Ruth Mayhew has been writing since the mid-1980s, and she has been an HR subject matter expert since 1995. Her work appears in "The Multi-Generational Workforce in the Health Care Industry," and she has been cited in numerous publications, including journals and textbooks that focus on human resources management practices. She holds a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Ruth resides in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.

So you’ve aced the interview so far: You had the perfect anecdote for every question, you honestly but tactfully admitted your weaknesses, and you made the interviewer laugh. You’re ready to ride off into the sunset with this job, but then the interviewer gives you the floor to ask your own questions. What should you ask that’s going to make you look smart and knowledgeable, interesting and memorable?

While the questions you ask during an interview might not get you the job offer on a silver platter, they can definitely move the needle and leave your interviewer feeling more confident about potentially adding you to the team. This is a chance to show that you’re thinking carefully about the opportunity and set you apart from other candidates, as well as learn information that will actually help you decide if you want to join this company.

I’ve heard all kinds of advice about The Perfect Question to ask (“ask about success metrics so they know you’re driven;” “ask if there’s anything about you that they’re concerned about so they’ll just tell you all the stuff they liked about you, and you’ll trick them into having a positive association with you”), but ultimately we don’t need to waste time on Jedi mind tricks.

Throughout my time recruiting, I’ve encountered a handful of questions I got from candidates that I loved and often prompted me to write “asked great questions” in my notes. These are my favorite because they’re specific, reasonably uncommon, and they send positive signals about someone’s culture fit.

If it was your last week at [company], what’s one thing you would miss and one thing you wouldn’t miss?

This is a much more interesting way of asking “what’s your favorite thing about working here,” which I already have a go-to, honest-but-reasonably-sanitized answer for—but asking it this way puts my mind in a different place and encourages me to answer more honestly and off the cuff.

I first heard this question while working at a company I didn’t love—when the candidate asked this question, I accidentally answered honestly that I would miss the people but I wouldn’t miss the unrealistic pace of work and half-baked projects. Not my finest moment, but extremely useful intel for the candidate!

What steps is [company] taking towards diversity, equity, and inclusion?

A specific question about how a company is moving towards better DEI (or anything, really) is ten times more useful than a generic question of if a company cares about DEI. (“Yes, of course [company] cares about DEI! Next question.”) Most companies still have a long way to go to achieve true diversity, equity, and inclusion, but I think this question is a good opportunity to find out if there are real plans and steps being taken or if a team is just full of social justice-y platitudes.

How does [company] collect and act on feedback? Do you have an example?

A company’s willingness to take and act on feedback is a good clue about what the culture will be like. We’re looking for a culture where feedback is valued, gathered, and acted on consistently because it means that your voice and suggestions will likely be welcomed. Similar to the DEI question, we want to know how they collect feedback and not simply if they collect feedback. It might be through surveys, town halls, a suggestion box, one-on-ones—there are lots of potential good answers here so long as it’s not some generic hand-wave-y answer.

Tell me about the CEO at [company].

Even if you wouldn’t be interacting with the CEO every day, this is still the person who is going to make material decisions about the company and changes that will impact your day-to-day work and job security. This question gives you a good sense of how involved the CEO is in what’s actually happening at the company (does your interviewer have a story about interacting with them, or is it all just vague general statements?) and can also deliver you a sense of how much real employees like and trust them. If all anyone can say is that they’re a “genius,” run.

When was the last time you took vacation?

This is fun for me to answer and gives you some real data about whether people at this company are able to take advantage of paid time off. Anyone can say the words “we encourage people to take vacation,” but we want to actually know if they actually walk the walk. This is also a good option if you’re a little nervous, because now you can make small talk with your interviewer about their awesome latest time off.

You shouldn’t feel like you have to ask all these questions, and the right mix of questions for you is probably a combination of some like these and some more tactical questions about the job itself or next steps. Your perfect question is going to be different from my perfect question and will depend on what stage of the process you’re in, but this should deliver you a few options to choose from on your way to securing that job offer.

