The first two thirds of the typical interview are very employer driven. Whoever is interviewing you has an agenda, and came into the interview with things they wanted to find out about you. But eventually, the tables are going to turn and you are going to be expected to drive the conversation for the last third of your time together. The interviewer will typically say something like:
Do you have any questions for us?
The answer is yes! Yes you do! The worst thing you can say in this position is something like, “No, I think you did a great job covering for everything!” YUCK.
Why is this answer so bad? Well, by saying this you essentially give up your chance to control the conversation through your questions. By asking this question, the interviewer is giving you the floor. Employers like to hire people that have some self-agency, and by letting this opportunity pass by you can come across as someone who does not take charge of their own life or work. That’s not a very fun characteristic to have in a co-worker!
So let’s plan out some questions! To keep things simple we can separate out the kinds of questions into three categories.
- Questions that are specific to the nature of the role
- Questions that are specific to the culture / work environment
- Questions about my personal career growth
To keep things simple, plan on having at least three questions for each category. Yes, that means you will have 9+ questions – that’s okay! You want to have more than you think you need. You don’t have to ask them all, but having plenty prepared means you can adjust on the fly depending on how much time you have or how the conversation flows.
One more piece of advice before we dive into specific questions – I always suggest that people bring a notebook with them to the interview and write their questions down. That way, you aren’t trying to memorize anything. When they ask you this question you can say “Yes! I wrote some questions down,” take out your notebook and away you go. Just make sure your handwriting is neat, and you don’t have any weird doodles or anything in the margins.
Questions specific to the nature of the role
Many questions of this sort are going to be specific to your situation and the job you are going for. A machinist might ask about the variety of machines they will be working on, or a salesperson might ask about the amount of travel expected in the role. Allow your natural curiosity to guide you here. Just be careful – much of this is likely to be brought up by the interviewer themselves during the course of the interview. If you have already discussed it, don’t bring it up again. Just move onto your next question.
A few basic non-industry specific examples are below:
- How much travel is expected in this role? What is the process for reimbursing travel expenses? (if relevant)
- Will I be speaking directly with customers in this role?
- Can you walk me through a “day in the life” in this position?
- What is it about my background that made you interested in interviewing me?
And so on.
Questions specific to the Culture / Work Environment
Getting a sense of the working environment and the cultural aspects of a company is often the hardest part of interviewing, simply because everyone wants to put their best foot forward. Asking a direct question like “What is the culture like here?” can sometimes work, but I have found that the answer you typically get is more related to the culture the company would like to have in place rather than what it actually is like. With some clever prodding, you can get around the political answer and get some honest answers.
I usually don’t suggest bringing up benefit related questions until the employer does first, but if you have already discussed money it is okay to do so. I consider the benefits question part of the cultural piece. If an employer has excellent or terrible benefits it can give you an idea of how that employer thinks about their employees.
Some sample questions:
- Do you have a lot of long-tenured employees? How long do people typically stay here?
- Do people on this team ever hang out outside of work?
- What do you think former employees would say about the team in place here?
- What sort of personality do you find fits well with the group you have in place?
- Can you walk me through the basic details of the benefits?
Questions about Personal Career Growth
I find that these questions tend to tell you the most about a company, and they are also the most important for you! Nobody wants to go to a job where they will sit in their chair and rot for years. You will get the most mileage out of questions in this category if you have an idea of your career goals yourself. Don’t be afraid to make clear (through your questions) what you want out of this job! This is also the time to ask about any training they might do, although I wouldn’t use the word ‘training’ directly. Focusing too heavily on the training can make you come off like you are going to be a burden to the team rather than another hand on deck.
Some more examples:
- What would your expectations be of me for the first 90 days?
- Where do you see me in 5-10 years if I were to take this job?
- Is this a new job, or was the last person promoted or fired? What is the company strategy behind hiring for this position?
- What sort of person is successful in this job long term?
Final Question
So you have your 9 questions prepared – there is one final one that you absolutely need to ask in every interview. This question has gotten more people jobs than anything else I do as part of my prep with candidates.
Here it is:
- Now that we’ve had a chance to meet, do you have any concerns?
Now, this is a very scary thing to ask in an interview. It is very natural to want to avoid talking about things you are bad at during the interview. Many people will wuss out and won’t ask it – don’t be one of those people!
Yes, you might hear some concerns about your suitability for the job. That’s okay, because it gives you a chance to address those concerns in the interview. What you will find is that often the concerns are based on some sort of misconception about your skillset or about how your personal goals don’t match up with the company objectives. This is your chance to fix that misunderstanding!
For example, if the interview says:
“Well, you mentioned earlier in the interview that you are looking for an opportunity to move more into business analytics. We are not going to have a lot of opportunities in that regard here, and if that is a must-do for you, this probably isn’t the job you are looking for.”
You can say:
“Well, that is just one of the many paths to growth I am exploring. While business analytics is something I am interested in, I didn’t mean to imply that it was a must do. I think the opportunities you’ve described here are things I didn’t think of as possibilities for myself, and I can definitely see myself satisfied with my growth if I were to get this job.”
If it turns out that you can’t overcome their objection, you weren’t going to get the job anyway, and if you end up getting ghosted by the company (which is unfortunately very common for folks that didn’t get the job) you will at least know why.