Questions for Interviewer

[EntryLevelActuary101]

Hi, I have an on-site interview coming up and I was wondering if anyone could give me any type of advice on questions I should ask the interviewer. In the past there has always been a lot of time to ask questions and I always struggle with coming up with good questions to ask.

[oahz]

Originally Posted by EntryLevelActuary101

Hi, I have an on-site interview coming up and I was wondering if anyone could give me any type of advice on questions I should ask the interviewer. In the past there has always been a lot of time to ask questions and I always struggle with coming up with good questions to ask.

So that must mean that you've made it passed the phone interview stage. Care to answer my thread?

[clarinetist]

Originally Posted by EntryLevelActuary101

Hi, I have an on-site interview coming up and I was wondering if anyone could give me any type of advice on questions I should ask the interviewer. In the past there has always been a lot of time to ask questions and I always struggle with coming up with good questions to ask.

If you get an on-site interview, the questions you ask them (IME) will be the least of your concerns. Ask questions that suggest interest in their work. Overall, make sure you answer your interviewers' questions well.

[snikelfritz]

Originally Posted by EntryLevelActuary101

Hi, I have an on-site interview coming up and I was wondering if anyone could give me any type of advice on questions I should ask the interviewer. In the past there has always been a lot of time to ask questions and I always struggle with coming up with good questions to ask.

Ask relatively open questions that give the interviewer an opportunity to talk a lot about things they like. People like to talk about themselves "What do you enjoy most about your role?".

[Colonel Smoothie]

Originally Posted by snikelfritz

"What do you enjoy most about your role?".

Actuarial Outpost

[snikelfritz]

Originally Posted by Colonel Smoothie

Actuarial Outpost

Try your best to avoid companies where people answer this.

[lllj]

Ask what your interviewers like most about their job, what their day to day work is like, what a "typical day" is like, what projects they're currently working on, what projects or sorts of projects you would work on if you got the role, is their role mainly working with other actuaries or do they have lots of interaction with other departments, what do they like most about being an actuary, most interesting/memorable project they ever worked on, how long have they been at the company, what was their career path like, what is the training process generally like for new hires, etc. - lots of ideas to start right there. also, if you know anything specific like the company recently launched a new product or something, you can try to ask about that, but imo that's more challenging. it's better if you can ask questions based on things that come up in the interview itself. like if your interviewer is like "in this role, you'd be working on this project with x, y, z which involves a, b, and c" you could ask things like how did that project come about, what challenges have you been facing while working on that project, what aspects of the project do you think i'd be involved in, is this project limited to your direct department or does it involve a lot of collaboration with other teams, etc, etc, etc.

Really asking questions is the easy part of the interview because you can really ask whatever and make yourself seem interested, and it's less pressure than trying to answer questions because you're not on the spot. i always liked this part because you're in control of the conversation.

I would probably avoid questions about benefits, and even probably lean away from too many study program questions. Study program questions are generally okay, but if you're interviewing with someone who never gets their study hours and it's a really busy department, they're obviously not going to say, "no, I never get my study hours," and it's better to express that you're interested in the role itself rather than asking too much about how much time you'll get to study.

[mathmajor]

Originally Posted by clarinetist

If you get an on-site interview, the questions you ask them (IME) will be the least of your concerns. Ask questions that suggest interest in their work. Overall, make sure you answer your interviewers' questions well.

I sorta agree. My best interviews are the ones that've turned into conversations.

Often, HR supplied the interviewer with vague questions and the guy/gal would rather just get to know you and your background. What sort of worker you are, how you think/talk/solve problems. They mostly assume you can do the work/have the background based on your resume.

Asking questions (don't even have to be prepared - just outline some key points you want to hit) puts a lot of pressure off of you. Makes it sound like you're making a decision just like they will be (and you are!). It'll indicate you're trying to feel out if you belong there too. It aligns interests with your interviewer.

[GargoyleWaiting]

Originally Posted by mathmajor

- just outline some key points you want to hit

Instead of asking us what questions you want to ask, ask yourself what you want to know. What matters to you about the job? And how would you go about asking about it?

The thing is, we can say you should ask “Tell me about the first tasks I’ll be responsible for”. IMO that’s a decent question to ask, but you need to care enough about the answer to follow it up if they don’t give you the information you need in their response. It’s a conversation, and a chance for you to find out about what matters to you.

[lllj]

yeah - it's important that you don't sound like you're reading from a script. even if you script your questions beforehand, try to sound like you didn't and these are just things you're interested in that you're thinking of during the interview.