Neil Kokemuller has been an active business, finance and education writer and content media website developer since 2007. He has been a college marketing professor since 2004. Kokemuller has additional professional experience in marketing, retail and small business. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Iowa State University.

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Just as there are many types of interviews - phone interviews, second interviews, HR interviews, informational interviews, panel interviews, and group interviews - there are many types of interview questions. The more direct, basic types of questions probe a candidate to talk about specific skills or experiences they have in a very straightforward manner. These answers are usually easy to prepare for.

Employers should be cautious not only to ask these questions, which tend to be the easiest to answer throughout the interview process because they prompt candidates to discuss experience and tasks they've already had and accomplished. These questions may be specific to skills learned or skills seen on a resume, sometimes serving as fact-checking questions to which an employer needs the answers. Yet even if they're open-ended questions, they're not necessarily very telling regarding how a candidate thinks.

Another type of interview question is the behavioral interview question. These tend to be broader, and they ask interviewees about a time they had to act in a certain way or solve a particular problem. These are based on real-life experiences.

What Is a Situational Interview?

Situational interview questions are similar to behavioral interview questions in some ways, but they go much deeper.

A situational interview question poses a hypothetical situation that the interviewee has to answer. Questions are often phrased like this: "How would you handle…" as opposed to a behavioral question, which begins something like this: "Tell me about a time you…"

These questions are so in-depth and intricate that they force the interviewee to think on their feet and use their imaginations in a way that other questions don't, which is essential in a job interview. It's harder to prepare for these questions as they tend to ask about weaknesses and problems that must be overcome. These questions make it harder for a person to "fake it." And if they can nail these questions, they're much likelier to rock the position they're interviewing for.

But coming up with some hypothetical questions can be difficult when interviewing someone. That's why we've compiled a few suggestions on what to ask.

6 trial Situational Interview Questions

Here are six common situational interview questions. They can help interviewers find star employees - even if they can be intimidating to answer. Here's what's happening inside interviewers' heads when they ask these questions.

1. How Would You Handle a Stressful Situation Where You Had to Work With a Difficult Manager, Supervisor, Colleague, or Client?

This is an excellent, open-ended question that will force the interviewee to think back on examples of times they've been discouraged. They then have to relate, from the interviewer's perspective, how it should be handled. How they answer this question can help you see how they handle conflict in high-stress situations. It also shows you how well they work with fellow team members.

2. How Would You Handle an Instance of Receiving Criticism From a Superior, and What Would Be Your Response?

This example shows how the potential employee handles criticism. It can also reveal how they think about themselves. If they say they've never been criticized, this is most likely a lie and a definite red flag. They should have examples of past problems that they've worked to overcome. It's also an excellent way to see how an employee can handle the workplace environment.

3. Let's Say You Began Working on a Project Due on a Tight Deadline. You've Made Decent Progress When You Realize That You've Made a Detrimental Mistake That Will Require You To Start Over. How Do You Fix It, and What Do You Do About The Deadline?

Everyone misses a deadline at some point - whether it was their fault or there were extenuating circumstances. If the interviewee can cop to these experiences, you know they're trustworthy. It's also important to see how they can think on their feet and problem-solve in a crunch. Business is very fast-paced, and if your company is going to hire someone, that person needs to be ready to switch tactics at a moment's notice and know how to do it efficiently.

4. How Would You Handle a Situation Where You Were Working on a Team, and a Conflict Arose? What Would Be The Process You'd Use To Settle a Conflict With a Team Member?

Another good question for seeing how a person deals with conflict, this question gives insights into a person's social behavior and behavior in a work environment. Not everyone will like everyone, but it's important that they know how to work through their differences and still accomplish a task to the best of their abilities without being distracted by a conflict. Especially for managerial positions, finding out if the candidate has effective conflict-resolution skills is vital to thrive.

