Asking questions during an interview is essential. It helps the candidate gather information about the role and company, demonstrate their interest and engagement, and understand the company policies, benefits, and work environment.
There are several reasons why a candidate might ask questions during a job interview, including:
To learn more about the company, asking questions about the history, culture, and values of the company, can help the candidate understand whether the organization would be a good fit for them.
To understand the job requirements, asking questions about the responsibilities, goals, and expectations of the role can help the candidate determine if the job is a good match for their skills and experience.
To clarify any doubts or concerns, asking questions about the company’s policies, benefits, or work environment can help the candidate address any concerns they may have and make an informed decision about the job offer.
To show interest and engagement, asking thoughtful and relevant questions during the interview can demonstrate the candidate’s interest in the position and enthusiasm for the company.
Q1. What is the most frustrating part of working here?
This open-ended question can reveal any potential problems with the company. Remember that the interviewer may downplay any issues to some extent, but it’s still a good indicator of problem areas. If the problems are fundamental issues that shouldn’t arise, it may not be the right company for you.
Q2. What is the most challenging part of working here?
This open-ended question can tell you what you need to focus on to be successful and possibly which area your peers failed at. It can also help you determine if this is something you can handle.
Q3. What is the most satisfying part of working here?
This question can help you understand what makes the interviewer happy at work. As the interviewer could potentially be your next boss or coworker, this question helps determine what kind of people you’ll be working with.
Q4. What will be my tasks for the first month, first quarter, and first semester?
You know what you have to do right to succeed and the timeframe. When you get an answer you should ask yourself:
- Can I do these things well?
- Is it challenging enough for me to grow and learn?
- Is it what I want to be doing at my next job?
- Is it what I was expecting when applying for this position?
It is most helpful for managing expectations. When you start working for a new company, you must know what you are getting into.
Q5. What does success look like for this role?
This is less about what you have to do specifically and more about a high-level overview of the role in general. How you have to act, communicate, deliver, and so on. The answer might be you need to increase website conversion by x, which is a success, but it doesn’t tell you how to get there, this is something you have to figure out yourself while doing your job. It also tells you if the expectations are realistic or not. Is it doable or is it a moonshot?
Q6. Are the expectations for this role clearly defined, or are you looking for a self-starter?
To thrive at any job, you must understand how you function best and figure out if the company will give you what you need to do your job the best way you can. Are you someone who excels in an environment where they have a clearly defined process? Or someone who is a self-starter, and excellent at finding what to do and prioritizing work appropriately.
Q7. What would my typical day look like?
This question can answer what your typical day-to-day activities might be and if they are similar to what you might be expecting. You can see if you will have many meetings or if you will have a lot of time to do focused work. Is it monotone and every week looks the same, or if it is dynamic, and every week brings you a new challenge? Some people need good structure and processes, and others need to be challenged.
Q8. How does this role contribute to company success?
If this role does not link directly to the success of the company, then your impact might be limited, and your work will be less valuable. Is this a high-impact position? Will you be able to deliver what you want, or is it just on paper, where your voice remains unheard?
Q9. Are there any metrics to measure success in this role? What are they?
Without clearly defined metrics, your success will depend on what your line manager thinks about you, which is very subjective. It is a double-edged sword. If your manager likes you, he will reward you, but if he thinks less of your work, it will make it much harder to argue about your achievements. Always try to define metrics by which your work can be measured against.
Q10. What motivated you to join this company?
And to what degree were your expectations met? If the interviewer will be working with you, this can provide a good understanding of whether his priorities match yours.
Q11. What do you think would be the biggest challenge for this position?
It is valuable information. Someone who knows this position will tell you what will be challenging so you can prepare for it before you even start working in the company. Before asking, you need to be sure that the interviewer understands the role you are applying for. Sometimes the interviewer is called in just to asses a specific area of your knowledge, so you need the right audience for this type of question.
Q12. What opportunities will I have to learn and grow?
If you don’t grow at your job, you will fall behind and your career will suffer. The company must offer what you need for your growth. This might not be important for the next couple of weeks or months, but in a few years continued learning and professional growth will bring you much further than anything else. If the company doesn’t provide enough stimulus it is much more likely that you will stagnate and fall behind.
Q13. What are the core values that the company stands for?
Mismatching core values between you and the company makes it difficult in the long run. It also tells you if the interviewer understands the values this company stands for. If he doesn’t, chances are the values are only written on paper, and most people in the company don’t believe in them anyway.
Q14. What do you think the company should change in the future?
If you will be working with the interviewer this can give you a good understanding of whether his priorities are aligned with yours. No company is perfect, and knowing what needs improvement can give you a good insight into what you will have to focus on for the foreseeable future. You should also understand if this is something changeable and if not do you want to spend the next couple of years there.
Q15. What do you think the company should continue doing?
This one is similar to the one above and can potentially give you similar information. It is a standard question at team retros and for 360 reviews, and it also aligns with asking about the company. It tells you what works, and you can see if that is important to you or not.
Q16. How is the team structure organized?
Understanding the team structure can help you understand how everything works in the company and what the organization looks like. Is it a flat structure? Will you have access to decision-makers, or will everything be delegated to you? Will you have the resources needed in the team, or will there be a gap that will make it harder for you to succeed?
Q17. Why are you hiring for this position?
The explanation could provide insights on growth opportunities, or its absences, existing tensions with the last employee filling the job, or sheer business growth.
Q18. What is the salary range?
There is a moment for this type of question, usually with HR and early on, to avoid everyone wasting time.
Q19. How flexible is the work model?
Do you offer a hybrid work model? Or remote? How much time is spent traveling? Before Covid, some of these questions would not make sense. But the future of work is here, and things are changing. Some employers have some expectations on how to work, as do the employees.