Good things come to those who wait…to ask.

There is a time, place, and stage at which to ask certain questions throughout the interview process. More specifically, there is one question best reserved until you’re ready for the very last question on the second interview.

The Question

When the time is right, ask this:

“I am going to assume that everyone you have interviewed for this position is qualified,” you’ll say. “That tells me that you are going to have to make this decision based on something other than qualifications. So, what is it?”

Trust me. The interviewers will not expect this question, and 99 percent of the time, the decision is, in fact, not all about qualifications.

The Answer

When asked the above show-stopping question, potential employers will often respond with this most common answer:

“I will probably make this decision partly based on my gut feeling.”

To this, I recommend the following response:

“Well, how does your gut feel right now?”

Of course, there are no guarantees that any question will work 100 percent of the time. However, if you are competing against someone who does not know the importance of asking this specific question, you will most likely be singled out and remembered.