Something I should have know years prior, but didn’t, was the response to the inventible tail-end interview question “…so, do you have any questions you’d like to ask us…?”
From this point forward, I hope you won’t say: ‘No’ or something alike.
Instead, say this:
‘Yes, in an ideal situation, should all go well today and in the proceeding steps, which part of the role, given my skill set, would you ideally see me tackling as a first priority?’
Now listen very carefully to the answer, if they hate you, you’ll hear a scoff, you might see a little wave of their hands or maybe a very quick glance to the sky before hearing a short answer.
But if they don’t hate you, and they ponder in thought (even for a few seconds) then listen very closely to what they have to say, I can’t emphasis this enough, listen to what they are saying or trying to say.
Now is you chance to follow-up, if you can, follow-up with this:
‘OK, where would you say the current challenges are in that respect (their answer), again idealistically, what would the right cadence look like in achieving/ addressing/ finding a solution to that problem?
And that’s it, you’ve just demonstrated the ability to think outside the box, coerced the interviewer(s) to picture you in the role, got them to deep-dive and share where they feel the current challenges and how long it should take in order to get started/ find a solution/ archive a KPI.
These sorts of conversations are effective in informal interviews too, when you’re asking these questions and creating conversations with a hiring manager, outside a formal interview settings, you’re essentially laying the base, priming the Best of luck.
