The Best Interview Question of All Time

I tell my clients that if they don’t ask this question in their interview, they should kick
themselves in the behind
all the way to their car!
In any sales situation, the salesperson wants an opportunity to hear and respond to all
objections. A car salesperson
might ask, “Is there any reason why you wouldn’t buy this car today?” A realtor might ask,
“Do you
see anything about this house that would prevent you from making an offer?” Once the
salesperson hears
the objection, he can gauge the importance of the objection and respond if appropriate.
Some objections will be deal-breakers:
Client: We need a house with three bedrooms, and this one only has two.
Deal over. But other objections can be overcome:
Customer: I really wanted the car in blue, and this is red.
Salesperson: If I can get a red car for you by the end of today, would you buy the car?
Deal closed.
At the end of your interviews, you need to find out how well you did. One way is to hear
about any objections
to hiring you. Hard-sell proponents suggest asking questions such as, “Is there any reason
why you
wouldn’t offer me the job?” or “Will I be asked back for the next round of interviews?” Both
of these questions
are “sales close” questions, and the interviewer can avoid them by simply saying, “We have
more candidates
to interview before we can make that decision.” Even if they like you, avoiding the answer is
a prudent
response, in case subsequent candidates are better suited to the job.
The challenge is to ask a question that elicits an open, honest, non-defensive answer from
the interviewer
that raises any objections and gives you an indication of how well you did in the interview.
The suggested
question:
“Based on my background, experience, and skills, what do you think would be the greatest
challenges for
me in this position?”
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There are a few variations of this best question:
“Now that we’ve had a chance to talk, how does my background measure up to the
requirements of the
job?”
“What makes you think I will be successful in this job? What causes you concern about my
candidacy?”
“What particular aspects about my background and experience interest you?”
The next several sections will detail the types of responses you may get to this question.
Vague or General Answers
A poor interviewer response to this question is one that applies to all candidates regardless
of their individual
experience, skills, or personal success factors. For example, “Your greatest challenge will
be getting to
know our internal communications system. It is a proprietary system, and it takes a while to
learn.”
Every new employee has the same challenge, and this answer doesn’t reveal any
objections the interviewer
may have about you personally. Use further questions to improve the interviewer’s answers.
For example,
you can ask, “Is there anything about my background and skills that makes you think this
would be a more
difficult task for me than for other candidates?” This is a gentle way of suggesting that the
answer is not specific
enough. Follow up by asking, “Can you think of any challenges related specifically to my
background
and skills?”
No Challenges or Minor Challenges
If the interviewer states that there are no challenges or only minor, manageable challenges,
it is an indication
that you did well in the interview and you are under consideration for the position.
A Challenge in an Important Job Area
When a challenge is mentioned, ask how important it is: “How critical is that to the job?”
Some challenges
are minor “nice-to-haves” and will not disqualify you. Other challenges are very important or
even critical.
If you cannot address these challenges, you are not a viable candidate for the job. For
example, if the challenge
is that you don’t speak a required foreign language or you don’t have the required level of
skill in a
complex technology, you won’t get the job.
A Challenge in an Area That Was Not Mentioned in the Interview
The interviewer might mention challenges in areas that weren’t mentioned in the interview,
but where you
have skills and experiences. You now have an opportunity to share the information and
correct the interviewer’s
concerns. For example, if the interviewer says, “Your greatest challenge is that you haven’t
had direct
customer service experience.” You can reply, “Actually, I have; we just haven’t discussed it.
Let me tell you
about working directly with customers at.…”
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A Challenge You Can Provide a Strategy to Overcome
The interviewer might mention a challenge for which you can provide a strategy to
overcome it. Perhaps
there was an opportunity for you to overcome a similar challenge on a previous job. Use
that experience to
tell the interviewer how you will overcome the challenge on this job. For example, “You are
correct that I’m
not very experienced with Microsoft Access. However, when I started my previous job, I
wasn’t proficient at
PowerPoint. Immediately after being hired, I took a two-day course, purchased training
books, and practiced.
Within four weeks, I was producing good PowerPoint presentations, and within eight weeks,
I was considered
a highly skilled PowerPoint producer. Once hired, I would learn Access the same way.”
If you haven’t overcome a similar challenge, lay out a plan for overcoming the challenge
and ask the interviewer
whether she thinks your plan is viable.
A Challenge That Is a Misconception
One of my clients was interviewing for a chief financial officer position. He had a strong
background in
implementing accounting systems and spoke about this experience during the interview. At
the end of the
interview, he asked the “best interview question of all time.” The CEO responded by saying,
“Your greatest
challenge is that you’re going to want to implement a new accounting system, and we
cannot afford that
at this time.” My client responded, clarifying the CEO’s misconception: “I wouldn’t just
implement a new
system. I would evaluate the system you have and see whether it can be upgraded, and if it
is costing the
company money in lost revenue or time, I would put a plan in place to replace it.” His
answer satisfied the
CEO, and he got the job.
