Today's episode is about one of the best ways to differentiate yourself as a candidate in an interview process. How to ask not good, not great.... But, exceptional interview questions!

The best way to calm any natural nerves is to prepare and practice. Preparation and practice breeds confidence. Interviewing is a skill that gets sharper with practice. Simulated and real.

You will also want to review the interviewer's profile, review the company's website, and any recent press, public financial statements, industry and relevant macroeconomic trends. Review the job description, review your resume, brush up on technical, and practice with behavioral questions. Prepare tangible examples of your experience in line with the job description. For any perceived gaps, think of examples where you've hit the ground running and ramped up quickly when you haven't done something before.

Where I surprise people in my suggested interview prep, is when I give tangible tips on how to BEST prepare your interview questions.At some point in almost any interview, you will be asked if you have any questions. Failing running out of time, you will always get to "do you have any questions?"

Prepare good questions for every player in the process. Even if this maxes out at 10 or more people! Everyone wants to feel special. You want to leave the interviewer wanting to hire you. You can then walk away and decide your interest level. An interview is not you being wooed or deciding if you want a job. The goal of an interview if you winning over the interview so that they want to hire you! And unique well thought out questions are a great way to do this, as they show your intellect,passion, enthusiasm and again, they make the interviewer feel special.

What to avoid in your questions:

• Don't ask any questions that could be asked for another interview for another company or role.
• Don't ask different interviewers in the process the same questions. They will talk. I've seen candidates get to a final round with C-suite, and not move ahead, because they didn't have questions prepared. Asking no questions is a deal breaker.And asking lay up questions such as "how can I succeed in this role?" Is a missed opportunity to show your greatness.
• If you freeze, at a minimum you can say, while I already asked so and so this, I would love to hear your unique take on X.
• Never say that you already asked all of your questions when you are in front of anyone who has made time to meet you, whether it's HR, C-suite, or anyone in between

Three pillars to hit in your questions:

• Show a genuine interest in the industry. To go a bit deeper, ask a whip smart macro question about the industry that shows you are well read, smart, and passionate about the space. Maybe incorporate a recent news article, head-winds coming,
• Show a genuine interest in the company. Acknowledge recent press, wins, gains - find something specific that they are doing different than their competitors, go deep in the MD&A, really show your depth here. Maybe acknowledge the business model.
• Show a genuine interest in the specific role. Don't ask how the role can benefit you, ask how you can benefit the role. This will then show them how you are best for the role.

While you may be a seasoned pro, please don't wing your questions. Spend at least 45 minutes to an hour preparing well thought out strategic questions. The more senior the interviewer, the more they are hoping you value their time and perspective and show it by asking well prepared and thoughtful questions. Now DM me @KatherineConnected with some of your powerful questions!