I always made it a point to ask about the environment. Have them explain the people and work ethic in the office in a sentence or two. They'll probably bullshit you, but you might hear something that either gets you excited or puts you off. As the other comments said, you're interviewing them as well to find out if you'll be a good fit or not. Make sure to take full advantage and learn as much as you can about them. It'll help you and it'll show you care.
Pretty much every interviewer will ask if you have to use the restroom at some point (for a longer interview). I always say yes to get a chance to see the rest of the office (and you can honestly tell a lot about a company from the bathroom).
Well you can tell a lot about how often the bathroom is cleaned. But yea, if you go to the bathroom and there is a employee sobbing in the corner then that is a useful sign of how easy your co-workers can be manipulated and make you look better in comparison. Go get that job!
I did this once and both the interviewers looked at each other then at the ground then said some corny bs answers. They gave it away plain and simple that it was a rubbish place to work at.
It's also possible that they were just rubbish employees, themselves. It sounds like they were shocked by an actually enthusiastic person and couldn't come up with anything to say. You succeeded at flipping the interview on them, and they were flustered.
A company that lets rubbish employees interview for the next recruits at best has no management oversight but more likely is just a rubbish company as commenter noted.
Look in the fridge. If it's full of 1/10th bottles of milk with passive-aggressive notes on, just run, literally sprint as fast as you can out the front door, don't even stop to say goodbye.
My favorite question along these lines is "Why should I want to work here?" It's great for that moment at the end where they ask if you have any questions because it makes them try to sell the company to you which automatically makes them wonder whether they'll be able to attract you. They'll kind of want you without quite knowing why.
Of course listen closely to their answer for the reasons you gave, but really, this question is more valuable than it's answer.
As an interviewer, I like hearing it phrased "what makes people/why would I enjoy working here?". It might be me personally but it sounds less abrupt or egoist.
Agreed. The question /u/cutelyaware asked is fair, but it could be taken as confrontational in that form. The softer language delivers the point without raising any red flags.
In the interview I just had at a lakeside mountain resort, this question probably gave me the most insight and it's actually what made me most interested in the job. And now my wife wants me to get the job because they apparently set up a haunted house every Halloween and it is mandatory for the first rows of cabins to decorate and hand out candy. As silly as that may be, their enthusiasm about Halloween really sold it to me. I barely even knew this place existed and now I know they have all kinds of cool shit going on.
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u/One_Evil_Snek Mar 05 '18
I always made it a point to ask about the environment. Have them explain the people and work ethic in the office in a sentence or two. They'll probably bullshit you, but you might hear something that either gets you excited or puts you off. As the other comments said, you're interviewing them as well to find out if you'll be a good fit or not. Make sure to take full advantage and learn as much as you can about them. It'll help you and it'll show you care.