The Questions to Ask Them

The end of the interview does two things at once. It is still being assessed, and it is the only part of the process where you find out what you would be walking into. For background on how timing affects communication, see this resource.

"No, I think you've covered everything" wastes both. For an independent public reference, consult EEOC pre-employment inquiry guidance.

Preparing them

Write three or four down and bring the paper. Nobody minds, and reading a question from a note reads as prepared rather than as unprepared.

Not answerable from the website. Asking what the company does signals you did not look.

Drawn from the job description, which raises questions if you read it properly. See reading a job description.

And adjusted for who you are talking to. A recruiter, a hiring manager and a future peer can answer different things.

Questions that work

"Why is this role open — growth, replacement, or a new function?" The answer tells you a great deal. A replacement invites a follow-up about what happened. A new function means the role is undefined and you would be defining it.

"What does success look like in the first six months?" If they cannot answer, the role is not thought through. If the answer is enormous, the expectations are unrealistic.

"What has made this role hard to fill?" Direct, and frequently answered honestly.

"What does a typical week actually look like?" Cuts through the job description.

"Who would I work with most closely?"

"What is the biggest challenge facing the team right now?"

"How is performance assessed here?" Practical, and the vagueness or specificity of the answer is itself information.

"What would you change about the team if you could?" Asked of a peer or a manager, this produces the most honest answer in the whole interview.

Questions for different people

A recruiter can tell you about process, timeline, stages, the range, and who you will meet. Ask them the logistics and the salary range. See salary.

A hiring manager can tell you about the work, the priorities, the team, and what they need. Ask them what success looks like and what the challenge is.

A future peer can tell you what it is actually like. Ask them what surprised them when they joined, and what they would change.

A senior leader can tell you about direction and how the team fits. Ask about the strategy and where this function is going.

Asking the same question of everyone is a legitimate technique — the variation in the answers tells you whether the organisation is aligned.

What the answers tell you

Hesitation on "what does success look like" means the role is undefined.

A very long list of responsibilities delivered as one job means the role is two jobs.

Vagueness about why the last person left, where it was a replacement.

Enthusiasm that is only about the company and never about the work.

A peer who cannot name anything they would change is either very happy or being careful, and the way they say it distinguishes them.

And how they answer a slightly awkward question tells you more than the answer does. An organisation that handles "what has made this hard to fill" openly is signalling something about how it operates.

What not to ask

Anything on the website.

Salary and benefits, at a first interview with a hiring manager, unless they raise it. Ask the recruiter — that is what they are there for.

"How did I do?" Puts them in an awkward position and does not get an honest answer.

Questions that only serve to show off. A question constructed to demonstrate your knowledge is recognised as one.

Too many. Two or three good ones, unless they invite more. An interviewer running late and facing eight questions is not enjoying it.

And nothing that suggests you have not decided whether you want it, at a late stage. Curiosity is good; visible ambivalence is not.

At the end of the process

Different questions become appropriate late, once there is mutual interest.

"What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear?" Always ask, at every stage.

"Is there anything about my background you're unsure about?" Genuinely useful, and it gives you a chance to address a concern that would otherwise go unspoken. Ask it once, at a late stage, and be prepared for an honest answer.

Practical questions about the arrangement — remote days, start date, review timing. Appropriate at offer stage rather than earlier.

The short version

Write three or four down and bring them. Reading from a note reads as prepared.

"Why is this role open", "what does success look like in six months", "what has made it hard to fill" are the three that produce the most information.

Ask the recruiter about process and range, the manager about the work, the peer about what it is really like.

How they handle an awkward question tells you more than the answer.

And always ask what the next steps are — at every stage.