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Always ask questions. After all, an interview is not just the time for the employer to get to know you-you are here to get to know the company as well. But before deciding what questions to ask, it is important to know whether or not the company's policy is to conduct multiple interviews. If they plan to interview each candidate only once, your questions should be more specific to the job. If you are offered the position, you will want to have answers to these specific questions to aid your decision to accept or decline.

However, if you will have to submit to a second interview, your focus in the first interview should not be to get a job offer. Your focus should be to get the second interview. In this situation, you are at a great advantage because you can ask open-ended questions about the company that beg thoughtful responses.

You should carefully choose six to eight thought-provoking, well researched and specific questions for every interview.

Great thought-provoking questions to ask in a first interview are:
1. What do you like most about working for this company?
2. Least?
3. Describe this company's working environment.

Researching the company prior to the interview and asking related questions can be very impressive to a potential employer. I am a Paralegal, so if I am being interviewed by a lawyer, I might ask specific questions about the practice. For example: I understand this firm, including you, practices primarily in family law. In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of practicing in in this area?

Researched questions are also beneficial to you. Their answers can provide you with a wealth of information about the personality of the interviewer and the environment of the company. If, in the above example, the interviewer says that the most difficult part of practicing in the area of family law is that there isn't as much money to be made compared to practicing in criminal defense, you may decide that you don't like this lawyer very much and would prefer not to work for her. Or, maybe she's right up your alley? Either way, you have a much better window into her psyche and can make an informed decision if offered a job.

Specific questions are better saved for a final interview. If the company conducts only one, some of these questions can still wait until you are formally offered the position. For instance, the salary questions are just as difficult to ask as they are to answer. If, when you applied, you already provided the employer with salary

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