Questions to ask your interviewer

Rattling off a list of haphazard questions won’t get you much of the right attention. You need to come up with good questions to ask in an interview, ones that make the people in the room sit up and take notice. ?

What are the best questions to ask in an interview? Here are five of the most memorable questions to ask.?

• How will you measure the success of the person in this position??

This gets right to the crux of what you need to know about the job: What does it mean to do well, and what will you need to achieve for the manager to be happy with your performance??

• What are some of the challenges you expect the person in this position to face??

This can get at the information you’d never get from the job description — maybe you’ll have to deal with messy interdepartmental politics, or the person you’ll be working with most closely is difficult to get along with.??

• What are you hoping this person will accomplish in their first 90 days to 6 months??

This question can give you a sense of what kind of learning curve you’re supposed to meet and the pace of the team and organization.??

• When would you ideally like to have this position filled??

Asking this question makes it easy for you to check in with the employer if the timeline they give you comes and goes with no words. If they tell you that they plan to decide in two weeks and it’s been three weeks, you can reasonably follow up with them.?

• How would you describe the culture here???

Asking about what types of people tend to thrive versus those who tend to struggle can get you more revealing information. You’ll often learn what that manager really cares about in their employees, which traits will set you up to clash with them, or who’s likely to bristle at their management style.?

Use these questions during an interview as prototypes for questions based on the particulars of the position in which you are being considered. Make them your own and polish them until their shine reflects on you. Asking questions like these is not for the faint of heart but, then again, neither is succeeding in a competitive job market. A little preparation can take you far!?

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Grace joined Precision Recruiting Solutions Group? in 2022. She began her career as an HR Intern for Victorian Finance, then spent time as a Learning and Development Assistant with Levin Furniture. She graduated from Robert Morris University with a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences while minoring in Human Resource Management. When she is away from work you can find her reading and crocheting as she spends time with her Australian Cattle Dog named Pico. Grace and her fiancé, Brendan, can also be found exploring downtown Pittsburgh, and trying new restaurants.?