I’m in the process of hiring a Senior Full-Stack Developer and a few other positions at my company, This is reminding me of a strange trend: interviewees not asking any questions of the interviewers and their company.

Always Ask Questions

I don’t know why someone would not ask questions in an interview. The whole point of an interview is for us to get to know each other. To find out if we will be a good fit for each other. If this will be a good working relationship – the goal of every hiring manager and you.

Yet, I am often surprised by how many people don’t have questions or are reluctant to ask questions in an interview.

Questions Show Interest

When you ask a question about the role, the team, and the company, you show that you are interested in the position, and you want it to be a good fit, vs. just a job.

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You should be asking a list of questions about how this role fits into your career goals, and just your day-to-day work wants. Every question is a good one, and helps you and the hiring manager learn about each other.

Questions Show Preparation

When you ask questions, you show the hiring manager that you’ve given thought to this role, this team, and this organization. It shows that you care about this job – not just any job.

When you ask detailed questions, that’s when the hiring manager knows you’ve done your homework, that you are a detailed person who cares about your work and will be prepared on a daily basis.

Questions Show You Care

Above all, questions show that you care about the time your spending thinking about this job and the time the hiring manager is spending on you. So your questions are not a waste of time. In fact, they are just the opposite – they are the key to winning your new job.

So do yourself, and your potential employer a favor – ask questions at your interviews.

Interviews are hard. Like a first date, you don’t always know what to expect, and often you don’t know who is going to be in the room or what mood they will be in.

Yet the interview is what makes or breaks your chance at a new job. It is the most high-risk moment in your job search.

Do not leave it to chance

Before the job interview, research who you think you will be talking with. Look them up on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google – wherever you can find them to better learn about their interests and background.

Make a list of questions they might ask you – and be creative. Expect them to ask about your history, but what about skills or issues in your field? Or industry bodies and initiatives? Or even recent organizational accomplishments?

Then practice interview questions with your friends. Best to do it with friends who are strong enough to tell you when you’re messing up, but kind enough to give you support and guidance so you’ll improve.

Practice in-person and remote interviews

You may be interviewing in person, but these days interviews over the phone or video call are becoming more common.

Learn how to roll with questions when you only have a disembodied voice coming over the line, as much as when you’re in the room.

Also, figure out which type of interview you prefer – in-person, voice, video – and push for that option. Key to success is feeling comfortable from the start.

Now practice your interview again

Seriously, please practice your interview multiple times until you’ve memorized certain responses and your friends can’t fluster you with odd questions.

Interviews are the key to getting from a CV to an offer letter. Don’t leave them to chance – practice, practice, practice.

Hiring You for an ICT4D Job is High Risk

Imagine if you had to choose a spouse the way we hire staff. You put an ad online that says who you are and what you want, but without photos or talking about age, gender, race, or other protected categories.

You have 3-4 job interviews with them, none of which are anything like actually living with them, and then after calling around to a few of their ex’s, you have to get married to one of the candidates.

Would you be happy with that process? Probably not.

Yet that’s the way we hire people today, and depending on the job, you may actually spend more awake time each workday with your co-workers than your spouse.

How to Make Hiring Better

With such a convoluted hiring process, mistakes happen, and they happen often. Hence unhappy workplaces, job hopping, and the popularity of The Office.

So what can we do about it?

First, do your homework. Know what and who you really want to work with, and invest time and effort into meeting with many people at many organizations to find the fit that would make you happy when you change jobs.

Hence my constant push for informational interviews.

At the same time, you should be doing informational interviews – meeting with others to make sure that when an opening happens on your team that you know who you want to encourage to apply. No job announcement should be published without a preferred candidate in mind.

Now the preferred candidate may not win the job, but at least you’ll have a solid benchmark that will help you know when you’ve found the right candidate.

Good Luck to All

Regardless if you’re reading this looking for a job or staff, know that everyone feels your pain.

The modern way we hire is hard, high risk, and prone to failure. Do you best to find the right fit, and if it doesn’t work out, be honest with everyone and seek a better outcome.

Thankfully, we can all move on to new jobs, or even get divorced – I’ve done both! And it’s not a disgrace. It’s life.