Fishing vs Strategic Questions
Don’t Fish for Answers
Be Strategic
Let’s go fishing…
What’s the goal?
Who are the users?
Why are we doing this?
Is this a startup?
These are what I call fishing questions.
Candidates that ask these clarifying questions come across as tone deaf and clueless
Interviewer’s POV.
Interviewers immediately start to assume the worst is coming. Because if you are asking these questions, you likely have no idea how to answer a product case question.
Candidate’s POV
Most candidates asking these questions are lost or overwhelmed by the process. They don’t understand how the product case format relates to their real jobs and they are just trying with all their might to figure out how the interview game is played. It isn’t their fault but anyone asking fishing questions has a low probability of getting a FAANG offer.
Strategic Questions
A strategic question offers up some possible ideas of what the interviewer was looking for. We all know it is easier to react to something than explain it. Also, by providing ideas, you show how you are thinking.
If you are more junior, asking a good clarifying question might inspire the interviewer to help you. If you are a senior candidate, they will likely just let you decide but in their mind you are have started racking up points towards a Hire decision.
So what does a strategic question look like?
Example: When you say blind, do you want me to focus on any particular segment of the blind community such as totally blind vs partially blind? Or those living alone vs those living with others? Or would you prefer I decide and explain my assumptions?
The question format illustrates:
The candidate isn’t assume all blind people are the same
The candidate understands there is more than one way to think about the user group
The candidate is not begging for help but offering up to share thoughts
To learn more about how to ask good clarifying questions, read my post on diagraming prompts to find the right questions to ask.
