As a job seeker, there are many questions you can ask during a job interview:

What type of training do you offer?

What is the typical career advancement for this position?

Who will I be working with?

What are the key strategic objectives for the company in Asia, over the next few years

What are the main goals the department and I would need to achieve?

And so on…..

There is one more question to ask during a job interview that can be very useful.

It involves getting direct/immediate feedback from the interviewer and asking them what their concerns are. Here is an example of such a question – “Based on our discussion today and my background, is there anything at all that would stop you from considering/recommending me for this position. If so, I would appreciate if you could share your concerns/thoughts, so that I can address them while I am here.”

This question can achieve a few important benefits:

If there are no apparent/major concerns the interviewer’s response will usually be a quick and natural “Not really.” In such an instance you have got yourself some immediate feedback on how the interview went and do not have to second guess and keep thinking how it went later on.

In the event that the interviewer has some reservations but does not mention them, you might be able to judge this from their non-verbal cues/gestures and probe further to get more information from them.

If the interviewer does have some concerns and says something like “We are looking for a person with more/or less of XYZ,” you can ask questions to get to the heart of their concern and get more specific/detailed information. If possible, you can then address the weakness/concern and provide appropriate examples/information to show why it might not be a big problem, rather than being rejected without any chance to provide an explanation.

You receive valuable insights on how to change your approach during future interviews, to make sure that you deal with the concerns mentioned upfront.

Many a times the interviewer might have some misconception or might have interpreted some information/responses wrongly and if they bring that up you can provide clarification accordingly.

In case you are at a loss for a question to ask during a job interview, try this one and see what happens.