Questions to Ask a Hiring Manager
For candidates preparing interview questions to ask the hiring manager: the person you would report to, and the one interviewer who knows why the job exists and how it will be judged. The questions run from what they need from this hire, through how they manage and how they measure performance, to the team you would join and a few to close on. Each group opens with the questions to ask a manager that most candidates expect to bring, such as what success looks like early on and how they would describe their own style, then goes further. Each has a note on what a good or bad answer tells you, and some say what to ask next.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The need
What does success look like in this role in the first 90 days?
Why ask it
The manager is the person who will decide whether you have settled in, so this is their checklist handed to you in advance. A good answer names things you could point to, such as a process you own or an account you have taken over. If it is only 'getting to know everyone', ask what they would want finished by the six-month mark.
Why is this position open?
Why ask it
Someone left, someone moved up, or the job is new, and each starts you somewhere different. A promotion out of the seat suggests the role leads somewhere. A departure is worth one calm follow-up about how long the person stayed. A new role means nobody has yet worked out what a normal week in it is.
What are the biggest challenges someone in this role would face?
Why ask it
Every job has a hard part, and a manager who names it plainly is being straight with you. Listen for whether it lies in the work itself, such as a tight deadline or an old system, or in the surroundings, such as a stretched budget or a demanding partner team. You can prepare for the first. For the second, ask what help comes with it.
What does a typical day in this role look like, and how much do the days vary?
Why ask it
The manager's version shows what they picture you doing: how much is meetings, how much is your own work, how much is answering other people. If you meet the team later, ask one of them the same thing. Where the two accounts differ, the team's is closer to what you would live with.
What problem are you hiring this person to solve?
Why ask it
A posting lists duties. The manager knows the one problem behind them, and naming it tells you what the job really is. If the answer only repeats the job title, the need may not have been thought through, and you could end up defining the role as you go.
What is not getting done today because this seat is empty?
Why ask it
Whatever they name is likely to land on your desk first, whatever the posting says. If nothing much is slipping, ask what made the role worth the budget, because a job nobody misses is hard to do visibly well.
If this hire could only do one thing really well, what would you want it to be?
Why ask it
A long list of requirements has no order until someone is made to rank it. Whatever comes out on top is what to build the rest of your answers around, and what to ask about again if an offer comes.
What would a great hire be doing a year from now that an adequate one would not?
Why ask it
The gap between the two is the manager's real ambition for the job. If they describe the same thing for both, the role may not have much room in it, which suits some people and frustrates others.
If someone held this job before, what do you want done differently this time?
Why ask it
It gets at why the job is open without asking for gossip about whoever left. Listen for whether the change they want is in the work or in the person. If the role is new, ask what made this the moment to create it.
Which skill is missing from the team that you want this person to bring?
Why ask it
This separates being hired to fill a gap from being hired as another pair of hands. If you would be the only one who knows the thing, ask who would check your work and who you would learn from.
When you made the case for this hire, what did you say it would change?
Why ask it
A manager who had to ask for the headcount made a promise to their own boss about what it would deliver, and you would inherit that promise. If the role was simply refilled, ask whether anyone questioned keeping it.
What have the interviews so far taught you about what you need?
Why ask it
Meeting candidates changes the brief. The answer gives you the current version of the job instead of the one that was posted, and often the reason earlier candidates did not fit.
What did you try before deciding to hire for this?
Why ask it
Contractors, a tool, or sharing it out among the team: each attempt left something behind that you would pick up. Ask why it did not hold, since the same obstacle may still be there.
What on your own plate would move to this person?
Why ask it
Work a manager has been carrying personally is work they understand and will watch closely. It is the fastest way to be noticed, and the place where your first efforts will be compared with theirs.
Who else had a say in what this role should be?
Why ask it
If two departments both lobbied for this hire, you may be serving two sets of expectations with one manager to referee. Ask whose view wins when they conflict.
How much of this job is fixed, and how much would you shape around the person you hire?
Why ask it
Some managers hire for a fixed slot and some will bend the job toward a strong candidate. If there is give, say which part you would want more of while the subject is open. If there is none, judge the job exactly as posted.
How do you expect this role to change over the next year or two?
Why ask it
Jobs drift as the team grows, the work changes or the manager's own remit moves. If they expect it to widen, ask what would trigger that. If they expect it to stay as it is, that is useful too: the job you accept is the job you would have.
What are you assuming this person will already know how to do on day one?
Why ask it
The answer is their picture of your experience. If it includes something you have not done, say so now and say how you would close the gap. That is far cheaper than being found out in month two.
