Asking the wrong questions in an interview can put off an interviewer pretty quickly. Hopefully candidates know to table inquiries into vacation time and compensation until the negotiation process. Failing to ask any questions of the interviewer – or to ask enough of them – could be as bad a sign, though.
A measured amount of curiosity is a valued trait in candidates. A lack of inquisitiveness most often communicates a lack of real interest in the position. And sometimes this is the case; the job seeker may have scored an interview to a job he doesn’t have much desire to do, but took advantage of the invitation to get in a little interview practice, perhaps. But it’s safe to say that in most cases, if the interviewee has taken the trouble to apply, do his homework, get dressed up and come in for a meeting with the hiring manager, he’s interested. Among the factors that can make a candidate appear to have a curiosity deficiency:
- It’s been a hugely informative interview. All the questions he prepared have been answered!
- He is an extremely thorough researcher and discovered everything he needed to know through a judicious use of Google.
- There’s past experience of considerable cultural or societal pushback for an inquiring nature.
- In the case of a group interview, he’s hesitant to speak up out of a lack of confidence or fear of being seen as foolish.
- The persistent mindset that ignorance is forgivable, coupled with the attitude of not caring about what he doesn’t know.
- Any number of other conditions can contribute to an apparent lack of curiosity, from stimulation overload to retention anxiety to attention deficit disorder.
