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The questions you ask employers at the end of your job interview can make or break your candidacy. There are questions that give you valuable information about the job and the employer, while also signaling to interviewers your interest to improve their organization.
Good questions include “Can you describe a typical day?,” “What’s the culture like?,” or “What opportunities are there for training and progression?” Another good approach is to ask members of the search committee why they enjoy working there.
Bad questions are ones that ask for information that can be easily retrieved from the company’s website or matters of self-interest, like “How much paid leave is available?” or “When can I take a sabbatical?” Questions about hours, remote work, or pay can come later, possibly after an offer is made, but not in this part of an interview.
Don’t ever say that you don’t have any questions, even if you follow that by praising the interviewers for how well they described the position. There’s always something more to know. If a committee is scoring each question, don’t get a zero for “Do you have any questions for us?”
There are questions that higher education employers particularly love to hear from the candidates they interview. One of these can be asked several ways that seem to resonate. It goes like this:
“Every department has a different culture. Let me ask you, then, what does it take to be a good colleague in your department?
Jason Brennan, a professor at Georgetown University and author of a career advice book, said that this was his go-to question when he was on the job market.
“I used it maybe forty or so times and always got a good response,” Brennan wrote in his book “Good Work If You Can Get It: How to Succeed in Academia.” “Notice what this signals: I want to be a good colleague.”
This question can benefit you in many ways. Let’s break it down further.
First, it acknowledges that not only are institutions different but each department is unique. Culture, feel, reputation, and other abstractions are currency in higher education. They deny the homogeneity that can exist between schools. Higher education employers are proud to say, “Things are different here,” and a statement about culture can elicit a better response.
By starting the question part with “What does it take,” you’re recognizing a higher standard that needs to be reached and that you’re curious about rising to the challenge.
“To be a good colleague” is also a strategic word choice. Colleague and collegial share the root words “col,” meaning “with” or “together,” and “leg,” meaning “to choose” or “to gather.” This is much better than coworker, professor, director, or other position titles. It suggests that you embrace relationships and shared responsibilities within a work environment.
Now, let’s say you want to highlight performance or outcomes and not simply collaboration. There are other ways to ask this question. One way is this:
What type of people thrive here and why are they successful?
Like “a good colleague,” this inquiry immediately gets the interviewer to think about someone they know. You want to be associated with the top performers at an institution and simply asking about them can lead the interviewer to consider you as one of them.
Employers want to avoid hiring a malcontent or derelict person for their department, and if you ask a negative question, even if it’s about aversion to such people, that can have an effect.
Most of all, the pairing of these questions shows that you are poised to exhibit traits that are appreciated there and achieve the desired institutional outcomes.
It also provides good intel to see if you would fit. You might not be the type of person who thrives on committees or other service work. Maybe you prefer teaching or working closely with students. If successful people are described as those who get stuff done, then, well, how do they produce? Is it because they are smart, they collaborate well with others, or they work hard independently?
An employer’s response to this line of questioning can be helpful.
“Sometimes the way faculty answer this question will show you that you won’t want that job,” Brennan wrote. “During one of my interviews, a professor responded: ‘I think a good colleague is someone who reads my papers and offers constructive advice, but doesn’t expect me to return the favor.’ Turns out he wasn’t kidding. I asked around and discovered that the people in that department hate each other.”
There are many paths to success in higher education, not just through teaching, scholarship, and service for faculty, or by navigating organizational silos for administrative staff.
Being a good colleague is an important one.
Ask questions that show you are eager to succeed and you are the right person to lead the way.