How long can you wait for this person to be fully up to speed?
Why ask it
Compare the answer with how long the work would honestly take to learn. A few weeks for a complicated job often means the team is underwater and you would be learning while delivering.
How they manage
How would you describe your management style?
Why ask it
Almost everyone answers with something agreeable, such as hands-off but available, so treat the label as a starting point. Ask what that looked like with someone on the team last week. The example shows whether hands-off means trust or absence, and whether available means a reply the same day.
How long have you worked here, and what do you like most about it?
Why ask it
It is an easy question to answer, and how they answer is worth hearing. Something specific, such as the people they hired or a problem they still find interesting, counts for more than general praise for the culture. How long they have been in the seat also tells you how much of the team and its habits are of their making.
What did the best manager you ever had do that you have copied?
Why ask it
Many managers borrow from the people who managed them, or define themselves against them. A specific habit, such as never cancelling a one-on-one, means they have thought about it. A useful follow-up is what the worst one did that they refuse to repeat.
What do you do as a manager now that you did not do when you started?
Why ask it
A manager who can name a change has looked at how they manage, often because someone told them something hard. If they are new to managing people, ask what has surprised them about it so far.
When you hand someone a piece of work, how much do you want to see before it is finished?
Why ask it
Some managers want drafts at every stage and some want only the result. Neither is wrong. What matters is whether their answer matches the way you do your best work.
If you message me in the evening or on a weekend, when do you expect an answer?
Why ask it
Asking about their own habit gets a straighter answer than asking about the company's hours. Some managers send things as they think of them and expect nothing until morning, and some mean now. If the answer is 'it depends', ask what it depends on.
How often do you meet one-on-one with the people on your team?
Why ask it
A regular slot that is kept gives you a standing place to raise things before they grow. 'Whenever you need me' can work with a manager who really is reachable, but it leaves the asking to you. Find out how often the meeting gets moved or dropped in a busy month.
Who sets the agenda when you meet with someone on your team?
Why ask it
If the manager always sets it, the meeting is a status check. If you would set it, expect to bring your own topics, including the awkward ones. If there is no regular meeting at all, ask how people on the team get time with them.
What does a bad status update look like to you?
Why ask it
Most managers have a ready answer: too long, no recommendation, bad news buried at the end. You learn the format they want by hearing its opposite.
When you and someone on your team disagree and neither of you moves, what happens next?
Why ask it
Welcoming disagreement is easy to claim. This asks about the moment after that, so ask for the most recent time it happened and what the person who lost the argument did next.
How do you decide who gets the interesting projects?
Why ask it
Seniority, whoever asks first, whoever needs the stretch, or whoever the manager trusts most. If it is the last, ask how a newcomer earns that trust and how long it took the most recent one.
What do you shield your team from?
Why ask it
A specific answer, such as shifting requests from above or a difficult client, shows a manager who absorbs pressure, and tells you where the pressure comes from. 'Nothing, I share everything' can mean openness or that everything rolls downhill.
What is your own manager like, and how much would I see of them?
Why ask it
Your manager's manager shapes what your manager can promise. Notice whether they describe an ally or an obstacle, and whether the people above would ever see your work directly.
When did you last go to bat for someone on your team, and what was it over?
Why ask it
Pay, a promotion, blame for something that went wrong, or a request for leave. A recent example with detail means it happens. A long pause may mean it does not.
How do you handle someone who is very good at the work and hard to work with?
Why ask it
The answer tells you what is tolerated on this team. If results excuse behavior, you would be working beside whoever benefits from that. If they do not, ask what the manager actually did about it.
When are you hardest to reach, and what should someone do if they need an answer then?
Why ask it
A manager in meetings all day or in another time zone is a fact of the job, not a flaw. What you want is the workaround: who else can decide, or how far you can go on your own judgment.
Tell me about someone you managed who grew a lot. What did you do, and what did they do?
Why ask it
The first half is the test. A manager who can say what their own part was, an introduction, a stretch project, blunt feedback, did it on purpose and could do it again.
What would you want to teach the person in this role?
Why ask it
You hear what the manager thinks they are good at, and whether they count developing people as part of their job. If you already know the thing they name, ask what comes after it.
As far as you can tell, will you still be leading this team a year from now?
Why ask it
You are choosing a manager as much as a job, and a reorganization or a promotion can swap that manager for a stranger. Few people will announce a departure in an interview, but a mention of changes coming is worth a follow-up. It sits more easily in a final round than a first one.
Performance
How is performance in this role measured, and how often is it reviewed?
