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Smart Questions To Ask In Job Interviews

Many candidates underestimate the importance of the Q&A session at the end of an interview.

Some candidates believe its merely a gesture of politeness to ask questions while some believe it is an interview requirement to demonstrate enthusiasm. So the easiest way to prepare seems to be to remember a few standard questions and have them ready when the time comes.

This approach is perfectly valid, only that it doesn’t make you truly stand out from the crowd.

And we believe this session is so much more than just ‘asking questions’.

The Q&A session is the perfect opportunity to understand everything you need to know about the role, the company and most importantly in my personal opinion, the people you are going to work with.

It is also the perfect opportunity to establish a genuine connection with the interviewer, understand why they work there and if they enjoy being in the job as much as you think you would if you join the company too.

More often you can find out more insights than expected if you ask the right questions, sometimes to the extent that it will help you make the decision as to whether to accept the job offer should you be given one.

There had been numerous occasions where candidates got excited with a job offer, only to hesitate whether to accept it moments later because they failed to find out the career progression, day-to-day responsibilities, the culture (of the team and the company), the management style and the lot.

No one likes to take (too much) risk, and when there’s too much risk to bear we tend to just stay put, potentially wasting a great opportunity.

Some candidates try to arrange another meeting with the employer to find out more about the role, such action not only makes them look unprofessional and most of the time the employer refuses because the interview was the opportunity for them to do exactly that.

And what happens to those who blindly accepted the job offers? Less than 3 months into the job, they find out they don’t actually like the work nor the people there so CV is updated and the job search cycle starts again — only this time you are considered a job hopper so it becomes considerably harder.

Why would you want to ruin your career like this?

To establish a connection with the interviewer and find out what everything about the role, the company at the same time we ought to be smarter at asking questions, and here are my top tips:

Go deep into one topic

Yes you should prepare a set of questions to ask at the end of a job interview but instead of going through the list, try to go deep into one topic with the aim to find out more about everything about the role as well as turning it into a conversation.

Here is a good example I like and used in a real interview before:

“What projects have the team been working on?” (Perfect start to a conversation)

“Any challenges/difficulties the team is facing?” (An open-ended question is a great way to help you obtain further insights, in all directions depending on how the interviewer answers)

“How does this fit into the department/company direction?” (An example to find out if what you do will be important to the company, it may help you decide if what you do is expendable!)

“How would my role fit into the team and the project?” (Perfect way to find out what you will really be doing)

“Is the need to deliver the project causing the team to work late these days?” (If the project is of such importance, then isn’t this the perfect question to find out if you are going to work late everyday?)

During the process, try to share what you feel about the role such as this is exactly what you want to do or this is something definitely relevant to how you want to develop your career, I even told them I am ready to work late if this is what is required.

Show a good attitude and enthusiasm properly, everyone enjoys working with people who are positive, willing to learn and willing to commit.

Ask if they enjoy working there too and why

This is a perfectly valid and logical question to ask. The only way to find out if you will enjoy working in the company is to ask the people who actually work there, what better person to ask than the person sitting in front of you?

Yes their view may not be the same as yours but wouldn’t more views/opinions help you decide if the organisation is right for you too?

You may be surprised at how rare such obvious question is asked. If possible go further to ask how long they have been with the team, company, why did they join in the first place and whether they have a close relationship with their managers.

All these will give you insights about the culture and management style of the company.

Thank them for sharing their insights

Whether you like their answers or not, thank them for sharing these insights because these will potentially help you make career decisions.

Avoid asking personal questions like salary and benefits

Whilst obvious I must state this here as well and tell you why.

Salary is a very personal question and employees are specifically told not to talk about it.

Benefits vary depending on your seniority so not everyone receives the same perks and it should be something to be discussed with HR if you receive a job offer, not during the interview.

Just don’t ask.

It is ok to ask about the interview process

Only towards the very end of the interview as it signals the end of the meeting, but do ask because it shows you are eager to move forward.

Other good questions to start the conversation

Finally, I enclosed a few good questions to ask to help you start the conversation.

“How is the company/department/team responding to the changes in the market/regulations?”

“How does the team fit into the organisation?”

“Does the team regularly interact with Senior Management?”

“Could you please describe one of your typical day?”

Hope these help.

Finding the right role is not luck.

Try to find out as much as you can about the role, the people and the company during the job interview. It is supposed to be a 2-way street so you are entitled to ask all the questions you want answers to.

You just need to ask the right questions.

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