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&lt;p&gt;There are two moments jobseekers dread during the interview process &amp;ndash; when the interviewer asks, &amp;ldquo;what would you consider your weaknesses?&amp;rdquo; and &amp;ldquo;do you have any questions?&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp; The latter is the most cringe-worthy question, because it catches many jobseekers off guard.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;margin: 4px 9px; float: left;&quot; title=&quot;Interview Questions&quot; src=&quot;http://www.vault.com/VCM/blogs/InterviewQuestions.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Job Applicant Asks Questions of Legal Recruiters During Career Fair&quot; width=&quot;271&quot; height=&quot;185&quot;&gt;Many do not expect to have to ask questions and never prepare for this aspect of the job interview.&amp;nbsp; Questions like, &amp;ldquo;how much will I be paid?&amp;rdquo; or &amp;ldquo;how many vacation days will I get?&amp;rdquo; are what usually come out of the applicant&amp;rsquo;s mouth.&amp;nbsp; These are not good questions at all and might just put you out of the running for the job.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In truth, the question, &amp;ldquo;do you have any questions?&amp;rdquo; is asked to test your genuine interest in the company and the position to which you are applying.&amp;nbsp; Here are several questions that will advance your opportunities in the job search process:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;1. What&#39;s a typical day like for someone in this position? &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; This is a twist on the standard, &quot;So, what will I be doing?&quot; question. The companies will likely have given you reams of material on what the entry-level program is like. The idea behind this question is to see how the program is structured on a day-to-day basis. You&#39;ll learn more about the mix of education and work experience, whether you&#39;ll be working on your own or with other new hires, part of a larger team within the company, etc. You&#39;re looking for how you&#39;ll fit in and what you can expect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. What are the opportunities for advancement? &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; This is a delicate question, since you&#39;re looking past this position to, potentially, the next couple. But it shows that you&#39;re interested in having a future with this company as well. Hopefully, you&#39;ll get a sense of not only what other entry-level hires have gone on to do, but also whether there&#39;s a lot of turnover there. Companies that stress patience and a long haul may be very popular places to work, though the flip side is that they could also be stagnant. Likewise, if there&#39;s the promise of rapid advancement, are they bleeding people or just growing fast and improving their fortunes?&amp;nbsp; On this particular question, it is best to ask follow-ups as much as you can. Find out why things are the way they are.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. How is compensation structured? &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; This is a nice way of asking, &quot;How much will I get paid?&quot; without asking. Some companies have gone to a base salary plus bonus system like major Wall Street firms -- especially those employers that are actually part of a major banking company. Others retain a basic salary format with some kind of performance bonus -- much smaller than those on Wall Street, but the overall salary is bigger. This is also a good opportunity to ask about benefits?&amp;nbsp; Be sure you don&#39;t ask repetitive questions if the information can be found elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4. How does the company handle continuing education? &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; This question highlights your desire to continually grow as a person and coupled with the earlier question on advancement, drives the point home that you are looking to grow within the company.&amp;nbsp; People like loyalty and that&amp;rsquo;s rare in this day and age where employees change jobs after only a year at a firm.&amp;nbsp; This question also allows you to plan ahead.&amp;nbsp; You may not have thought about continuing your education in the past, but a possible free ride or reimbursement of any kind might change your mind.&amp;nbsp; It should.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5.&amp;nbsp; What do you like about working here?&amp;nbsp; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This question is asked for two reasons.&amp;nbsp; First, it turns the focus onto the interviewer.&amp;nbsp; Everyone has an ego.&amp;nbsp; They like to talk about themselves and they like to express their opinion.&amp;nbsp; It also feels good when it seems their opinion matters.&amp;nbsp; It creates a friendly dialogue and allows an opportunity for you to become a little closer to the interviewer.&amp;nbsp; This will be helpful in the future when choices are made between candidates.&amp;nbsp; Second, it allows you to get a real idea of the company culture and what you can expect when working there.&amp;nbsp; Read between the lines.&amp;nbsp; The way the interviewer words her answer might be just as important as the answer itself.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These are five questions to get you going, but research is important.&amp;nbsp; Check company profiles and find out as much as you can about a company you are looking to apply to.&amp;nbsp; If you find yourself asking questions out loud while doing the research, those questions might be important to ask.&amp;nbsp; Just make sure they are positively worded and proactive to your job search.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

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