Why ask it
You want the measures and the calendar: targets, ratings or the manager's judgment, looked at monthly, quarterly or once a year. Review systems differ from one employer to the next, so ask how it works on this team. If the manager cannot say what the role is measured on, the first review may come down to impressions.
How do you give feedback between reviews?
Why ask it
A formal review comes round only so often. What shapes your work is whether the manager says in the same week that something missed the mark, and whether praise arrives as readily as correction. Ask how they would let you know in your first month that something needed to change.
What do the people who do best on your team have in common?
Why ask it
The answer is the manager's working definition of good, and it is often about habits more than skills: people who flag problems early, who write things down, who do not need chasing. Compare the list with how you work on an ordinary day. If the traits are all about hours and availability, that is information about the job.
How will you know, without asking me, whether I am doing well?
Why ask it
This draws out the signals they actually watch: complaints that stop arriving, a number on a dashboard, what peers say in passing. Those are what your reputation would rest on between reviews.
Would I be compared with other people doing the same job, or judged against goals of my own?
Why ask it
Where people are ranked against each other, a strong year can still rate as average if colleagues had a better one. Where goals are individual, ask who writes them and how you would know you had met one. It varies by employer, and sometimes by team.
Which of your own goals for the year depends most on this role?
Why ask it
Managers pay closest attention to the work their own review hangs on. If this role carries one of those goals, expect support and scrutiny in equal measure. If it carries none, ask how its work gets noticed.
Does anyone besides you decide how my work is rated?
Why ask it
In some places a manager decides alone. In others, peers, clients or a committee of other managers weigh in. If people who never see your work help decide, ask how your manager makes the case to them.
What is the last piece of hard feedback you gave someone, and how did it go?
Why ask it
You are asking for a story, so wait for one. Listen for how soon after the problem they spoke up and whether they said it to the person directly. A manager who cannot recall an example may be saving it all for review time.
Has anyone on your team been surprised by a review, and what happened afterwards?
Why ask it
A surprise at review time means the feedback was not arriving during the year. A manager who admits it happened once and changed something is a better bet than one who says it never could.
What mistake would you forgive in the first six months, and what mistake would you not?
Why ask it
The two answers mark out where you can learn by trying and where you must ask first. Listen for whether the unforgivable one is the error itself or hiding it.
How do you tell the difference between someone who is still new and someone who is not going to work out?
Why ask it
This is the judgment that would be applied to you in your first months. Ask how long the benefit of the doubt lasts, and what a person would be told, and when, before a concern became formal.
Have you ever hired someone who turned out to be wrong for the job, and what did you miss?
Why ask it
Whatever they missed last time is what they are checking for now, probably in you. A manager who takes a share of the blame, instead of putting it all on the person, is likelier to be fair when things go badly.
How do you weigh results against the way someone got them?
Why ask it
Ask for a time the two pulled apart: a target hit by wearing out colleagues, or a miss handled well. Which one was rewarded tells you more than any statement of values.
How often do the priorities you set at the start of a quarter survive to the end of it?
Why ask it
If goals shift often, that may be the nature of the business. The follow-up matters more: when priorities change partway through, does the review judge you on the old goals or the new ones?
What does career growth look like for someone in this role?
Why ask it
Ask for people, not a ladder: who last held this job or one like it, and where they are now. Names and moves mean the path has been walked. A description of what is possible in principle, with no example, may mean nobody has done it yet, so ask what the first step up would require.
When you put someone forward for a raise or a promotion, how often does it go through?
Why ask it
How often it goes through is a measure of the manager's weight in the organization. Who signs off on pay and promotion varies by employer, so ask who that is there. A manager whose recommendations are regularly overruled can mean well and still not deliver.
What would I need to show before you gave me more scope?
Why ask it
A good answer names something observable, such as running a project end to end or handling a client alone. 'Time' on its own suggests scope is tied to tenure, and that good work may not speed it up.
The team
Can you tell me about the team I would be joining?
Why ask it
Let the manager choose where to start: sizes and titles, or people and what each is good at. The second kind of answer comes from someone who knows the team as individuals. Follow up by asking who you would work with most closely and whether you could meet them before a decision.
How would you describe the culture on your team?
Why ask it
A team's culture can differ from the company's, and the manager sets much of it. Words such as collaborative or fast-paced tell you little alone, so ask for something the team did recently that shows it. What they pick, a late night before a launch or a colleague covered for during a hard week, is the real answer.
What are the team's goals for the coming year, and where does this role fit in them?
Why ask it
A manager with a plan can name two or three things and say which of them you would carry. If the goals are still being set, ask who sets them and when, since you may arrive before they are known. A role with no clear link to any goal can be the first one questioned when budgets tighten.
