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This is one of the prominent interview questions especially for jobs in Nigeria

Here are some guidelines on how to respond:

1. Realize that Interviewers ask for questions because they sincerely want to know if you need any clarification.
2. This last stage of the interview can redefine the interviewer’s perception of you and may convey a positive or negative impression. I have seen candidates flop at this last stage of the chat by asking unnecessary, unintelligent and wrong kind of questions.
3. Please note that you must not ask questions, it is better not to ask, than to ask a foolish question.
4. The best way to answer that question when you do not have a question is….. ‘Thank you very much sir/ma’am, in the course of our discussion you already provided insight on the areas I needed clarification, but make sure you are stating the fact because they may just ask you, ‘ which areas are those?

If you don’t have a question, don’t just say ‘No, I don’t have any question’…. instead say something like…. ‘Thank you for asking, however in the course of our discussion, you already clarified the grey areas.

And Wise candidates seize the opportunity to give a closing remark like…. ‘thank you very much for meeting with me, it’s been a great pleasure speaking with you, and I would look forward to your feedback’ …or ‘thank you for making out time to meet with me, it has really been an insightful discussion and I am already excited about working with your organization.

• It is believed however that if you are interested in a role you are being interviewed for, you would surely have a question or 2 to ask about the job role or the organization.

Some good questions to ask include;

What would be the key success factor for this role?

By this you are asking for the key performance indicators, how would success be measured for the role, what deliverables would spell success for the role? This question is very good because it gives the impression that you are already thinking about succeeding on the job.

You may ask ‘ I would like to know if this role has been in existence or just being created?

(Be sensitive not to ask this question if it is already obvious). By this you are asking if someone resigned from the role or the role is just being carved out due to business expansion, process review or restructuring. This insight helps you to understand if you may further ask for improvement areas on the role, if it’s existing to avoid making the same mistake the incumbent made.

Who does the role report to?

This question helps you understand the structure in the organization, this works mostly for senior roles though.

You can also ask in a friendly manner and on a lighter note, ‘please may I know your name?

Especially when the interviewer did not introduce herself before the interview this would be a very good question to ask

You may ask how soon they want to fill the role?

You may ask how should you expect feedback?

Please be careful not to ask more than 2 -3 questions as that may be overbearing

Some questions you should not ask include;

1) Don’t ask obvious questions that reveal your poor knowledge of the organization?  

For example what is the name of the MD?

What is the vision of the organization?

What is the organization into? (Crude way of asking what the services of the organization are) Or what are your products services?

Asking obvious question about the organization would give you away and mean you have not done proper research on the organization.

2) Don’t ask about salary?

You should not be the first to bring up salary discussion, so do not ask about salary until you are asked.

Except you have checked the website and did not find some key things there, then your approach would be like- ‘I did some research on the organization website and realized that the specific number of branches was not mentioned’ (please note that this is an example, don’t ask for number of branches if your role has nothing to do with number of branches)

Remember, your attitude during an interview, which can be derived from your body language speaks louder than words, no matter how intelligent and sure you are/sound, keep a friendly and polite disposition.

I wish you the best!

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