CNBC.COM
Even established professionals make mistakes during interviews, says Zillow CEO Jeremy Wacksman.
One that sticks out to him: when job candidates clearly haven't done their research on the company, even when seeking high-level positions, the 49-year-old tells CNBC Make It.
"I'm mostly talking to executive hires at this point. An obvious red flag is if they haven't done their homework, which still kind of surprises me," says Wacksman. "I'll talk to folks who are coming in for senior roles, and they're asking pretty basic questions that you could answer in 10 minutes on Google or 30 seconds in Gemini."
The best job interviewees come prepared to showcase their intellectual curiosity, Wacksman says;. They've "thought deeply about the role they're coming in for. And have thought deeply about what they would add to the job."
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Wacksman can often gauge a candidate's intellectual curiosity through the nature of the questions they ask him, he adds. Those questions often help tell him whether "their passion and their interest [aligns] with the job," he says.
What makes for a great question to ask your interviewer? Worthwhile questions "are bespoke to the specific role they are interviewing for, which shows they understand it well," Wacksman says.
How to impress an interviewer
Whether you're trying to land an executive-level role or seeking an internship, the questions you ask at the end are very important in any job interview, career expert Erin McGoff says in CNBC Make It Smarter's online course "How To Ace Your Job Interview."
"Questions like, 'I recently saw in the news one of your competitors did this. Will you be following suit?'" show that you're genuinely interested in the company and give you the opportunity to share your ideas, McGoff says. You may also want to ask about the company's organizational structure, challenges they've faced and their overall culture, she adds.
Asking tactful questions is especially important if you're being interviewed by a C-suite executive, Suzy Welch, a career expert, NYU Stern School of Business professor and three-time New York Times bestselling author, said on Sept. 29. You probably want to know about the role's vacation days, insurance coverage or path to future promotion — but those types of questions are best directed at someone else, she said.
"Use your time to talk about the markets, competitors and any ideas you have about the many ways you will make the company better, smarter and stronger," said Welch.
On the other hand, questions with easy-to-find answers — like, "Who are the company's main competitors?" or "What does this job entail?" — don't come off as insightful or inquisitive, according to a December report from jobs website Indeed. Instead, they can give the impression that you're unserious and lack commitment to the role you're seeking.
Dan Porter, founder and CEO of digital sports media company Overtime, agrees. "Bad employees, or bad interviewers, ask me about a dental plan or how I started Overtime when there's, like, 100 podcasts [about it]," he said on a Sept. 18 episode of LinkedIn's "This Is Working" podcast.
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