Do you have any question?

Lillian Ssebaana has sat through numerous job interviews. Most of the times, she has lost out to job seekers younger than her. On other occasions, the interview does not last more than three minutes before she is told “you can leave.” But that did not deter her quest for a white collar job. “I did not study to become a boutique owner. All the years I spent at school should be accounted for by me getting a suitable job,” says Ssebaana, who owns a boutique at Ham Shopping Center.

So she applied for the position of account manager when a local PR firm sent out adverts.

“Is there anything you would like to ask us?” an elderly member of the panel asked her five minutes into the interview.
“At first, I wondered what kind of question was being asked of a person looking for a job,” she says. “I went dumb for about 30 seconds, then I wondered about the question I should ask the team. My brain was blank.”
According to Ssebaana, everything seemed done and dusted the moment she answered all questions right. She was wrong.
According to human resource experts, the ‘is there anything you want to ask us?’ is a vital question to both the organisation and the job seeker, because at that point panelists are able to know if you are really credible for the job you are seeking or not and also the job seeker can be able to know what she wants to know about the organisation she seeks employment from.
“Atleast, there is always something you can ask, such as the extra duties to be performed by you when you get employed” an interviewer told Ssebaana.
She lost the opportunity to join the firm.
John Matsiko asked his interviewers what inspired them to work with the hotel he had applied to join.
“To my surprise some of them could not answer my question,” he says.
This, in his opinion only annoyed the panel.
Just like Esther Katana who asked her panelists for how long she had to work before her salary could be increased.
“They laughed in my face,” she says. “I was embarrassed I didn’t wait for them to show me the exit.”
According to Apollo Nangumya, the human resource manager at Rift Valley Railways, it is a candidates choice to ask a question when asked to. Candidates should also know that when they ask a question, they are going to be marked so they should ask questions that do not portray them as one with shallow knowledge of what kind of job they are seeking.
“A candidate who asks questions shows that he prepared so well for the interview, his confidence can also be noticed in the kind of question that they ask. The people at the panel get to know the inquisitive nature and the level at which the candidate is informed about the company that he or she is seeking for employment from which is of great importance and creates impression,” Mr Nangumya told Jobs and Career.
He advises candidate going for an interview to carry out some research about the prospective employer and know the critical areas of the kind of job they are seeking.
This he can do by inquiring if there was a previous employee on the post they want to occupy.
“If the person is still around, find out why the person wants to leave and his or her duties. With this knowledge, the candidate can be psychologically prepared to ask the interviewers proper questions because he or she will be knowledgeable of the details required for the job,” he says.
“It is on rare occasions that the candidate will go wrong on his choice of question because he will be having the company’s facts.”
Mr Nangumya adds that although candidates are given an opportunity to ask questions, it is not guaranteed that all the questions they ask will be answered. This applies mostly to the company’s confidential information and sometimes when the panel consists of members from outside the company.
“In such instances, candidates may be advised to see the human resource manager later after the interview if they need their question to be answered,” he says.

Questions you can ask

What can you tell me about this job that isn’t in the description?
What are your future plans for this job?
Is this a new position or a replacement for someone?
If the job is a replacement, ask if the employee transferred to another part of the company, was promoted, or left the employer.
What is a typical (day, week, month, or year) for a person in this job? Choose multiple time frames, if that feels appropriate.
What is the key thing someone does to be a success at this job?
What are the most important skills of the person who does this job?
What is the biggest challenge someone in this job faces on a daily (or weekly or monthly) basis?
If anyone has failed at this job, why did they fail?
Who does the person in this job report to?
(If this job reports to more than one person, ask who writes the performance report.)
How many people are in this group (department, office, or company)?
How many have joined in the last year?
Questions You Should NOT Ask:
Don’t ask these questions because Google or the employer’s website could tell you the answers:
How much vacation would I get?
Do you pay for medical, disability, and life insurance?
How often do people get raises?
What does this company do?
Who’s in charge?
How old is this company?
Who’s the main competition?