5. If You Were Dissatisfied With an Aspect of Your Job, How Would You Handle It? What Is One Instance Where You Would Be Dissatisfied?

Everyone has those days when they can't stand their job or at least parts of it. If they say they don't, they're probably lying. These questions will help you better understand the kind of work environment they are looking for and how well they handle dissatisfaction. Of course, there will be tasks that aren't as invigorating as others, but if they can show a positive outlook and attitude, they're a keeper.

6. Describe a Time You Made a Mistake With a Colleague or Client. How Did You Work Through It?

As with question #3, this can help you gauge the candidate's level of honesty in admitting she was wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes these mistakes affect other people. Her willingness to own the error-both with her colleague or client and you-and her ability to rectify the situation can help you see how she might be able to rise to the occasion in the future.

Tips for Answering Situational Interview Questions

It can be challenging to answer situational interview questions as a job candidate. You should be honest, of course, but sometimes there's such a thing as being too open. Here are some tips for responding to the above questions and similar ones that might arise in your interview.

1. deliver The Lay of The Land.

Take some time to describe the scenario in detail, including the key participants and what led to the situation arising. This will provide your interviewer with the necessary background information and indicate why you made the decisions you did.

2. Explain Your Rationale.

If, for example, you're responding to question #3 about making a mistake that cost you time on a project, don't only explain what you did to rectify the situation but also why you did it. Let's say you asked for an extension. You should explain why you thought this would be the best course of action and the pros and cons of that decision.

3. Don't Be Defensive.

Own your mistakes. That doesn't mean you should say, “I really messed up,” even if you did, but you shouldn't lay the blame on someone else or pretend something that was your fault wasn't. Instead, be honest and forthright while emphasizing what you learned from the experience that will prevent you from making the same mistake twice.

4. Focus on Lessons, Rather Than the Consequences of the Experience Itself.

Of course, you'll need to talk about the situation, but rather than dwelling on the costliness of a mistake or the difficulty of an experience, focus on the lessons you learned from it and how your work has evolved and improved because of it. It's much more critical for your interviewer to know how you might handle a similar situation should it arise again than the particularities of that experience, which is in the past.

Situational Interviews: The Bottom Line

An interviewer needs to ask various questions during a job interview. The candidate must discuss their prior job experience and divulge information about themselves. And it's important to hear first-hand accounts of specific projects they've worked on and clients they've worked with.

But introducing a few of these situational interview questions can help hiring managers see behind the curtain of an employee's mind and find out if they would be a good fit for the job and the company culture. Situational interview questions test a possible employee's competencies that require them to rely on skills and how they think and work as a whole. These questions shine a light on the decision-making process of the interviewee.

More Articles From the Wealth of Geeks Network:

This article was produced by FairyGodBoss and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.

It can sometimes feel like we need to be as agreeable and easy as possible in a job interview to increase our chances of being hired, but that’s simply selling yourself short. An interview should be equal parts evaluating how much you want to work for the company and the interviewer evaluating if your skills match the role. This means you need to ask some questions that you may have been conditioned to think were inappropriate in the past. Questions about money, workplace culture, retention and the like are all fair game. You’re going to be spending a huge chunk of your life dedicated to this position, so you deserve to know everything you can before you start. Here are the questions that might seem hard to ask at first, but are 100 percent worth asking during an interview.

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Important: 3 Easy Tips To Turn Your Credit Woes Into Wows

“What Is the Salary Range for This Position?”

Phrasing the question this way gives you the upper hand. Perhaps the interviewer has already asked you how much you hope to make, but asking this forces the interviewer to be honest with you (hopefully). Thoroughly research the market rate for your position and do not undervalue your experience. Your work is worth what the company pays you. If the interviewer responds with a range that is below what you were hoping–tell them that. Perhaps there’s wiggle room, and if not, you deserve to be paid what you’re worth. It’s good to know early in the interview process if a company will be meeting your compensation needs or not so you can move on without getting too invested if need be.

