candidates ask so many questions that our interviews are running over schedule

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

I am a manager in the process of expanding my team, so I have been interviewing many job seekers lately. We always give candidates a good 10 to 15 minutes at the end of the interview to ask us any questions they might have about the job, the organization, or the application process. I usually find the questions very interesting and hopefully our responses are helpful for the candidate to determine if this job is a good fit for them.

It used to be that candidates would ask three or four questions, but in this year’s recruitment processes I have found myself dreading the “Do you have any questions for us?” moment. Some candidates just go on and on, asking 10 or more questions and making us easily go over time. We try to go by these questions faster by providing straightforward answers when it’s appropriate or by having only one person in the panel answer to them (before we would each add to other’s responses). None of these strategies have been helpful and we always will have the candidate wanting his questions to be answered by each member of the panel (questions like “can each of you tell me what is your favorite aspect or the main challenge of your job?”).

I am a bit lost. It’s important for me that the person we are hiring feels as good about the job and the organization as we do about hiring them and, in the past, questions candidates asked us have given me great insight about their skills and goals, as well as things we should look into in our day-to-day jobs. Yet this avalanche of questions feels like too much.

Am I being too old-school about it? Should we put limits on the number of questions a candidate can ask us (I would hate to do that but might need to because of scheduling issues) or should I be more flexible and allocate more time for candidates to ask us as many questions as they want?

The further into the interview process you are, the more time you should allocate for candidates’ questions.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t allow many questions at the beginning too! Candidates need to know as early as possible whether it makes sense for them to invest time in a hiring process. But as you’re both considering each other increasingly seriously, it becomes even more important for candidates to have time to ask all their questions.

So while, say, five minutes might be enough time to allot for candidates’ questions in a short initial phone screen (if the call itself is 20 minutes or so), I wouldn’t assume ten minutes will be enough time for their’ questions once you’re deeper into the process. Fifteen minutes isn’t unreasonable, though, and if people are still going over that — and especially if it’s to ask fairly softball questions like wanting each person on a panel to name their favorite part of their job — try letting them know at the start of that part of the interview how much time remains. For example: “We have about 15 minutes left and want to know what we can answer for you.” You could even add (especially for candidates you’re very interested in), “If that ends up not being enough time, we’ll make sure there’s more time for questions as we move forward too.” That manages people’s expectations and tells them what you expect, and it allows them to prioritize their most important questions up-front.

And if you’re over time and need to wrap up, you can signal that with something like, “We’re reaching a hard stop, but any last questions before we conclude?”

Of course, you don’t want anyone feeling pressured to accept a job without having had a chance to get all their questions answered, so you should also be open to offering an additional conversation with your final pick if they have outstanding questions — but that’s for later in the process.