Questions Not to Ask

I recently received my first full time job. I had been looking for many many months and had talked to many people and had exchanged numerous emails. And in that process I had set up and traveled to an incredible number of interviews. And this is something that I had actually taken classes on in both college and in the work place. So when I started these I felt that mixing my polished communication skills and training as well as my people skills and portfolio I felt it would not take me 8 months to find a job.

In this process I learned a lot about what an interview included. The questions, the expectations, the dress code, and everything else that you should expect from a business interview. And one of the main things that I was always excited in the interview was when they asked me if I had any questions. And this was something, from my training, that I knew to expect. And this was something that I had always been prepared for.

Today I came across an article of the top ten worst questions to ask. And the thing that made me laugh when I read this was I can actually hear people asking these questions. I just wanted to talk about a couple of my favorites.

10. “So what does your company do?”
This is hilarious to me. I mean, how can you go into an interview and not even know what the company does? That should be the first thing that you research and the first thing you should know going into the interview. I am even more interested in not just what the company does but also what the history of the company has in the market, what their projections in the next 3, 5, and 10 years are, as well as their plans on reaching those goals. So to know people go in and ask what the company does would be a “goodbye” from the interviewer.

9. Are you going to be doing a background check?
Well if they were not they are going to be now. But I would doubt they even get to the point they would give you one anyway. That just shows that you are expecting one, and you should anyway from every company, and that you would have to prepare for one or not even give a call back.

8. When will I be eligible for a raise?
This is something that I think about but not something you ask in an interview. I mean, you have not even been hired yet and you are already asking for more money. I would image that the answer would be a year at the earliest but once you are asking in the interview you probably won’t be seeing that raise any time soon.

The rest of this list was pretty similar in the questions as to when do I receive my medical coverage or when can I transfer positions. All in all this list is pretty funny to me. I laugh that people are so stupid that they can ask questions that you, once you think about it, know will either not get you the job or give you a bad reputation in the market you are applying to.

I guess I am glad at the concept of interviewing.