The task you have at a first interview is selling yourself. More specifically, your main goal is to make the HR manager/potential boss invite you for a second interview. On the one hand, it is, of course, desirable to put your best foot forward and impress the interviewer with your skills and experience. On the other hand, this is often not enough to distinguish you from other candidates.
To achieve that, you need to turn the one-sided interview into an interactive dialogue in which you conduct yourself as a peer of the interviewer. According to the INC server, the moment the other person asks you: “Do you have any questions?” is the ideal moment to stand out.
“Why do you personally like working here?”
No one working in personnel is likely to expect this question, which makes him think, despite its seeming simplicity. The task of the person offering a job is to offer the conditions that attract top-quality candidates. By asking the above question, you have temporarily switched roles: you became the buyer and the HR manager the seller.
You improve your image, because you make it clear that you will not take just any position. Moreover, you will be closer to the HR manager because you are getting on a personal level (as you are asking him/her about a personal opinion). You will be killing lots of birds with one stone, and you leave a unique impression.
“What did you find so interesting in my CV that you decided to invite me over?”
If a company is willing to spend their resources and time to have an interview with you, they are serious about you. By asking this question, you get to know some important information – what the company thinks is important and what you should stress during the rest of the interview.
Don't just talk about yourself, but use the newly acquired information to describe as specifically as possible what you can do for the company and how the company will benefit from your work. You will become not just a commodity, but a specific solution, and the HR manager will know in exactly what way you'll be able to help the company.
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