Closing the Interview

Closing the Interview!

In my experience as both a recruiter and a candidate, this is one of the most daunting tasks from a candidate’s view point. No matter how ever good we might have been during entire interview, few of us are still bound to get jitters towards the end, which is very normal as this is part of process too.

For a recruiter, it is very important that a candidate holds the same confidence all though the session. So what is expected at the end? How do I close this interview? What questions should I ask? These are some of the usual questions on a candidate’s mind. Having been a candidate a few times myself, I have had the same questions on my mind too. But unlike many of you I plan my interview a bit prior to the actual D day and trust me this always helps.

Based on my past experience, let me take this opportunity to share a few excellent interview closing questions.

If I were a candidate (interviewee), I would ask the following at the end of the interview:

1.    Thank you for inviting me for this wonderful opportunity, would you please share more insight about the day to day routine for the customer service department?

2.    Can you please mention some of the key challenges for your team?

3.    Does this role have any capacity to grow into something larger?

4.    What is the next step after this interview?

5.    Would it be okay to call you for further updates in case I don’t hear back in two weeks’ time?

Although these above questions may sound very direct, they are very open-ended and leave room for further discussion towards the end of the interview. If the interviewer has covered these questions himself during the interview process please do not ask these questions. Instead, politely just end the interview with question number 5. Phrasing it:: so what is the next step from here,? Or When will the decision be made? Etc.

It is also important to show enthusiasm towards learning more about the role and the hiring process rather than be fixated on the salary discussion or negotiation as that can often be off-putting and can always be discussed prior to singing the final contract

If I were a recruiter (interviewer), here is what I would be thinking -

Wow!! The candidate has asked some very substantial questions. This clearly shows how confident the candidate is and also how inclined he/she is towards this role, and the rest is history now!

Hope this will help you at your next interview closing!

Cheers

Mika