This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. When I interview people for jobs, I’m always amazed by how many of them tell me they don’t have any questions for me when prompted. Like most interviewers, I set aside time for candidates to turn the tables and ask me their own questions – because you can’t make a good decision about whether to take a job otherwise. When someone doesn’t use that time to ask anything, it makes me wonder how critically they’re thinking about whether this is a job they really want, let alone one they’ll thrive in. After all, you’re contemplatin ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I have several medical conditions that make me generally a low-energy person. However, my attendance is never an issue, and I’m pretty smart and an excellent worker and employee. Previous managers have raved about me. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I’m a pretty awesome employee. I applied for an internal position that I’m qualified for. The posting says they’re looking for a “motivated, energetic, self-starter who can make immediate contribution to the team.” What does “energetic” mean in this context ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I got a job offer last week that I’m really excited about, especially because I was let go in mid-January and it’s been stressful to job hunt. I was recruited to apply for a few different positions, and one ended up with an offer. I told the recruiter I wasn’t currently employed, and he said I shouldn’t tell the company I was interviewing with. Everything online said the mostly same thing — don’t tell anyone you’re unemployed when interviewing. I’ll admit I didn’t have my resume updated with an end date of ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I recently went through a lengthy interview process (five interviews, one of which lasted over two hours, plus two assessments) for a position, and after the final interview, the company asked me to join them for a feedback call. Interestingly, the feedback call was an opportunity for me to tell them how they could improve their hiring process; there was no real value in the call for me. The position wasn’t high level. It was not a management or director role of any kind, and not even a niche, high-level, e ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I was rejected from a role for not answering an interview question. I had all the skills they asked for, and the recruiter and hiring manager loved me. I had a final round of interviews — a peer on the hiring team, a peer from another team that I would work closely with, the director of both teams (so my would-be grandboss, which I thought was weird), and then finally a technical test with the hiring manager I had already spoken to. (I don’t know if it matters but I’m male and everyone I interviewed with wa ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: After an eight-month job search in a second language, I finally lined up a great interview with a great company. It took them four weeks from my application (and a follow-up email) to get the interview but, at 9:30 pm on a Monday night, they asked me to confirm one of two time slots on Thursday. Time slot confirmed, I sat back to wait for details of where I had to be, or how the interview would take place. By Wednesday, I was a little twitchy and sent another email asking for some details. Thursday morning ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I’m interviewing for a job at a smaller company in my field. The company is interested in a niche secondary specialty of mine. They don’t engage in some of the traditional silo-ing of people in my job function but actually let us be in meetings with clients, I’d be managing freelancers from the jump in a way that would help me move my career forward, and the powers that be also intend for me to create my own department and processes in the long run. This is all very appealing. During the interview, I was to ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s the Thursday “ask the readers” question. A reader writes: I bombed an interview today. Like seriously bombed, worst interview of my life. My brain just turned off. Could you request stories of other humiliating interviews so I don’t feel so alone? I went straight home and got into bed and right now I am feeling like I might never come out. Commiseration might help. Ask and you shall receive. Three of my favorite mortifying interview moments that have been shared here over the years: “I was interviewing for basically ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I’m job-searching for the first time in nearly a decade and am realizing that a lot of interviews these days, especially in early rounds, are done over video. This is a change from the last time I was interviewing, so I’m wondering what the best practices are for video interviews. I don’t have a ton of options for quiet, private places with reliable internet for video calls. Is it OK to do these calls from my desk in my bedroom? The backdrop doesn’t really show anything personal — bookshelves, plants, a nea ..read more

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: Is there a way to ask to see your future workspace before you accept a job offer or at some point in the interview process, without it being strange? Several years ago I accepted a job that I would never have taken if I had known I would be spending all day, every day, in a tiny, interior, windowless office lit with only dim desk lamps with ancient repurposed writing desks instead of actual computer desks. That job left me with a herniated disc in my neck from the horrible ergonomics and caused some mental ..read more