What questions should you ask in your job interview?
As Head of Recruitment, Leander is responsible for recruitment and selection at TOPdesk. With his team of recruiters and recruitment marketers, he looks for talent that matches the distinctive TOPdesk culture. Interviews are scheduled each and every day. Are you preparing for an upcoming interview and wondering what questions to ask? In this blog, Leander shares a lot of key job interview tips and what job intervieuw questions to ask!
Leander, how do you tackle first-round interviews?
Leander: “During job interviews, I’m naturally very curious about who’s sitting opposite me. After all, if you’re keen on joining us, I want to find out why. Using your CV, we go through your career together. What decisions led to the moment when you became eager to join TOPdesk? What you studied really isn’t all that important. But I do want to get to the bottom of the beliefs that shaped your decisions. Was it an interest in a specific field, or were you inspired by something or someone around you? Do you like helping others, or do you want to stand out from the crowd so that you always go the extra mile? “Once I’ve got an overall picture of you as a candidate, it’s interesting to zoom in on why you applied at TOPdesk. What motivates you?”
Get down to brass tacks
What questions do you expect candidates to ask in their interview?
Leander: “Over the past few years, I’ve heard hundreds of questions from job candidates. These questions are often creative and well thought out, but some people forget that a job interview is a two-way introduction. The goal is not only for me to find out if you’re a good fit for TOPdesk and the vacancy – naturally, you also want to find out what your potential employer is like. Can you identify with TOPdesk’s norms and values? What is the atmosphere like at the workplace? Do we play sports or have drinks together? You want to know if you will flourish with us.
“Quite often, I feel that candidates don’t get down to brass tacks in interviews. By reflecting in advance on what you’re curious about, you’ll also formulate your questions more precisely. For example, don’t ask, ‘How many countries are you in?’ but rather, ‘What are my international opportunities at TOPdesk?’ And instead of, ‘How big is the team?’ ask, ‘What are the dynamics like in the team I’ll be joining?’ From there, you can go on to ask about ways of working that suit you. If you’ll get a buddy, for instance, and how much attention is paid to personal development. In that way, you’re not just presented with facts, and you can really form an image of the place where you might be working later.”
Some people forget that a job interview is a two-way introduction.
How do you think candidates discover if they will indeed feel at home in the workplace?
Leander: “Candidates are often curious about the onboarding process and the course of a regular working day at TOPdesk. I think these are very important topics and it’s good for candidates to ask about them. In this way, you immediately know if you’ll feel at home or not. You discover what will be asked of you and what you can expect from your colleagues. Will you be thrown in at the deep end or led by the hand? How do you learn the way things work in the organization? How often do you see customers? Are there lots of meetings? And how do you spend your breaks? These are all examples of questions you can ask during your job interview. All of them are about important things to take into account when considering whether the company culture suits you.
“Personally, I also like it when candidates are curious about colleagues: who can they model themselves after? Or when they ask why I work here. That’s the moment when I can highlight the best aspects of working at TOPdesk and why I believe in our special company culture. Candidates can then think about whether they value the same things I do.”
This is the STAR method
You use the STAR method during job interviews – how does that work?
Leander: “In job interviews, we want to see if you fit our master profile. What does that mean? We examine to what extent you’re customer-focused, eager to learn, enterprising, responsible and independent. And indeed, we also use the STAR method to examine competencies. We look back at situations in your professional past from which you have learned lessons. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Activity and Result. We also use the optional extra “R”: Reflection (STARR). What did you learn from the way you solved a problem and what would you do in the future? Exactly the same thing, or do you now have a different approach in mind?
“At the end of the interview, it’s time for the case. You can’t prepare or practise for this puzzle. Of course, this might sound stressful, but you can rest assured that it’s quite a lot of fun! After that, the interview’s over.”
We use the STAR method to examine competencies. We look back at situations in your professional past from which you have learned lessons.
Do you have any more interview tips for candidates?
Leander: “Candidates regularly tell me that they want to become managers, but often the reason why is not clear to me, even though being ambitious is a great quality and ambition gives direction to your career. A good justification of the why behind your ambition will actually ensure that you succeed. How you get there and how your employer plays a role in that are issues you can discuss with your potential employer. In short, dive deeper. That’s how to end up having inspiring talks.
“And finally: never lose sight of what you find important in life. As an employer, does TOPdesk match your lifestyle? It’s not only the content of your role that will give you satisfaction later on, terms of employment and the place where you spend time every day are also important! A happy person in the right place will ultimately be successful and lead a more energized life.”
