15 Questions you could ask at the end of your job interview

Every interview I’ve ever had at the end they ask you ‘So do you have any questions for us?’. It’s so important that you’re prepared for that. Having smart questions ready in advance shows that you’re prepared, you’re motivated, and that you genuinely want to know more about the business and the job.

However, what’s even more important is you should use these questions to genuinely work out whether this is the right job for you! Don’t forget, you’re interviewing the company or team just as much as they are interviewing you! In general my advice is BE CURIOUS and prepare questions about things you actually want to know about the role - but if you need a little inspiration, here are 15 questions you could ask - and what I think of them.

Can you describe an average day in the role?

Really good. They may not have actually given you much information other than the ad, and it can help you understand if the role is right for you. Obviously it’s only helpful if they haven't already covered it, so just keep in mind if you plan to ask it, you might find the answer comes up during the interview, so make sure you have a few others to ask.

What characteristics and abilities does a successful employee here generally have?

I like this one too. What you'll often find with this question is they can give you a bit of insider information into the culture and what kinds of people are going to really succeed in that company, and you can use that information to work out if that culture is something you’re going to like, and if you can be that kind of person or not.

What does the training process look like?

It is a good question to ask, absolutely. But the only thing I'd say is be careful that you don't make this question part off three or four questions that you ask that all about what's in it for you because that might give the wrong impression. But in general asking what is the training process look like is great - it means you're thinking ahead you're planning for your induction.

How will my performance be evaluated? Are there both formal and informal feedback processes?

This is an interesting one. It's not my favourite. I think if you do it in the right way, it can be done. If you say, “what the key KPIs or the key achievement areas for this role”, or “what does success look like?”. That's a really good way to phrase this, but I think if you're talking about “how do I get rated, how do I pass that performance criteria?” It can seem a bit defensive. My recommendation is that you can make it sound genuine, but just be careful.

The company’s mission statement emphasizes [fill in the blank]. Can you tell me how that comes across in daily life working here?

I like this because it gets the company to talk about themselves, and it gets whoever the interviewer is to talk about the company they work for. People love talking about themselves, talking about the business. You just want to make sure you don't get too much of a humble brag vibe from this one and come across like ‘hey I did some research’, so again make sure it comes from a place of genuine curiousity.

Can you tell me about the other people I’ll be working with closely?

Love it. Tell me about the team. Tell me about who else I'll be working with. I think it's a genuine, curious question, and this is one of the things that you're probably going to be really interested in the answer to. How big is the team? What are they like? Do they all work in the office? How old are they? What roles do they have? How senior are they in relation to this role that you're going for? All of that is really useful information that you want to know before starting in the role.

In your experience, what are some of the highlights of working here?

I've genuinely used this in my last few interviews and it works so well. What's really great is if you if you couple this with researching your interviewer like we said two and you worked out that they've been in the business for six years, you can combine this question with that. What's kept you in the business for six years? What do you like it about it so much? And you're being really curious. But also showing I looked you up. You get such passion out of people in this answer and it'll really show you if they really love working for this business. And if they don't, you kind of see some red flags pop up here.

I want to walk out of this room knowing I have done everything I can to convince you I want this job. Is there anything you might be concerned about or that I have missed that I can address for you?

I've actually had this question asked to me when I was an interviewer and I'll be honest. It really caught me off guard, but I'm not saying that that's a bad thing. If your interview has gone well and the person kind of phrases it again from a real, genuine place of going is there any concerns about my candidacy that you have. A girl that we ended up employing, actually asked this question and it got us to a really honest place of saying OK, well, actually, everything's gone really well. But if anything we're probably concerned about X, and then that gave her an opportunity to respond to it. So you've got to be really bold to be out to pull this off. So But I think if you could do it well, it ends up bringing out of really great conversation. So proceed with caution.

How would you describe your leadership style?

So good, obviously only relevant if the person who you're interviewing with is actually the manager. But maybe you know the person up from them or something. Love it again gets him to talk about themselves, but also really telling of whether you're going to want to actually enjoy working for that manager. If you've had bad managers in the past you want to know what's their philosophy? What's their leadership style? How do they motivate their team? This is going to be one that if you've got concerns about whether you like that job or not, the manager of the role is one of the key things that could make it awesome (or terrible).

How would you describe the workplace culture?

It’s a good one. It's a go to for a lot of people, so just keep that in mind. You just want to make sure that when you're picking the questions you want to ask, don't go for all generic ones. As much as they might be great to use, it doesn't allow you to stand out. I'd maybe go for two really solid common ones and then maybe throw something in there that's a little bit unique to you. So great question. Similar reasons as above as it gets them to talk about the business. You're going to find out a lot of info in this one.

What do you imagine the career path to be for someone in this role?

Good option. What you'll find is that they'll end up talking about the people that have actually already come before you in the role and what they’ve gone on to do. Just be careful not to pair with another couple of ‘what’s in it for me’ questions.

Where do you see the company in 3 years' time?

Really good. I think this content is often forgotten about in an interview. Unless you're going for a role that's very strategic, where you're going to be involved in the future plans, they just often won't remember to bring up stuff about what's on the horizon for the business, and you can find out some really juicy content that you can actually use in later stages of the interview. For example, you might find out that they're planning to expand to another country. You might find out that they're going into a different industry. You might find out about some key goals that the company has, and you won't necessarily already be included in the interview. So this is a really good one, particularly if you think they're the kind of company that's got interesting things in their future. Great one to ask for a startup or a fast growing company.

Beyond the hard skills required to successfully perform this job, what soft skills would serve the company and position best?

What you're looking for here is a hint on what kind of person you need to be to tick the boxes for this role. It’s only going to be useful if they haven't already covered it, for example if they've asked you lots of questions about communication skills and influencing and then you throw this question back at them, they're going to feel like you haven’t listened. However, if you really want to work out, what do I need to do in the next round of interviews to really stand out, this can be useful.

What are the challenges of this position?

Again, quite common. I've heard a lot of people use this one, but it always leads to a really productive conversation because you're getting the inside knowledge of someone who knows that job really well, what are the barriers you're going to come up against. You may not have really talked about them or considered them before and going to be really helpful to work out if you’re up for those challenges, or does that sound like there’s a lot of resistance to change. You can then ask yourself if this is the right kind of challenge for you or not.

What are the next steps in this process, and when can I expect to hear from you?

This is kind of a non question. So it can be like your third one. Or maybe after you've asked some others. Again really common, and nothing wrong with it at all, but very uninspired.

My final piece of advice? Choose 3 or 4 questions, write them down in a notebook, and bring it with you! It makes sure you don’t forget your questions with all the nerves, and it also makes you look really prepared and professional.

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