Had he not asked the best interview question of all time directly after the interview, the CEO
would’ve said
to the rest of the interview team, “This guy just wants to spend our money on expensive
new systems; we
can’t hire him.” Interviews lead to many misconceptions that go unaddressed—unless you
ask the best interview
question of all time.
Addressing the challenges that the hiring manager sees is one of the primary ways you will
reduce his FUD
(fear, uncertainty, and doubt). As I said earlier in this book, reducing the hiring manager’s
FUD is one of
your primary goals in your interview.
Challenges Are Often Good News
In sales situations, salespeople know that prospects who aren’t going to buy don’t waste
time raising objections.
An objection is an invitation to sell. It is the same in interviews. If a hiring manager doesn’t
consider
you a viable candidate, she won’t waste her time talking about challenges, because she’s
not interested in
anything you have to offer. Thus, a challenge can be a sign that the hiring manager is
interested and wants
to clear up a potential roadblock.
Lean into Challenges
When you hear a challenge it’s like hearing a criticism, and it might cause you to become
fearful and withdraw.
When you do this, you often sit back and assume a defensive posture. Once you ask the
best interview
question of all time, be prepared to hear a challenge. Remember that it is a positive thing
and physically
lean forward. When you lean forward, your body language communicates that you aren’t
concerned about
the challenge and you’re eager to discuss it. This lack of defensiveness will come across as
confidence, and
your answer will have more credibility.
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It Is Best to Know
The best response a salesperson can get is, “We are interested, and we want to purchase.”
The second is,
“We are not interested, and we definitely won’t purchase.” When a customer who is not
interested gets a
salesperson off the phone by saying, “Send me a proposal,” or, “Call me again in six
weeks,” the salesperson
wastes time following up. Good salespeople want to know whether or not the customer is
interested.
When you get an answer to the one best interview question, it mitigates one of the most
uncomfortable parts
of the job-search process—waiting for the hiring manager to call after an interview. If the
hiring manager
made it clear that there are significant challenges to you performing the job, you can stop
wondering whether
you’ll get the second interview or the job, and you can move on. It will be disappointing, but
you won’t be
left wondering how and when to follow up and waiting for a call that won’t come. If no
challenges were
stated, you can maintain hope and be assertive in your follow-through.
Another Must-Ask Question
Many candidates leave interviews without a clue about when or how to follow up. They are
left agonizing
over when and how they should contact the hiring manager. There is a quick and simple
way to avoid this
agony—simply ask, “How and when should I follow up with you?”
When you ask this question, don’t accept a vague answer; get a firm commitment. A typical
answer is, “We’re
interviewing through the rest of the week.We’ll contact you next week.” This answer is too
vague and often
results in no contact. In response, you can say, “That’s great. If I don’t hear from you by
Wednesday, should
I call you?” This gives you a timeframe and a method of contact. If you haven’t heard from
the hiring manager
by the following Wednesday, you can place a call and say, “As you suggested, I’m calling to
follow up
on our interview from last week.” This obligates the hiring manager to respond.
Asking Good Questions Will Fix Your Interviews
One of the primary reasons why people fail on jobs is that
they take a job with an improper understanding of what the
job entails. They don’t realize that the job requires as much
travel as it does or that it requires very long hours during
certain times of the year. They don’t know what skills are
actually required or that they will have limited supervision
or training. Maybe they are thinking account management,
and the job is actually sales or project management. You can
fix this missing information and these misconceptions by
asking good questions, paying close attention to the answers, and asking follow-up
questions. Asking good
questions often clarifies the position in the hiring manager’s mind as well, which supports
your candidacy
for the position.
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“There isn’t a pat answer
anymore to this world, so the best
we can do for students is to have
them ask the right questions.”
—Nancy Cantor, chancellor of
Syracuse University
Leaving the interview with unanswered objections will doom your chances for winning the
interview and
getting the job. Asking the best interview question of all time can save your interview by
reducing the hiring
manager’s FUD and clearing the way for you to be the candidate of choice. Asking good
questions has
the following benefits:
• It demonstrates a high level of interview preparation and motivation.
• It demonstrates a critical job-success skill—asking good questions.
• It helps expose concerns about hiring you and allows you to correct misconceptions.
• It creates additional opportunities for quality conversations.
• It allows you to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry, company, and job, thus
increasing your
credibility.
• It addresses one of interviewers’ primary criticisms of candidates—lack of questions.