You should always ask questions at the end of your job interviews in Dubai. In this article I'm going to share with you 50 great example questions that you can ask in your Dubai interviews.
I have grouped these 50 questions into 5 categories. You can pick one or two from each category to take into your interview.
There are many reasons why you should prepare questions for you job interviews in Dubai. Here are the top five.
A good job interview is never one-sided. It should include a healthy level of two-way communication. It's important that you make an informed decision about accepting a role at a company. Most hiring managers understand this.
No one wants a candidate to accept a role only to leave the organisation a few months later. A candidate that has no questions is a potential red flag to a hiring manager or HR team. Your questions show how engaged you are with the opportunity.
Let’s face it, you should have some doubts about the organisation and role that you are interviewing for. It's normal.
Joining a new company in Dubai is always a risk. Make sure you get answers to the most important questions before accepting an offer.
When you don't ask questions in an interview, it sends a negative message.
How interested can you be if you have no questions? Always ask questions because it shows you have thought about the opportunity.
You can use questions to show that you have researched the company. Hiring managers like to see this kind of preparation.
Use your questions to showcase some of the great research that you have done.
You don't have to save all your questions until the end of your interview. I find it works well to ask questions throughout the conversation.
Asking questions during the course of the interview can help you gain clarity. It will also give you a much-needed break during the interview.
After answering a question about your leadership style, you could ask ‘What leadership style do you think would work for this team?'
You can now sit back and catch your breath whilst you listen to the answer.
There are five categories of questions that we're going to cover in this article.
• Questions about the role
• Questions about the company
• Questions about the team
• Questions about their expectations
• Questions about the interview process
We’ll look at each of these important categories in turn. I'll provide you with some great example questions that you can ask in your next Dubai interview.
Any questions that you ask your interviewer about the role should be specific to the actual position for which you are interviewing.
Asking the right questions will tell the interviewer that you are already imagining yourself in the role and thinking about how you can help the hiring manager, team and company to be successful.
• What would success look like in this role?
• How does this role contribute to the overall success of the department or organisation?
• What is the typical professional path for the incumbent of this role?
• What do you feel would be the most challenging aspects of this role?
• What would the first month look like in this role?
• What does a typical day look like in this role?
• What impressed you about the last person that held this role?
• How critical is this role to the success of the team, department or organisation?
• How long do people typically stay in this role?
• How much autonomy would you expect the holder of this role to exercise?
Asking your interviewer questions about the company is a great opportunity to demonstrate the research that you have completed, and your interest in the organisation.
If you can frame your question around a piece of information that you have learned, you should do so.
Don’t forget that you should already know the simple things, such as how long the company has been trading or in which markets it operates, so don’t ask these questions as they will simply expose your lack of preparation.
If you are interviewing with a multinational company don't forget that operations in Dubai can be quite different from other parts of the world. Make sure some of your questions are specific to the Dubai operation.
• How would you describe the culture of the company here in Dubai?
• What excites you about the future of the company here in Dubai and the surrounding region?
• What long term goals do you envision me helping the company to achieve?
• What are the biggest challenges that the company is facing right now and how do you see me helping the organisation to overcome them?
• What advantages do you think the company has over its major competitors? (Name the competitors to demonstrate you have done your homework!)
• What attracted you to the company?
• I noticed that the company recently introduced X or changed Y, what other recent innovations has the organisation made and what impact have they had?
• What type of person tends to thrive in this company?
• What do employees appreciate most about working for this company?
• What does the company do to attract and retain the best talent?
It’s best to reserve any questions you have about the team for the team leader or hiring manager. However, HR might offer a less biased view of the team dynamic, and any areas of weakness that might be present.
• How would members of the team describe the team dynamic here in the Dubai office?
• What has the team achieved in the last 12 months?
• How would you describe your team?
• How do you like your team to interact with you?
• Are there any specific areas of expertise that are lacking in the current team?