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“What Are the Challenges of This Position?”

Knowing what your biggest roadblocks are going in is critical. If the interviewer lays out a bunch of problems that you’re not interested in solving, it’s good to know at the time of your interview rather than 3 months into your job. However, if the issues the interviewer presents seem natural, feasible or even intriguing, that’s a sign that this job is a good fit for you.

“What Are the Common Reasons People Leave This Position/Company?”

Asking this question gives you insight into what the company’s greatest weaknesses might be. If the last person to have the job you’re interviewing for left for a more senior position at another company, there might be limited room for growth at the company you’re interviewing for. If the interviewer alludes to the company’s culture “not being for everyone” that can mean that it’s maybe incredibly fast-paced and less personal–even cutthroat. The interviewer’s ability to deliver you these answers also means the team has paid attention to why people are leaving and is at least aware of the reasons behind prior employee’s departure. If the interviewer can’t fully answer these questions, it might be a sign of not taking exit interviews or feedback to heart.

“How Is Success Measured at This Company?”

This answer should deliver you some information as to how the company thinks of its employees, and how the review process is conducted. For example, if the interviewer says success is purely based on sales or metrics, it might indicate a “product first, people second” mentality. However, if they say that both growth and retention are important, it signals that upper management is concerned with the mental health of their employees. This answer can also deliver you a look at how your success will be measured (is it purely hitting a number, or is it showing improvement and initiative in your role?) and how likely you are to get a raise. This question can also lead into how often raises are seen at the company and if they’re on a yearly review cadence or if raises are few and far between.

Ask the Questions Most Pressing to You

If you’re looking for a completely remote work environment, ask if that’s a possibility. If you have to pick up your kids early on a certain day, or aren’t open to work travel, make sure that’s known. Don’t make yourself the last priority. It’s much better to let your needs be known early on so that the job works around you, rather than you working around the job. The perfect job for you will be the one that works with your needs and doesn’t make you feel like you have to sacrifice yourself to be successful.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Uncomfortable Questions You Need To Ask During a Job Interview

CaixaBank’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based virtual assistant has answered more questions for more customers than any other support channel, after four million people used the service.

The Spanish bank said the CaixaBankNow virtual assistant receives an average of 50,000 questions a day, either spoken or written, to help access services such as making payments or blocking lost cash cards.

A CaixaBank statement said: “The online assistant offers immediate answers on a wide range of topics, such as the features of banking products and services, how to take out a product or stepping customers through the process of restoring their digital banking password. It also lets customers make an appointment at their branch, check their balance and activity, and carry out simple operations, such as blocking cards or sending money through the Spanish mobile payment solution Bizum.”

The main queries addressed to the virtual assistant were customers asking about bills, deposits, accessing the Bizum mobile payments system, and making appointments with in-branch advisers.

The AI assistant also supports the bank’s staff in offering answers to questions and is an example of how digital transformation at banks goes beyond transforming customer engagements with chatbots or replacing repetitive manual tasks with robotic process automation software.

The CaixaBankNow AI is also capable of answering questions from CaixaBank’s employees, such as those involving internal rules and technology, and can answer more than 1,500 questions in different languages.

The bank added: “Now CaixaBank is applying all the power of AI to develop tools for its managers and customers, and for other strategic objectives, such as employee training.”

In 2020, the bank introduced AI as part of its internal training platform to help its staff understand what training they could benefit from and help them to access it.

Courses in languages, executive skills, digital skills, finance and risk management, among others, are offered through the service.

My name is Jenna Ortega

and this is the Wired Autocomplete Interview.

[upbeat music]

I'm very excited.

I love props.

[upbeat music continues]

Is Jenna Ortega?

Is Jenna Ortega related to Gina Rodriguez?

Unfortunately no.

