Ed. note: The following are actual questions asked by candidates at job interviews. I was going to write some smartass responses, but I think you get the message.
1. Can you tell me a little more about your company? What you do, what you make, etc?
2. What is the pay and how soon can I start to get raises?
3. Is it possible to work from my home?
4. What is the sick leave policy?
5. Can I bring my dog to work?
8 users commented in " 5 Questions You Should Not Ask at the Job Interview "
Yes, I’ve heard all of these before both as a hiring manager and as a recruiter. Although I agree they sound silly when barked out during an interview, it’s still true that employees should have the right to ask these kinds of questions.
I’d also love knowing how many sick days I’m given. What if the answer is 0? I may not want to work there.
I love working from home! Isn’t that a fair question, too?
There are ways to ask these questions and not come off wrong. My suggestions would be:
1. Be more general. Maybe a question like “Could you please explain your HR policies to me?”
2. Often times companies have this all written out in some type of Employee Handbook. You could ask for a copy of that emailed to you after an interview.
3. If you really must have some of these questions answered, that’s fine – but you may want to wait until you have the company’s interest in hiring you. These are all fair questions when they’re asked a little farther down the interviewing process – say in a 2nd or 3rd interview or after an offer has been given to you.
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Yes, the answers to these questions are things I want to know, but none of it matters if I don’t get the job. It’s all about the timing. The employer already knows what they can do for you. What they don’t know at the interview stage of the process is what you can do for them. Save the questions about salary, benefits, policies etc. until you have an offer. If you don’t like the answers, you don’t have to accept.
GL, though I agree with you on premise, like the other commenters above, I believe that all of this is information the candidate needs to make an informed decision. I think that the job applicant needs to do homework, understand the company culture, be very aware of the job description and be sure that they meet the requirements for the job. However, I think employers need to be understanding of the bottom line for the job seeker too. While a job seeker wants to bring the best to the company and see it succeed, they work for a reason. I have seen wonderful challenging job descriptions that offer $8.50 per hour… hardly a living wage even for a college student much less someone living independently with a family.
If we pulled the game-playing out of the equation and the employer explained what they offer early in the process and the applicant explained the value they would give back, everyone could be on the same page.