• How is the team structured?
• How is work distributed throughout the team on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis?
• What percentage of time would I be working collaboratively vs independently?
• Who would be my major stakeholders and the major stakeholders of the team?
• What does the team do to stay engaged and maintain a healthy working dynamic?
Again, these questions are best reserved for your hiring manager or direct line manager. Asking your interviewer questions about their expectations of you and your performance can help to demonstrate your commitment to success and that you are taking the role very seriously.
These interview questions are also a great opportunity for you as the interviewee to ensure that your expectations are aligned with that of the hiring managers.
• If I am successful, when would you require me to start?
• What would you expect me to contribute to the team?
• What style of communication do you prefer?
• What would success look like to you in the next 12 months?
• What progress would you expect to see within 6 months?
• What gaps that exist within the team would you expect me to fill?
• What is it about my experience and career thus far that you value the most?
• How autonomous would you expect me to be in this role?
• What do you value the most in a direct report?
• What are your top three values?
Asking questions about the interview process is a great way of getting a commitment from your interviewer and agreement on the next steps.
It also helps you to manage your own expectations and gives you an idea of how long you should wait before you follow up.
• When can I expect to hear from you regarding the next steps?
• How quickly do you need someone to start?
• Who is involved in the final decision-making process?
• Who will contact me regarding the next steps?
• What does the next stage look like?
• What does your typical interview process look like?
• How has the interview process gone so far?
• Is there anything in particular that you would like me to demonstrate at the next stage?
• When do you expect to be extending an offer to the successful candidate?
• Do you have any further questions for me before I leave?
The idea is not to overwhelm your interviewer with questions, a maximum of 4-5 good questions should be sufficient enough for you to show your interest in the role, demonstrate your research and gain further insight.
As you hopefully progress through the interview process, you’ll have the opportunity to ask more questions of different people. Some of the interview questions listed above will be more appropriate for later stages of the interview process or would be best asked to the direct line manager rather than HR.
When you carefully select which questions you’re going to ask in your interview, consider how far along you are in the process and with whom you’ll be interviewing.
There aren't any hard and fast rules as to how and when you should ask questions in an interview. As I mentioned above, you can ask questions as the interview progresses, however, you should be mindful not to hijack the interview as this will give the interviewers a negative impression of you and leave them feeling frustrated.
Generally, the best time to ask questions in an interview is at the end of the interview when the interviewer asks if you have any questions for them. If the interview approaches the end and it doesn't seem as though the interviewer is going to ask if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask if they have time for a few questions from you.
The tone and manner in which you ask questions in an interview are important, you should not interrogate your interviewer, try to catch them out or come across as though you are trying to dig up the dirt on the company or team.
Instead, you should be genuinely interested, inquisitive and respectful when asking questions in an interview.
Don’t simply take the interview question examples listed above and read them out word for word in your interview. Instead, rephrase them slightly and work them into some insight that you have already discovered about the company, or phrase your interview questions based on something that the hiring manger or interviewer has already said, for example;
“When I was researching your team, I noticed that many people come from very different backgrounds, how would you describe the culture of the team here in Dubai?”
“Earlier you asked me about my early career, what is it about my experience and career thus far that you value the most?”
“I read that your CEO intends to lessen the company’s dependence on fossil fuels, how do you feel this is going to impact the corporate strategy and agenda over the next five years?”
Asking questions in an interview in this way makes the questions seem more natural, more informed and less rehearsed.
Asking questions in a Dubai interview is your opportunity to show just how engaged you are and how much of a personal interest you are taking in the opportunity and the organisation.
It is also your chance to turn the tables and do a little interviewing of your own. Believe it or not, when you ask questions in an interview it makes you appear more confident, more informed and more assertive, provided that you ask the right questions.
An interview process should be an open dialogue between prospective employer and employee. Interviews are the arena in which you can explore a potentially long-term professional relationship and this works best when the conversation flows both ways.
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