How should I answer the
questions interviewers typically ask?
Q. I never know what to say when the interviewer says, "Tell me about
yourself" or asks, "Do you have any questions for me?" Most of the time I don't,
because the interviewer has given a good description.
Then there's "What
are your salary requirements?" I know you should not discuss pay, but how do you
get around it without sounding really bad?
A. To get a good idea of the job you are interviewing for, ask what
expectations and objectives the supervisor or manager has in mind. You may also
want to know the scope of responsibility of the job, and whom are you expected
to interact with to get the job done. These questions will give you some
indication of how the job is expected to function in the
organization.
In addition to
finding out details about the job, ask your peers or prospective coworkers. For
instance, what are their current responsibilities? What projects have they been
working on? What kind of support and/or resources do they receive to complete
their projects? Once you have a good sense of how the department functions and
what is expected of you, then you can talk about salary.
Finally, if the
company uses pay grades to administer salaries, ask the interviewer where you
would fall in the range. Also ask what has been the average merit increase over
the past two years. This will give you some idea of what to expect in terms of
annual increases when you join the company.
Ask about incentive
plans. If you feel the company doesn't offer a competitive base salary or
competitive merit increases, try to negotiate an incentive plan that will meet
your overall salary requirements.
Good
luck.
- Erisa Ojimba, Certified
Compensation Professional