What hours does the team really keep, and when are the busy stretches?
Why ask it
Written policy on hours and office days is a recruiter's subject. The manager knows the practice: when people log off, which weeks of the year run long, and whether time is given back afterwards. A manager who can name the crunch periods has at least noticed them.
What does the team complain about most?
Why ask it
Complaints are the lived version of the job: the tool that crashes, the meeting that runs long, the department that never replies. A manager who knows the list is one who listens, and you can judge whether you could live with it.
What has the team tried to fix more than once without it sticking?
Why ask it
Recurring problems are the ones built into how the place works. Find out whether this hire is expected to be the next attempt, and what would be different this time.
What would the team say they need from you and are not getting?
Why ask it
Only the manager can answer this, and how readily they do is part of the answer. Time, clearer decisions or faster replies: whatever they name is what you would have to supply for yourself.
What would my first few weeks look like, and what training comes with them?
Why ask it
Some teams have a plan with names and dates, and some hand over a laptop and a login. Either can work, but you should know which before you start. Ask who would be your first port of call for small questions, since the manager will not always be free.
How did the newest person on the team settle in, and what would you do differently next time?
Why ask it
This swaps a description of the onboarding plan for a report on how it went. If the newest person joined years ago, the team may be out of practice at bringing anyone in.
Who on the team would I learn the most from, and do they have time for it?
Why ask it
A name is a good sign, and you can ask to meet them. If the answer is everyone, it often means no one in particular has been asked, so find out whether that could be arranged before you start.
How does the team react when someone new suggests doing things differently?
Why ask it
Ask for the last suggestion a newcomer made and what became of it. A team that hired you to change something and a team that wants you to fit in sound alike until you ask for an example.
Would I be working alongside anyone who wanted this job for themselves?
Why ask it
A colleague who applied and was passed over can become your best ally or your hardest relationship. The manager knows which is more likely, and should have a plan for the first conversation between you.
What does the team do well that you would not want a new person to disturb?
Why ask it
New hires get told what to fix and rarely what to protect. Knowing which habits the manager values keeps you from spending early goodwill on changing the wrong thing.
What do people on the team disagree about?
Why ask it
Disagreement about how to do the work is normal and often healthy. Disagreement about who should be doing what points to unclear roles, and a new person tends to land in the middle of it.
How is the team seen by the rest of the company?
Why ask it
A team seen as essential tends to get resources and patience. One seen as a cost or a bottleneck can spend much of its energy defending itself. How easily the manager answers also shows whether they know the team's reputation.
When the team does good work, who hears about it?
Why ask it
If the manager names the people who did the work when reporting upward, your efforts can travel beyond the team. If results go up under the team's name only, you would need another way to be visible.
Is there anything only one person on the team knows how to do?
Why ask it
A team that leans on one person's knowledge has a weak point, and a manager should know where it is. If that person leaves or is away, the gap falls on whoever is nearest, and that could be you. Learning it can also be a quick way to become useful.
If you were given one more hire after this one, what would it be?
Why ask it
The answer names the next gap, which is work you may be covering until it is filled. It also shows whether the manager has a plan for the team or is filling seats one at a time.
Closing
How does my experience compare with what you had in mind when you opened the role?
Why ask it
It invites the manager to name the gap between you and the person they pictured, while you are still in the room to answer it. Respond once, briefly, with an example, and then let it rest.
What are the next steps, and when do you expect to make a decision?
Why ask it
Save it for your final turn and write down the date. It tells you when a follow-up is reasonable and when silence starts to mean something. If a recruiter runs the timetable, the manager can still say how many people are left to see and whether anything could hold the decision up.
Which part of this job do you think would stretch me most?
Why ask it
Reservations are easier to voice as a stretch than as a doubt. Whatever they pick is the thing to address before you leave, or to ask for support with if you get an offer.
What would make you choose one strong candidate over another for this role?
Why ask it
When finalists are close, the decision turns on something particular to this manager: industry background, who can start soonest, who the team warmed to. Knowing the tiebreaker tells you what to underline in your follow-up note.
What are you hoping the remaining interviews will tell you about me?
Why ask it
This surfaces the one thing the manager has not settled yet, and the other interviewers may have been asked to probe it. Prepare for that before the next round. If this is the last conversation, ask what they are still weighing.
What is taking up most of your attention at the moment?
Why ask it
What preoccupies a manager is what the team feels. If it is the work you would be doing, you would arrive to plenty of attention. If it is something else entirely, expect to be left alone for a while.
