Customer Reviews

301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

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I recently had the opportunity to interview for a senior position in a company that that seems to be exceptionally good for me. While I actually knew one of the senior executives I was interviewing with, he had confirmed to me that it was extremely important for me to have a strong positive impact on one of the other two interviewers.

On my flight to the interview, I reviewed this book and found a number of questions that I wanted to keep on hand for the "right time" - and I jotted them down - along with others that were more specific to the position, product, and industry, then organized them according to categories - product, company, job, etc.

During the interview, I asked a number of them, and almost each time I asked a question, the hiring executive paused, and then said something like "that's an excellent question" and then went into a thoughtful and valuable response. His answers to these questions gave me a tremendous insight into the company that I might not have gotten without asking the questions.

At the same time, my questions demonstrated my level of interest in the position, the company, and his opinions. They showed that I was prepared, thoughtful, and intelligent.

While I might have been able to come up with them on my own, John Kador's book helped me identify the key questions to ask, and even helped with the phrasing of the questions to have the greatest possible impact.

I asked questions like:

What are the three top priorities for the person in this position in the next 90 days?

and

What are the key characteristics you're looking for in the person who you select for this position?

I am certain that the interviewer thought more of me for asking thoughtful questions - even though I think he liked me before I asked them.

This is a quick and easy book to read, and an easy book to use. The ideas that it includes - in addition to the questions it offers - are not "rocket science", but they are offered and described in ways that can be easily adapted to the situation you're in. The "tips" on interviewing are also quite useful in general.

This book has already proven helpful and valuable and I will refer to it before any job interview I have in the future. While there are many books on interviewing and job hunting, this one is a quick study, easy to read, and most importantly, very useful. I highly recommend it to anyone interviewing for any level position.

In the world of job-seekers there are job-interviewers. Most of job-interviewers are bad because:
1) They were summoned at the last minute to interview you and didn't even read your resume
2) They have no interviewing skills and have no ideas about (a) what they are looking for and (b) how to ask questions
3) They just don't care of being good at what they do since the odds are in their favors and that there are no negative ramifications if they're not as good as they can be.

This make a lot of job-interviewers throw questions at you. Just because they don't know what to ask or simply because it is intellectually more difficult to come up with a good probing questions.

I have some of these guys ask if you have a question and then ask again and again and again.

They are putting the burden on you to talk, but at the same they just surrender the control of the interview to you. This is your opportunity to shine, and this excellent book will help you do just that.

The more time you spend reading and memorizing questions, the better your interviewing skills will be. The structure of the book is excellent and the way questions are structure makes it easy to use the book as a reference even when you're taking an interview on the phone!

This gave me an edge, and I've impressed more than one interviewers with my questions. If you do your research ahead of time and demonstrate that you have a good the knowledge of the company and its industry, there's no reason for you not to perform well.

A must have in your personal library.

I read the book from cover to cover, in one sitting and found it profoundly comprehensive and entertaining. I didn't want to put it down. As I read, I kept saying, "Yes, uh-huh, that's true, that's really good." As a recruiter, I know my candidates would be more successful if they took greater responsibility for a successful interview through asking appropriate questions. The question is an invaluable tool to communicate something to me that hasn't been covered during the interview; when done well, it's one more chance to help me see the fit of the candidate to the position.
John Kador's interviewing insights and list of questions enable the job seeker to think more strategically, promote their strengths, and communicate more professionally during the different stages of the interview process.
I'd definitely recommend this book to even the most experienced interviewers! (and even a few recruiters!)

This book was recommended to me by several people as I interviewed hiring managers, HR personnel, senior-level employees, and others for my own book on the job market. By all accounts, my own included, 201 Best Questions is comprehensive, helpful, and tactical, an important read when one is preparing for an interview. It is not an all-inclusive resource, only interview-targeted, but for what it is, the book is top-notch.

Your book, 201 Best Questions to Ask On Your Interview got me an offer! A couple of days before my interview my father had suggested I ask the following question during my interview:

What's the most important thing I can do to help within the first 90 days of my employment?

After I heard this question, I thought, wow! What a great question to ask. My father had apparently spoken with you a few days before my interview and had relayed this question to me from you to ask (say that 3 times fast). I had learned from my father that you had actually written books on the topic of interviews and questions to ask, so I immediately ran to the store to pick up a copy. I picked up a copy of your book on a Tuesday late evening and had read it from front to back 3 times before my interview on Thursday morning.

