Whenever I meet veterinary students, I am often asked: “What questions should I ask in my job interview?”
For the past eight years, I have sat on the interviewer side of the table and have been asked some great questions.
Here are some I think – as long as it is relevant to your career goals – you could ask:
How many new graduates have you taken on in this hospital?
This is important if you are looking for a supportive practice that is accustomed to taking on inexperienced vets. You can extend this to ask: “How long do they generally stay for?”
Do you have a support system in place?
If the practice doesn’t, don’t go in there expecting it. If it does, it makes the practice accountable to what it says if the support structure is not in place.
What concerns do you have about me?
This is a great question I have used, but I have never been asked by someone I was interviewing.
This opens the forum for the interviewer to voice his or her concerns (if he or she wants to) and allows you address them right then and there.
Sometimes, it may just be a misunderstanding that stops someone from hiring you.
What expectations do you have of me?
The practice may have unrealistic expectations of you. It may expect you to take on too much with inadequate training, knowledge and resources.
It is better to have a conversation and develop an understanding or solutions around those expectations before you start.
What can I do that would make you feel that hiring me was a successful hire?
It is important for you to know your employer‘s markers of success from the start. You want to know if you can achieve them and if you are engaged by them.
What are the major roadblocks that you think I will come up against?
The practice may have experience taking on new grads, and seen what works and what doesn’t. Therefore, it helps to know what interviewer thinks you can do to overcome them.
Asking an interesting question – especially one that challenges the interviewer – is a really great way of being remembered.
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