What will be going on in the team around the time I would start?
Why ask it
A launch, an audit, a busy season or half the team on leave changes what your first weeks look like and how much time anyone has for you. It can be a reason to move a start date by a week or two.
If we get to an offer, which parts of it are your call and which are set by someone else?
Why ask it
Start date, schedule and sometimes title can be the manager's call, while the pay band is often set elsewhere. It varies by employer, so ask how it works there, and you will know who to take each request to.
Is there something about this job I should have asked about and have not?
Why ask it
It hands the manager a chance to raise the thing they were not sure how to bring up: travel, a difficult stakeholder, a change that is coming. Leave a real silence after asking, and do not fill it yourself.
How to use your time with the hiring manager
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Know which interviewer this is
A recruiter usually runs the process and knows the pay band. Future peers know what the days are like. The hiring manager is the only one who can say why the job exists, what they will judge it on and what they are like to work for. Keep the questions on this page for that conversation. In a small company the manager may be all three, so put these first and leave logistics for the end. Some processes add a second manager, usually that person's own boss. The interview questions to ask managers at that level are the ones under The need and Performance, since how the team is run day to day is better heard from the person you would report to.
Match the question to the round
In a first conversation, stay with The need: it shows you understand the job and gives you material for every later round. How they manage and Performance suit a second or final interview, when the manager is also trying to win you over. The bluntest ones, such as whether they expect to stay or how often their promotion cases go through, sit best in a final round or once an offer is on the table.
Choose a handful and rank them
Interviews often leave only a few minutes for your questions, so expect to ask three to five, not the whole list. Take the one you most need answered from each group, put the one that could change your mind about the job first, and treat the rest as spares.
Decide beforehand what a bad answer sounds like
For each question you plan to ask, note what reply would worry you. In the room it is easy to nod along with someone likeable. A line you drew the night before is harder to explain away afterwards.
Do not ask what you could have looked up
If the posting, the company's site or an earlier interviewer already answered something, build on it. 'The recruiter said this is a new role. What made you decide the team needed it?' shows you were listening and gets further than starting from zero.
In the room
Do not wait for the last five minutes
If the manager opens by describing the role, a question from The need fits right there, and the answer tells you what to emphasize for the rest of the hour. Many managers are glad of a conversation in place of a recital.
Ask for the last time it happened
'How do you handle disagreement?' gets a philosophy. 'When did it last come up?' gets a story with people and consequences in it. Nearly every question under How they manage and Performance improves when you add a request for a recent example.
Follow up once
The first answer is often the rehearsed one. A single 'what did that look like?' or 'what happened next?' usually reaches the real one. A third or fourth push on the same point starts to feel like a cross-examination, so move on.
Give a reason for the harder questions
Questions about mistakes, bad hires or people who did not work out can sound like an accusation. A short reason takes the edge off: 'I do my best work when I know where the lines are, so can I ask what you would not forgive in a new hire?'
Write down their words
Note the phrases the manager uses for the problem, the team and what good looks like. Using them in a thank-you note or a later round shows you heard what they said, and it keeps your own memory of the answers honest when you compare offers.
Reading the answers
Specific beats polished
Names, dates and examples mean the manager has thought about the question before. Smooth generalities such as 'my door is always open' tell you little either way. Ask for an example before you draw a conclusion.
Watch how they take a hard question
A manager who pauses, thinks, and admits a weak spot on the team is showing you how a difficult conversation with them would go. So is one who bristles at a fair question. Both are previews of the working relationship.
Check the answer with someone else
If you meet people on the team, ask them one of the same questions about priorities or what the team finds hard. Matching answers mean the picture is real. Answers that differ widely mean the manager and the team see things differently, and that is a finding too.
Weigh a pattern, not one reply
Interviews are odd and managers have off days. Look across several answers before deciding, and judge them against what you need. A hands-off manager is a problem for someone who wants coaching and a relief for someone who does not.
Mistakes to avoid
Spending manager time on recruiter questions
Benefits, the number of rounds and the office policy can usually be settled by email with the recruiter or whoever arranged the interview. Time with the hiring manager is the only chance to learn what the hiring manager knows.
Asking to impress
A clever question whose answer you do not care about is easy to spot, and it uses up one of your few turns. Ask the things that would change your decision.
Reading from a list
Glancing at notes is fine. Working down them in order, whatever was just said, is not. If an answer raises a better question than the next one you prepared, ask that.
Leaving without hearing their doubts
If you never ask how you compare with what they wanted, any reservation gets discussed after you have gone. Use one question from Closing every time, even when the interview seems to have gone well.