People might be asking if I'm related to Gina

because I play the younger version of her

in Jane the Virgin.

It was one of the first jobs that I ever did.

And I also think people always love

when people see each other in projects that are related

and they're actually related.

It's like a nice fun fact.

I'm giving no one that satisfaction with this answer.

Is Jenna Ortega playing Wednesday Adams?

I actually am.

I've never played someone that has been portrayed before

and especially so flawlessly.

It's weird to do something

that people have already created expectations and ideas of

and still try to do something different

that doesn't stray too far from the character

but also puts her in a different world and atmosphere.

There's a lot of pressure, I think.

Is Jenna Ortega a Libra?

Yes, I am.

And that's about all I could tell you.

I don't know much about horoscopes

but living in LA I do know that I'm Libra

and I have been told, you're such a Libra.

And we're apparently really indecisive.

And I am.

Is Jenna Ortega and Maddie friends.

I'm assuming they're talking about

the beautiful wonderful baby angel face Maddie Ziegler.

And the answer is yes.

She's one of my greatest friends ever.

She was somebody that I instantly clicked with.

We did a movie called The Fallout a couple years back.

And I feel like Maddie

and I are the same person in different fonts.

She's such a weirdo

and I'm a weirdo in like the,

used to perform autopsies

on little animals when I was younger.

Like little lizards that I found

that were dead in my backyard.

She's weirdo in the sense that

she breaks out into characters or movements or make faces,

always comes into the perfect time.

Her comedic timing is so underappreciated.

She makes me laugh.

We have a good time.

We're really weird together.

[card thumping]

Jenna Ortega.

Who is Jenna Ortega play in You?

I play Ellie and I'm obnoxious.

I'm in his business way too much.

I'm definitely an LA bitch.

She's also very creative and she's a bit of an artist

and I see directing in her future and she does as well.

Does Jenna Ortega do her own stunts?

Yes, I love to.

I deliver stunt coordinators such immense anxiety.

I will throw myself on the floor, off a wall.

I'll drive cars at 90 to a 100 miles per hour.

With stunt breaks that I've never used before in my life.

Why is Jenna Ortega in New Zealand?

Shooting that film, X

and I was there for maybe about three months.

I was only in the North Island.

We shot in Wellington.

I love that, I genuinely would move there.

I love their appreciation for their culture,

the Maori people

and how they make conscious effort to keep it alive.

And also some of the sweetest people I've ever met.

There's people that I met during that short shoot

that I still am in contact with to this day.

Does Jenna Ortega survive in X?

The movie's been out long enough.

I get a gunshot to the head.

Yeah, I just had to lay in the corner dead,

with a prosthetic on my face that gave me a cut.

And it was funny because when I met Tim Burton

for my Wednesday audition,

I had just finished doing that.

So I had stage blood, and glycerin sweat in my hair

and a massive cut on my face

and had been up for over 24 hours.

I got on the Zoom and he actually laughed.

It made me laugh.

I thought it was, I thought it was endearing.

What does Jenna Ortega look like now?

I look like Michael Kane in a Jenna Ortega scramble suit.

What is Jenna Ortega?

What is Jenna Ortega first movie?

It was a movie called Afterwards with Marcia Gay Harden

and she plays a suicidal librarian

who goes to Costa Rica

and she falls in love with a man there

who has a daughter and I am that daughter.

It also was my first time on a set.

So it's learning what a gaffer is and what a DP is

and what this color tape they put on the floor

is supposed to mean.

Oh, you want me to stand there?

You want me to do whatever?

I was just kind of the sponge.

I was just taking it all in for the first time.

What is Jenna Ortega.

This so mysterious,

I'm so anxious, I just wanna know.

What is Jenna Ortega new movie?

It could either be a film I did a couple months ago

called Finest Kind with actors,

Toby Wallace, Ben Foster, Tommy Lee Jones

or it could be the second installment

of the reboot of the Scream franchise Scream 6,

sixum is what I'm calling it.

