Joe Pierce ⋅ Jonesboro, AR Husqvarna Outdoor Products ⋅ 30 years experience

Shane,
Thank you for your service
My experience is that interviewers tend to ask about your knowledge of their company and the particular position you are being interviewed about. Do a lot of listening and prepare for questions like What is your biggest weakness or list your strengths and weaknesses
You will see several people during the process and you need to show interest in their area of expertise and really try to understand their job so that you can understand how the position fits with theirs.

Ron Yu ⋅ Cupertino, CA Denodo Technologies ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi Shane - without getting into the specific questions (happy to review the ones you have if you want) the previous advice/comments are great. If you happen to know the names of your interviewers, you can research what they do/responsibilities, etc on LinkedIn for example and then cater your questions to them specifically (some may be the same - e.g. work culture). However, if you find out one is a product manager versus hiring manager, your questions would be different in theory. Since you're doing all the preparation wisely (company research, questions to ask, etc) remember the questions have a two fold purpose, one to find out more about the role/company/environment and the other is to show what you know or what you can bring to the job. For example, since you're deeply knowledgeable about their product(s) and features, structure questions around that or specific observations you've seen as a customer/user. Lastly, another interview preparation technique is to think through a proposal or recommendation of what you would do if you had the job since you're an expert already and show off what you would do should you have the job to show how you'd contribute or hit the ground running.

Separately, you want to invest equal amount of time with interview preparation to give yourself the best chance. There are a couple acronyms out there but the one I use is CAR - context -action - result so for every question asked and you answer with something in your background/experience, answer with that framework in mind while delivering the measurable result of your action at the end. Start with the situation (context), the actions you took and the results of your efforts.

Hope that helps but feel free to ask me follow up questions or happy to dive deeper.

Ron

Shane Snyder ⋅ Fallbrook, CA U.S. Marine Corps, Gunnery Sergeant ⋅ 17 years served

Thank you everyone for taking the time to provide input and advice, I greatly appreciate it. Each recommendation makes sense and I will run with them.

Deb - Great minds think alike; I already have all these questions on my list!

Tom - Makes sense, I don't want to dominate the conversation, but I don't want to look like a deer caught in the headlights when they ask if I have any questions for them. I guess I should have clarified that. I had the exact same thought, they are all going to merge afterwards and discuss the interviews, I didn't want to ask them all the same questions because of this but again, with 6 people and 3-5 questions each that is quite the list!

Eric - Yes, I've done extensive research on the company. While I'm not sure what product I'll be support (I assume multiples since it is working with customers to get defective items back to the shops for repair or replacement). However, I am very familiar with one product and it's only because I used it on a daily basis for a year while in Iraq.

Again, thank you everyone!

Morgan Hoogvelt ⋅ Helotes, TX Morgan Human Capital Management ⋅ 12 years experience

Hi Gunny...some questions may overlap from person to person, but also may be a good idea to ask each individual specific questions based on their department, role in the company, experiences, etc.

I'd really advise to focus on asking intelligent, meaningful questions that can show your thought process and also show the interviewer you are serious and have thought out and researched the role. Also, make sure your very last question is 'asking for the job' if you have not thought about that yet.

If you need more help, feel free to reach out to me direct and I can help coach you as needed.

Semper Fi - Morgan

www.estthur.com

Deborah Carter ⋅ Owens Cross Roads, AL Raytheon ⋅ 28 years experience

Hi Shane,

I think a mix of both is good. As Tom indicated, interviewers will likely compare notes later but it's important to remember that an interview is a two-way dialogue where both parties are checking for "best fit". So it's not just about the company finding a new employee, it's also about you finding a good fit for you - a career, not just a job.

There are some questions that I think are good to ask all or a majority of the interviewers like:
- Why did you choose to work for this company?
- What is one thing you would change?
- What does this company do best?
- What keeps you up at night?
- What is the top issue that you need fixed?

Good luck!
Deb

Tom Muszynski ⋅ Tucson, AZ Raytheon ⋅ 20 years experience

I would suggest not asking the same questions. Each of those folks will get together at the end to make their decision or compare notes. My suggestion is going with the conversation that will lead to questions rather than questions leading the interviewers. You'll have some of the basic questions such as benefits, work hours, and such. Remember, you are the interviewee. I have interviewed quite a few with one-on-one and group interviews. I feel it's a negative if someone is dominating the conversation with questions rather than answers.

Eric Arellano ⋅ Carrollton, TX Raytheon ⋅ 10 years experience

Best of luck on your interview, it sounds like you already know about the company if you've been trying to get in for 4 years. I would say to be sure you know about the subgroups you are interviewing with. For example, when I applied to Raytheon I researched the company, but when I interviewed with the "Radar group" I had no idea they made the radar that was in the plane I had been working on for 18 months.
Do your research!
I always prepare a few questions, 30 sounds like it might be a bit much, but better to have more to draw upon if they are sincere.
Feel free to message me if you have specific questions about interviewing.