So, you have made it to interview stage, congratulations!
Now you face the minefield of negating the ‘right questions’ to ask when you are there.
The opportunity for you to ask questions in the interview is your chance to get a sense of what it might be like to work for this company. We strongly suggest you ask a couple of questions as it shows you are interested in the company and the position. Generally speaking a fair number of questions is somewhere between 3 -5. Use your discretion; be mindful of the time and the interviewers body language. Now is not the time to ask 50 questions.
To help you along we have jotted a couple of our favourites down.
- Can you tell me a little bit more about the work culture?
- What do you enjoy most about working here?
- What does success look like in this position, and how do you measure it?
- What would a typical day look like for this role being offered?
- What attributes does someone need to have in order to be successful in this position?
- What are the biggest challenges that someone in this position would face?
- Can you tell me about the team and manager I’ll be working with?
- Can you tell me about my direct reports? What are their strengths and the team’s biggest challenges?
- If I am successful, how will I be trained? And what training programs are available to employees?
- What are the most important things you’d like to see someone accomplish in the first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job?
- What are the performance expectations of this role over the first 12 months?
- Why is the position vacant?
- What are the company’s key priorities over the next five years?
- Where is the last person who held this job moving on to?
- Where do you see this company in the next few years?
- What sort of budget would I be working with?
- Do you expect to hire more people in this department in the next six months?
- What are the common career paths in this department?
- What are the next steps in the interview process?
These questions are just a guide and depending on the role you are going for may not be appropriate but hopefully they will give you something to work with. Don’t forget the interview is a two-way process, the role also needs to be a good fit for you, so use this is an opportunity to suss the company and position out.
Good Luck!
Do you have a favourite question you like to ask during an Interview, We would love to hear it?