And that will be out in March in theaters next year.

What is Jenna Ortega doing now?

This interview?

This is what I'm doing right now.

I just finished a film in Atlanta called Miller's Girl

and yeah now I'm just promoting this,

this Netflix show.

It's called Wednesday.

[Jenna laughing]

Oh, it's such a cruel world.

How Jen Ortega.

How is Jen Ortega?

It's been a long time since someone asked me that.

It's, I just referred to myself as it,

truthfully speaking,

I'm in a little bit of a better place

than I was in in the beginning of the year.

And that's a really wonderful feeling.

And I've recently worked on jobs

that I had very memorable experiences on.

So I'm very fortunate.

I'm a very privileged girl.

How can I meet Jenna Ortega?

I'm gonna a comic-con later.

This probably won't be out before then but,

I walk a lot.

Maybe I'll be on the street.

How did Jenna Ortega become an actress?

I begged my mom for years.

I first wanted to start acting when I was six years old.

My parents said no way in hell.

One day my mom got me this monologue book

that she got from Barnes and Nobles to shut me up,

like here play.

And I did a dramatic monologue for her

where I was hysterically crying

and she didn't know where I was coming from

or what I was talking about.

And I told her,

this is from the monologue book that you got me.

This is what you told me to do.

She had me do it again

and she put it on her Facebook

and put ah, my little drama queen, whatever.

And I guess an old friend of hers from high school

was good friends with a casting director.

So she said, Okay, just for a little bit.

And now I'm 20 years old

and I've been doing it for over half of my life.

How old was Jenna Ortega in Stuck in the Middle?

I was 12, I wanna say.

And I finished it when I was 16.

It doesn't even feel like it was a part of my lifetime.

I feel like I'm a different person every day

but definitely every two years it's a entire shift.

Something that my friends even acknowledge

where my music taste is different, style, whatever.

How tall is Jenna Ortega?

I'm six foot four.

I've got my head in the clouds.

No, I'm actually,

I'm five foot one or maybe a touch less.

But I think that's what I am

that's what I say.

Is Jenna Ortega vegan?

I was vegan for a really long time

but I stopped being vegan

when I went to Romania to shoot Wednesday actually

because the food is very different there

and I don't think that I was meeting

my nutrition requirements

so I started eating fish again.

So I'm currently pescatarian.

Can Jenna Ortega sing?

Poorly.

I've sang for jobs before in the past

and I'm happy to

but I would never wanna make a career out of it.

I would love to be a musical composer.

I'd love to put out neo composing albums

or things like that, very ambient noise.

Can Jenna Ortega play the cello?

Actually I learned to play the cello for Wednesday.

I started working on the cello about

two months before we started shooting.

I probably couldn't play too well now

just because I've been away from home so much working

and it is something that I want to continue to pursue.

I have immense respect for anybody who plays the cello.

I think it's such a delightful instrument.

Can Jenna Ortega dance?

If you want me to.

I'm not against it.

I love a good time.

I love to dance.

I love to go out and dance and do it with friends.

And as someone I love music.

I think there's so much to be found in music

and you learn a lot,

not only about your own personal taste

and how far you're willing to extend yourself

but then also about different cultures

and what is celebrated in other places in the world.

And I think that that's a really beautiful thing.

Is Jenny Ortega Kenny Ortega's daughter?

Kenny and I actually talked about this.

We met at an event a couple of years ago.

Kenny Ortega is an incredibly successful choreographer

and director and is very big in the musical scene.

I would love to be related to him.

I think we're making jokes about him possibly

being a cousin or an uncle.

But again, I only met him once

so I feel a little weird calling a stranger uncle.

[card thumping]

This is definitely one of my preferred

methods of interviews, I think.

So thanks for asking

really weird and sometimes basic questions.

[upbeat music]