Don’t ask why during your job interview

I encourage my job seeking clients to ask questions during interviews. It makes it more conversational and less interrogational for a start. But more than that, it helps to demonstrate their curiosity, their ability to join the dots, to have insights and generate ideas. 𝗜𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. We want that. Badly.

But early on in my coaches training, I learned 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗪𝗵𝘆”. That’s because a “Why” question can be seen as judgemental. And coaching, in its purest form, is never judgemental. (Career coaching doesn’t always follow that approach, and that’s OK.)

Imagine you get asked questions like these in a meeting at work:

• “Why did you decide to launch the product in February?"

• “Why did you try and resolve the customer’s issue that way?”

• “Why did you choose that supplier?”

• “Why did you code it like that?”

Hear questions like that in a meeting, and most people are immediately on the defensive. It sounds like our analysis, our decision making, our critical thinking, is being questioned. It’s challenging and it’s threatening. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂!

But there’s good news. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗪𝗵𝘆” 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁” 𝗼𝗿 “𝗛𝗼𝘄” 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱. 

• “How did you decide to launch the product in February?”

• “What factors did you consider when you tried to resolve the customer's issue?”

• “How did you evaluate the suppliers?”

• “What coding approaches did you consider?”

You get the same (or more) information, but in a much less confrontational way. It just takes a bit of thought and practice. 

So please, use questions to make your job interviews conversational. Use questions to paint yourself as the candidate to solve their problems. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 “𝗪𝗵𝘆” 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗲, 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 “𝗛𝗼𝘄” 𝗼𝗿 “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁” 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱.