What Questions Should You Ask During an Interview? (With Examples)

So, you’ve found a job and you’re going to an interview. You probably want to stand out from all the other candidates, right? I’ll bet you’re looking for questions that will actually impress them. You might think to yourself “I need to find questions that make it seem like I know what I’m doing!”. There are many questions you can ask an interviewer at the end of a job interview. However, most candidates usually ask common, unhelpful interview questions that do not create real value for themselves or the interviewer. Let's discover some interesting questions together:

1. Key Drivers and Pain Points

One of the questions you as a job candidate should ask the interviewer is about "what do you expect from the person who will occupy the position?". This gives you a good idea about the ground rules and the criteria for success in this job. For example, if you’re told that it’s expected to travel a lot, it will give you an opportunity to ask if there's any flexibility in terms of how and when.

This is a good question to ask at the end of an interview. By asking about expectations, you will be able to see if the job, management and work environment are a good fit for you. Telling the interviewer what you aim to achieve and how you intend to achieve it demonstrates that you have a plan and that you are able to think creatively.

It also allows you to tailor your answers on future questions accordingly, ensuring that your responses are relevant to the position as well as impressive because they demonstrate initiative and ambition. You should use this question as an opportunity to highlight skills and experience that are particularly relevant or impressive, such as past success in areas such as problem solving and working under pressure.

The next important question you can ask when interviewing for a job is, "What are your biggest challenges?" This question gets to the heart of the matter and forces the hiring manager to be honest with you. I normally ask questions related to the position and pain areas of the company. For example, if you are applying for a web developer position, you should ask questions like "Which areas are causing you most problems on your website?", "Do you have any updates planned in future?"

You should also ask about their development process, technologies they use and what new technologies they are planning to adopt. This will help you understand what sort of projects you can work on and how efficient the team is at handling projects. This gives you valuable insight into whether or not this job is something that will push you or if it's just a way to get paid for doing a less challenging role.

Example questions:

“What are some of the biggest challenges you face in this position?”

“What are the pain areas that you want me to tackle when I work in your company?”

“What are the top three things your ideal candidate should be able to accomplish in the first 90 days?”

2. What does success look like?

A good interview question to ask an interviewer is "What does success look like in this position?" This isn't a question that's going to impress anyone off the bat, but it will show your interviewer that you're thinking about the position from their perspective, and not just from your own.

Trying to gauge the goal of the job, and what steps will be taken to accomplish those goals, is extremely important. You don't want to find yourself in a position that doesn't have any structure or goals. Granted, this is a bit of a hindsight question as it may be difficult for you to predict if you don't know much about the company or industry. But it's definitely a good one to ask at some point during the interview process.

This question will also help you assess if your skills are adequate for what they are looking for, and also help you determine if you can succeed in this position. It will give you a good idea of what is expected of you in this job and to connect your experience to the job requirements. It is essential to understand what success looks like in the role. If you are not clear on this, it may be possible that you are hired for a role and then, after being on the job for a period of time, realize it's not really for you. It would also help to know whether or not there are performance goals, and if so, what they are and how they will be measured.

Example questions:

“What would success look like in this job?”

“How would you know I've been successful?”

“What are the top three most important goals of this job?”

“How would you measure success in this job?”

3. Peers and Colleagues

The best questions aren't just about the job. You also want to ask about your prospective colleagues. It's a good idea to find out who you'll be working most closely with, because that's often where problems crop up. Maybe the person you'd be working for doesn't like answering phone calls, or maybe he has a bad habit of sending emails at all hours of the night. Finding out about this kind of thing before you take the job can save a lot of headaches later on.

This question provides an opportunity for you to learn more about the hierarchy of the team and to build a rapport with the interviewer. It also gives you a chance to ask questions about the team members' roles in the company. If you knows who you will be working with and how they fit into the company structure, it will go a long way toward convincing the interviewer that you're interested in being part of the team.

Depending on the position, who the person will be working with can differ. For example, an interview for a receptionist position would probably be more about working with other employees of the company, while a sales executive position would more likely be about working with clients, vendors, etc. There are also some jobs where it won't really matter who you will end up working with; all you have to do is perform your job duties. After all, if you don't know who you'll be working with, how can you know if you'll fit into the team?

Example questions:

“For this job, who will I be working with on a regular basis?”

“Who will be my most important contact at the company?”

“Who would I be working with on a day-to-day basis?”

4. The Ideal Candidate

You should ask the interviewer about the skills they’re looking for in the ideal candidate so you can sell yourself to the interviewer. For example, if the interviewer says they want a candidate who has strong communication skills, then you should point out that you were a member of the college debating team and you're very good at communicating with others.

Trying to match your skills with what the company is looking for can help you stand out from other applicants. It shows that you are familiar with the company and that you have thought about how your skills would fit into its operations. You will also be able to point out examples of past jobs where you have used those skills.

If you’re interviewing for a position where there are multiple people interviewing you, make sure to ask different interviewers about what their priorities are for this position. This will show them that you pay attention to detail and care about finding out what is important to each person in the company. By the way, we have another article that will help you to be super employable . I recommend you to read it ??

Example questions:

“What are you looking for in an ideal candidate?”

“What are the top three skills you’re looking for in this role?”

“What skills or qualities do you think would be most important for this position?”

5. History and Background

During the interview, it is important to gather information about the job and company history. This information can be used in later stages of the interview process. Knowing the job's history can help prepare you for future questions and may give you an advantage over other candidates. When asking about the job's history, keep the question general enough that it does not seem like you are going to use this information against them later in the process.

Why was this job created? It's important to know why a position opened up. Was it a promotion or an expansion of responsibilities? This could give you clues about potential problems that might exist within the organization.

If there is an existing employee who is currently filling that role, it’s possible that there were problems with their performance or work habits and they were let go. This could be good or bad news for you. It could be good news if this means they had some personal issues which contributed to their termination. It could be bad news if the company has decided that hiring someone with more experience is necessary (this is really more of a red flag). The best way to find out which scenario applies in your case is to ask why the person left in an interview.

Example questions:

“What are the reasons for creating this job?”

“The job you are hiring for is newly formed. Can you describe how it came to be and the history behind it?”

6. Future Changes

If you know that the company is going through a period of growth, you should also know that at some point in the near future, you may be asked to take on additional responsibilities. It's important to ask if the job and responsibilities will change in the near future because there are times when company needs change, and hiring managers don't want to waste the time and money it takes to bring someone up to speed if they won't be needed in a few months. By asking this question, you can find out if the position will change before or even after you accept it.

When you ask this question, be prepared for an honest answer. You don't want to offend anyone with your question, but it's better to know than not know. An interviewer is not going to take offense if you're not willing to hear the truth. Honesty is always appreciated. If the person interviewing you says that your job will change and what those changes will entail, then you can decide whether or not it's a position worth accepting.

Example questions:

“How could the job responsibilities change in the next 6-12 months?”

“How do you think the responsibilities of the job could be changed in the near future?”

Conclusion: Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine which of these questions you feel will have the greatest impact during your interview. Asking any of them will likely get you noticed in a positive way but it’s also important to remember that at the end of the day, your interviewer is trying to answer a question as well. You’re not just interviewing for a job, after all. You both want something: your interviewer wants to hire someone they like who can do the job well and you want a job you can excel at. And if you play your cards right, asking these questions just may give that opportunity to both of you.

But, what if you didn't get the job after the interview? ?? Don't worry, we've got your back. Check this article out and it will guide you what to do in case you didn't get the job .