Forgot to ask questions at the end of a phone interview

October 7, 2015 6:45 PM

I was called this morning by one of my dream companies for a position. I had a really great conversation and she told me I did a great job on the phone interview. She asked if I had any questions and I was so freaked and excited I told her no. How bad is this?

During the conversation I did state how great I had heard this company was and how much they are growing and generally being awesome and she and I spoke about new areas the company was getting into. The interviewer said I did a great job on my interview and she's forwarding my info to the hiring manager. She then asked if I had any questions for her and I stupidly said no. I know, that's bad, but I was so excited I wasn't entirely thinking straight. How bad is this? I did state 2-3 times how excited I was about the possibility of working for this company.

It's in the insurance healthcare field if that matters.

posted by Attackpanda to Work & Money (8 answers total)

Best answer: Fellow panda, you are fine. She told you that you did great. Questions are not meant to be a test -- just an opportunity to ask questions.
posted by pando11 at 6:47 PM on October 7, 2015 [7 favorites]

Best answer: Basic rule of sales, shut up once you've closed the deal. "I'm forwarding your resume to the hiring manager" is closing the deal on a phone screen. You really shouldn't be asking a bunch of questions at that point. You aren't going to win more, but you could (although it's unlikely) un-win it with a really bad question.
posted by COD at 7:18 PM on October 7, 2015 [11 favorites]

I think you are just fine. It's possible to know all you initially need to know through research and the interview process itself, and the question isn't asked to see if you can come up with something clever. I'm quite sure this is one of those things that can keep you awake at night, but no one else is giving it a second thought. There isn't a place on their papers to indicate that you didn't ask a question for their future reference.
posted by SpacemanStix at 7:20 PM on October 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

If I can't think of any at the end of interviews (which is fairly frequently), I usually say "I don't have any for you right now,we covered my most pressing questions in the interview, but would you be able to answer follow up questions over email if I have them?" or something similar. But I don't think having no questions is a bad thing, especially if they've already told you you did great.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:27 PM on October 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

You passed the recruiter hurdle. That's a win.
posted by 26.2 at 7:58 PM on October 7, 2015

You're fine! Just think up a handful of kickass questions for the hiring manager, that's way more important anyway. :)
posted by darkchocolatepyramid at 9:35 PM on October 7, 2015

First off never ask a question you do not already know the answer to. Secondly if the question is strategic, then you may want to include it as part of your follow-up/thank you email. ( You are sending one of those aren't you?) The way to phrase it is by relating it to part of the conversation that took place in the interview. "We talked about x, and that reminded me I would like to know more how X fits into Y etc." However if the question is HR related let it wait until you get further along in the process.
posted by Gungho at 8:09 AM on October 8, 2015

Best answer: HR here - not a big deal at all. Most applicants would ask a question or two because somewhere along the way a professor or elder told them to as a sure fire way to set yourself above the competition.

It doesn't.

It's much more likely you'll have questions for the hiring manager that HR isn't best positioned to answer (specifics about the job, advancement, the team, etc.) so I'd recommend having some general questions prepared for that 2nd interview.

Congrats!
posted by Twicketface at 10:41 AM on October 8, 2015