Interview Questions

As I just posted, I have gotten a new job. While I was looking I had about five interviews (well, contacts with five companies anyway….some had multiple interviews). Out of those four I got three offers for employment, turned down by one as I didn’t fit their needs, and the other one said I was over qualified for what they wanted. I’m pretty happy with the outcome in any event. Now, during those interview I was asked if I had any questions for the interviewer about the company, benefits, etc. On three occasions I was told my list of questions were very detailed and more than they were used to from the people they interview. One of the interviewers actually asked for the list of questions so that they could maybe use it to prepare for other interviews and/or create a packet of information that covered it all for future interviews and perspective employees. I’d like to think my questions were detailed because I wanted to make sure that I went to work for a place I wanted to work for. I’m surprised that the interviewers had not run into this level of questioning before…..apparently some of these questions are asked after a person has accepted the job!

So, I thought I would share with you the list of questions I had asked and why.  To get this list of questions I sat down and wrote down a list of things that were important to me for my next job and then prioritized them.  Here is what I came up with:

1. Exposure to new projects and new technology.  This includes the employers willingness to aid in continued education and increasing my technical skills.
2. To be doing work that I’m interested in doing, like doing .Net work instead of getting stuck writing VB6/ASP apps and maintaining applications that are years old.
3. Enough vacation and flexible time off to ensure I can take time off when I need it.
4. Get paid enough to pay all my bills (of course!)
5. Have good benefits for retirement, health care, etc.
6. Good work environment and working with solid, technical people.
7. Consulting over corporate.
8. A place that puts more emphasis on skill and expertise over some over-sized promotion system with massive titles.

Some of these are very close to each other in importance, and some are far apart.  You’ll notice that may salary was listed 4th.  I’ve always believed that once you are in the range of salary that can pay your bills and keep you financially stable then the amount of money you get is no longer the most important factor, but that making sure you are happy with what you are doing is.  Several times in my life I have taken a pay cut to leave a job I disliked to take a job I was much happier with (again, I could always pay my bills). 

Well, based off these priorities I created a list of questions.  Take a look!