or two things that\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0drive results for the company?\u201d<\/p>\n

Employees are investments, and every employee should generate a positive return on his or her salary. (Otherwise why are they on the payroll?)<\/p>\n

In every job some activities make a bigger difference than others. You want your HR staff to fill job openings… but what you really\u00a0need<\/em>\u00a0is for HR to find the right candidates because that results in higher retention rates, lower training costs, and better overall productivity.<\/p>\n

You want your service techs to perform effective repairs… but what you really\u00a0need<\/em>\u00a0is for those techs to identify ways to solve problems and provide further benefits — in short, to generate additional sales.<\/p>\n

Great candidates want to know what truly makes a difference for your company… because they know helping the company succeed means they will also succeed, on multiple levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do employees do in their spare time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Happy employees 1) love the work they do<\/a>, and 2) genuinely like the people they work with.<\/p>\n

Granted this is a tough question to answer. Unless the company is really small, all any interviewer can do is speak in generalities.<\/p>\n

Even so, great candidates want to make sure they have a reasonable chance of\u00a0fitting in with the culture<\/a>\u00a0— because great job candidates almost always have options.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you plan to deal with…?\u201d<\/p>\n

Every business faces a major challenge: technological changes, competitors entering the market, shifting economic trends… there’s rarely a moat protecting a small business.<\/p>\n

So while a candidate may see your company as a stepping-stone, they still hope for growth and advancement… and if they do eventually leave, they want it to be on their terms and not because you were forced out of business.<\/p>\n

Say I’m interviewing for a position at your bike shop. Another shop is opening less than a mile away. How do you plan to deal with the new competitor?<\/p>\n

Or say you run a poultry farm (a major industry where I live): What will you do to deal with rising feed costs?<\/p>\n

A great candidate doesn’t just want to know what you\u00a0think<\/em>; they want to know what you plan to\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0— and how they will fit into those plans.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s your turn.\u00a0If you\u2019re an interviewer, what are great questions you\u2019ve been asked \u2013 and what do those questions indicate? Or, if you’re interviewed, what questions do you like to ask?<\/p>\n

Originally article was published on LinkedIn. Click to see.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 5 Best Questions a Job Candidate Can Ask By:\u00a0Jeff Haden\u00a0\u00a0 Published: June 23, 2014 While you certainly have questions you like to ask (like these three), and maybe you askone question to identify a superstar…\u00a0if you\u2019re an experienced interviewer you may almost always feel it’s a waste of time …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[851,575,769],"tags":[84,352,77,105,194,85,83],"class_list":["post-2495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-resources","category-career-search-solutions","category-interviewing","tag-academic-medicine","tag-candidate-questons","tag-healthcare","tag-interview-tips","tag-kaye-bassman","tag-kbic","tag-recruiting-2","column","threecol","has-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask. Great candidates ask questions they actually want answered because they're actively evaluating you and your company.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask. Great candidates ask questions they actually want answered because they're actively evaluating you and your company.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Academic Medicine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AcademicMedKBIC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-24T14:34:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-06T19:17:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/files\/2014\/06\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"458\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"262\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AcaMedKBIC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AcaMedKBIC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-24T14:34:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-06T19:17:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":752,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/files\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Academic medicine\",\"Candidate Questons\",\"healthcare\",\"interview tips\",\"Kaye Bassman\",\"KBIC\",\"recruiting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career Resources\",\"Career Search Solutions\",\"Interviewing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/\",\"name\":\"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/files\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-24T14:34:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-06T19:17:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask. Great candidates ask questions they actually want answered because they're actively evaluating you and your company.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/files\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/files\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg\",\"width\":458,\"height\":262},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/\",\"name\":\"Academic Medicine\",\"description\":\"Actively Recruiting within the Academic Medicine Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kbicblog.com\\\/academic-medicine\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask","description":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask. Great candidates ask questions they actually want answered because they're actively evaluating you and your company.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask","og_description":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask. Great candidates ask questions they actually want answered because they're actively evaluating you and your company.","og_url":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/","og_site_name":"Academic Medicine","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AcademicMedKBIC","article_published_time":"2014-06-24T14:34:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-10-06T19:17:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":458,"height":262,"url":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/files\/2014\/06\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AcaMedKBIC","twitter_site":"@AcaMedKBIC","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask","datePublished":"2014-06-24T14:34:40+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-06T19:17:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/"},"wordCount":752,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/files\/2014\/06\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg","keywords":["Academic medicine","Candidate Questons","healthcare","interview tips","Kaye Bassman","KBIC","recruiting"],"articleSection":["Career Resources","Career Search Solutions","Interviewing"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/","url":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/","name":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/files\/2014\/06\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg","datePublished":"2014-06-24T14:34:40+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-06T19:17:36+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask. Great candidates ask questions they actually want answered because they're actively evaluating you and your company.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/files\/2014\/06\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/files\/2014\/06\/Recruiting_Culturally_Diverse_Candidates.jpg","width":458,"height":262},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/5-questions-a-candidate-should-ask\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Questions a Candidate Should Ask"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/","name":"Academic Medicine","description":"Actively Recruiting within the Academic Medicine Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/academic-medicine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}