I am strongly convinced that your book got me an offer! Thank you. I have been on many interviews throughout my short time in the workforce and had never felt as comfortable as I did in my last interview after reading your book. I was amazed to hear hiring managers and human resource representatives respond to the questions I asked them. Their responses were nearly identical to the responses you stated in your book.

Again, thank you for a great book and the job offer. I may have been able to pull it off without reading your book, but I'm convinced (especially in today's market) that your questions placed me at the top of the pile.

It's less about the answers than the questions. That's what hooked me. This book gives job candidates the edge on the most overlooked but critical part of the job interview-the part where the interviewer sits back and says, "Now, do you have any questions for me?"

I used to go blank with that challenge. This book offers me a way to think about these questions in advance. "To really shine in your job interview, the questions you ask must be at least as memorable as the answers you give," Kador says and I believe him. Today, it's the questions you ask that set you apart.
Kador, the author of The Manager's Book of Questions: 751 Great Interview Questions for Hiring the Best Person, believes that the job interview of today is far tougher than it was only a year ago. I think that's true. Remember when the job interview was an opportunity for candidates to present their demands and screen the best offers? Today it's no longer enough to be qualified. If you want to stand out, you have to make your questions demonstrate that you are a superstar, a world-class candidate who will add significant value to the job from Day One. I think that's the way to go.

I was waiting in line at the college bookstore, (buying a textbook), and this book was prominently featured. I thumbed through and was impressed at the straightforwardness of the questions. Making a list from these questions will, no doubt, give the impression on an interview, that you are focused, serious and organized. A worthwhile investment.

As a top producer in the recruiting industry, I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking employment. It is informative and helpful. I loved the section on starting the interview with the question, "What are you looking for in a person to fill this position?" I have had two of my own candidates try it and they both got the job!

I wanted to write and say THANK YOU!! For the first time in a number of years, I felt like I had an excellent interview. Up until this past weekend, I was having problems with interviews. The main thing: Questions. I couldn't figure out why I was being turned down for positions left and right, even though my qualifications were that of what they called for. I had almost given up hope. I was looking for jobs as a field technician nationwide. I heard nothing.

My mom, who is a temporary staffing recruiter, picked your book "201 Best Questions to ask on your interview" for me, and read this book, taking notes as I went along. I had about 4 days to prepare for this interview, and felt pressured. But seeing some of the "Questions NOT to ask", I cracked a smile, and felt better.

When I went to the interview, I felt very comfortable with the situation, knowing that by reading your book, I now knew what to do, and what not to do. The interview lasted an hour and a half, in which the interviewer and I sat and chatted about non-interview items.

Today, I wrote the interviewer to ask if a decision had been reached, and was shocked to receive a phone call from him, offering me the position. I almost fell out of my chair.

In the end, I thank two people. God, as my heavenly father, guiding me through this interview, and you, for helping me out with the hard parts of the interviewing process to which I probably would not have received this position without.

To me, seeing success after the first interview from reading your book, it paid for itself, seeing the smile on my face when I heard the answer. I will recommend it to friends and family.

Once again, thank you so much!

I've been in "transition" for the last 8 months. Prior to this, the last time I had a formal interview was more than 13 years ago. Although I've worked in a technology related field for the past 13 years, I started my job search process pretty much following the same process I used in the past except I added my resume to Career Builder and Monster.

After 4 months with minimal interest from local employers, I finally got the hint and realized I was doing something terribly wrong. So I began buying current books on the subject, attending online and local workshops, researching the process online, and talking to others who are going thourhg this too. I gathered everything I could on job searching, resume writing, interviewing, and networking and began applying ALL their recomnmendations and tips.

This book was one of several great resources I found. It arrived 4 days before two interviews I had scheduled. I spent the day after it arrived reading it cover to cover. The next day I went through it again, highlighting key questions and dog-earing tons of pages. Then I created two Word documents, one for each interview and began writing down the question I wanted to ask at each interview. And following the advice of this book I took these papers to the interviews, pulled them out when it was my turn to ask the questions, and went through them all. Both interviewers were impressed by my organization, by the number, and by the types of questions I asked. I left knowing I'd made a good impression at both interview. Sure enough, I was called back for 2nd and 3rd interview at both companies. I've since recieved and offer from one, and the second company is due to make their decision this coming week.

Who knows...maybe after months of little to no interest, I may finally have two offers to choose from. While this book is not the only resource I used to help me get to this point, it did play a key role. I would highly recommend it to anyone who isn't well versed and confident in asking questions in an interview. It will give you great insight and help you prepare to knock their socks off!