Questions to ask Interviewer
Hi everyone!
Finally have been securing interviews for analyst acquisitions, PE debt originations, and AM roles. I struggle with the "do you have any questions for me?" question at the end of the interview. I obviously try to ask small questions as we are discussing to keep the conversation flowing, but what are some good questions to ask towards the end?
More specifically, I have a second and third round interviews this week with executive-level interviewers - what are some good questions for them? I struggle with these, because I feel like they are too high-level to ask detailed questions about the role..should these questions be more focused on the direction of the company, etc? Any examples/suggestions are appreciated!
For background, I am a 2nd year analyst looking at senior analyst roles
I always just ask the interviewers about their background and how they ended up in their role/their experience at the firm and for the more senior people I also ask them if they have any advice for someone early in their career (I’m a first year analyst). People love talking about themselves and giving advice so they’ll come away with a positive impression of you. it also helps because you don’t have to remember a list of generic questions about the role, and it feels much more conversational because you can easily ask follow up questions about people’s backgrounds (it may help to research them beforehand). Obviously you should demonstrate you did your research on the firm and the role and if you have actual questions about those things then ask them, but I would save those for after you ask them about themselves.
These are my favorite questions as well! Following Dale Carnegie's famous words,
“Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.”
Don't ask simple questions like "Can you tell me more about firm culture?" as these are generally the kinds of questions that won't create good conversation. Try to just have a good conversation and ask them about the work they do at the firm. Furthermore, use your questions to create a bit of a connection with these higher-up executives. Try to ask questions that will lead to these executives remembering you specifically as well, as these are usually what allows for the most connection and best results to occur from interviews.
Just curious since I'm in the same place, but you ask say mid to upper level executives at companies after an interview what advice they may have for someone at this point in your career?
Never thought of that, would you be comfortable asking that everywhere like at shops like Tishman, Blackstone, Related or only in certain instances? Is there point where yo cant ask this, how many years out of school?
I’ve typically asked how the firm is typically funded - is it one guy with deep pockets? Do they utilize warehouse lines? CLO market?
The type of capital they utilize helps indicate stability (IMO).
I asked a question about what sort of debt ratios a firm uses in an interview once (smaller fund), thinking that it would only be applicable to LTC/LTV debt, but they provided insight on the company's debt utilization. It's a great question if you're joining a smaller fund, to assess the credit risk. I can definitely see how this could work against you, if the interviewer takes offense, but think it's an important question that younger associates should think through - how much money is this company really making, or are the debt financing their operations.
Your advice was spot-on. I tend to overthink things and try to get too technical. Asking the interviewers about themselves got me two offers and made the conversations seamless. They also liked the question "what does it take to be successful in this role?" -- shows you care about succeeding, and lets them give their own advice.
Thanks again for the responses -- totally put me in the right mindset going into the interviews.
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