Recently, I was listening to an interview on NPR. At the end of the session the interviewer said,

“Is there anything else I should be asking you?”

This struck me not only as a terrific question for an NPR interview but—for our purposes in the Wow world—as a terrific question to ask someone at the end of a job interview.

Why do I think it’s so much better than the usual end-of-interview fallback: “Do you have any questions for me?”

Because the answer to that question often leads to a generic conversation about your company’s long-term goals/competition/philanthropic outreach (If the interviewee has prepped properly) or a discussion of how much vacation time/compensation/flex time the interviewee would like (if they have not prepped properly.)

By contrast, “Is there anything else I should be asking you?” puts the onus on you, the interviewer, enabling the interviewee to feel more in control of the situation.

Why is this helpful?

Because whatever they choose to bring up will reveal quite a bit about their personality/intentions/thought processes.

Any and all of which is likely to be far more useful to you as you go about choosing the best candidate for the job.

If you are asked this question—and need to talk about a, well, kooky time in your life—take a look at, “Presenting Your Checkered Past”