Featured Image Credit: Instagram / @catherine.lockhart / Klaus Vedfelt/Getty
There's always a moment in a job interview where the tables turn and you're offered the chance to ask a question to the interviewer - and it can be quite nerve-wracking.
It's really easy to go completely blank at this point and just move on without asking anything, but a viral TikTok has suggested one question you should always have in your locker.
Texas-based influencer Catherine Lockhart posted a video discussing the corporate interviews she's had in her career, having worked for big businesses like Deloitte and Salesforce.
She says that hers is the "best interview advice I've ever gotten", but before telling you what to say, she starts by ruling one big topic out.
Plenty of people use this moment as a chance to ask about how much paid leave a role offers, but Lockhart is very clear: "Your question should never be about PTO".
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Instead, you should ask a simple question, she says: "What does excellent look like in this role?"
Lockhart says that every time she uses this question the interviewer is impressed, and there are multiple benefits.
Firstly, you look ambitious by wanting to know how to excel.
On top of that, you actually get the chance to learn more about what the job might look like day-to-day rather than just talking about what you've done so far in your career. Plus, once you start a role, it's always useful to have a sense of what performance is expected or hoped for, way before your first actual performance review.
The tip has already garnered rave reviews in the comments under Lockhart's video, too, with one response coming from someone who's clearly held a lot of interviews in their time: "If I had a dollar for every time someone asked how much time off they got in an interview, and I never ever hired those people!"
Another commenter actually gives a slightly different take on how to conclude an interview. They wrote: "I ask at the end any concerns they have with me taking the role, then address it right there with them! Gotten every job offer with that question!"
Lockhart replied to that one, too, saying: "Ooo love that one!!", so it clearly could be another option too, if you don't mind being confronted by a potentially awkward response.
With these questions in your armory, you might end up feeling a little more confident next time you're at a job interview and offered the chance to do some interrogating of your own. Just be glad you're not being subjected to Steve Jobs' "beer test" instead!
