How many questions do you ask after an interview?
So I had a 20-minute phone interview with an analyst today, and after some good 15 minutes he stopped asking me questions and wanted me to ask any questions about the company. I asked a couple of standard questions, but after my third question I couldn't think of any.....a long moment of awkward silence, of course.
So I was wondering how many questions you typically ask during the phone interview/superday, and whether these questioins make a huge difference for the next round offer. Thanks for your input in advance!
2 or 3 is sufficient... Depends on what was covered during the interview and how you read the interviewer (whether they're itching to get back to work or what have you). They get the same questions over and over so one real good creative one will impress them.
Anywhere from 2-4, depending on how fast they answer//if their answers require a follow up question. Also, don't go over the time limit. Some interviewers will say ok we have 5 minutes for questions...and then if you go over, they don't stop you and will ding you for not knowing when to stop.
Generally speaking, the questions at the end of a session aren't going to make your candidacy and they aren't going to break it. The weight of the closing questions varies, but it usually doesn't count for much more than a tip one way or the other. That said, every little bit helps and you certainly don't want to run off at the mouth, cut the interviewer off mid-answer or ask multiple compound questions running the risk of either confusing the interviewer or just annoying him/her. Last impressions count just like first impressions, so you want to be respectful and ask pointed and interesting questions. To answer your specific question, I would keep it 2 questions, with 3 as a possibility assuming you've got some extra time or the interviewer really seems interested in keeping it going a bit more. Unless you are clearly out of time, 2 questions will generally suffice and convey your interest while respecting the interviewer's time.
Remember, you've always got the follow-up thank you email to toss out another question.
1-2 questions is absolutely enough. First, asking some questions will not improve your chances. Second, if you can ask one smart question, just ask this one; and if not, why ask more stupid questions to upset the interviewer?
Fully agree with 1-2 Qs.
Thank you all for the answers. I was initially wondering about this because my interview ended much faster than I expected, and I was left with a ton of time to ask questions. A miscommunication between HR and the analyst might have been the reason... hopefully.
This is standard. You should be ready to ask questions for a hour if need be. Ask until the interviewer tells you its time to conclude the interview. You should have a minimum of six questions ready to go.
Not necessarily true. Most bankers are busy and do not have time for a lot of questions. It works against you if you don't make it look like you're really interested in the bank/job. If it is obvious that you are asking questions to prolong the interview it's rather annoying.
This is not true for US IBD. 2 or 3 questions will make you sound disinterested.
You need at least 4-6 questions and to present them causally. The period after the formal interview should be a conversation, not a Q&A session.
What about if you're interviewing with very, very senior level banker (i.e., global head of M&A or Investment Banking)?
What are 2-3 good questions to ask? One that I can think of is "What's the growth strategy of XXXXX over the next 3-5 years"? Any other high level questions?
Don't ask macro questions; anyone at a high-level gets asked those all the time, and if you want to know the answer you can find it easily enough through various sources.
If someone is a global head, you should be able to find pretty detailed background info on them online, and be able to ask personal but not prying questions. ie, if they went from law to banking, ask about what caused them to do that, if they came from a similar background, ask about that, if they played a sport in college that you play ask how that translates to success in the workplace. The key is bringing them back to when they were a teenager, so they'll think of you fondly, rather than asking them snot-nosed macro questions they usually get paid millions of dollars to answer
Maybe but it really depends on the direction of the interview. You may get a 10 min response on the question "what's your strategy".
I ask at least 5-6 questions, usually pretty in-depth.
Urgh... 5-6 questions? Well the thing is, last time I almost went blank after finishing my questions because most of the interview questions and the way of carrying the interview itself was kind of atypical (to the best of my previous experience, that is). Maybe I'll have to prepare a good number of excellent questions, and a few casual questions (how is the day-to-day work like, what has been the recent deal in your team, etc) next time. Thanks for the input, anyway.
The best general strategy I found was to always ask questions about the sector the interviewer works in (this applies only to IBD). You can usually make them unique to the interviewer.
For instance, if the interviewer worked in Transports, I would ask questions regarding his/her opinion of Buffet buying BNSF. If they worked in healthcare, I would ask about the mega-mergers over the past year (Pfizer/Wyeth, Merck/Schering, Roche/Genentech). Also make sure you are familiar with most recent IPO's.
If the interviewer works in anything debt related, I would ask where they see interest rates going. Also, how are high yield deals being priced.
You just need to be very familiar with current events in the market. I highly suggest registering (for free) to Thomson Reuters Deal Intelligence.
You can also ask some generic questions about the bank, such as "where has ___ Bank taken market share since the beginning of the crisis?"
The point of asking questions is not about the number, the time, or oven the content of the question. it is about turning the tables on the interviewer, and putting him in sell mode. Don't directly ask it, but the driving force behind your question should be "why would I join your firm?" When an interviewer finishes with you and has just spent five minutes convincing you to join, he's going to be in a much more positive mindset towards you than if you ask him for his thoughts on the market.
If your real interview lasted only 15 minutes, then you're probably dinged anyways. They can never run out of questions to ask if they want to continue talking to you.
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