Questions to Ask During a Lunch Interview
For candidates taken to lunch or dinner as part of an interview, usually by the hiring manager or future teammates in a later round. The questions follow the meal: small talk as you sit down, the team and how it works together, questions for teammates and for the manager, the role and company questions that still fit at a table, and what to ask before the check comes. Each has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like, and the guide covers pacing around the food and what to hold for the office, such as pay and benefits.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Sitting down
What do you like best about working here?
Why ask it
The standard lunch interview question, and it suits the setting because nobody has to stop and think to answer it. Hope for detail: a boss who backs people up, a client they like, work that still interests them after years. 'Great culture' with nothing behind it tells you little. A long pause, or an answer that is all about the parking and the snacks, is worth remembering on the way home.
How long have you each been with the company, and what brought you here?
Why ask it
An easy opener while the menus are still open, and it gets everyone at the table talking in turn. Good answers name a person, a project or a kind of work that drew them in. A table where everyone joined in the past year is either a new team or one that turns over, and asking later what the team looked like before that sorts out which.
Is this one of the team's regular places, and what do you recommend?
Why ask it
It fills the first minute, and it solves your ordering problem: stay close to what the hosts suggest in price and size. A table that argues happily about the best dish has shared a few meals. Hosts who have never been here either chose the place for the occasion, so say something kind about the choice.
What has been keeping everyone busy lately?
Why ask it
A relaxed way into the work that does not sound like an interview question. If the answer is a launch or a deadline, ask how it is going and let them talk. A glance exchanged before anyone answers can mean the busy stretch is the reason the job is open, so ask what would ease it.
How did you get into this field?
Why ask it
People tell this story easily over food, and it gives you something to come back to later in the meal. Listen for the routes the team respects: a degree, a career change, working up from an entry job. Give your own route in a sentence, especially where it differs from theirs, and notice whether it draws a question or a polite nod.
On a normal day, does anyone actually stop for lunch?
Why ask it
Asked with a smile at a restaurant table, it usually gets a laugh and then the truth. Eating together in the kitchen, a walk around the block and a sandwich at the keyboard describe three different paces of work. Hearing that today is the first proper lunch anyone has had in weeks tells you more about the workload than the posting will.
Is the team mostly in the office, or spread across different places?
Why ask it
It follows naturally when someone mentions a commute or where they live. You are after the practice here: which days the desks are full, and whether the people at this table see each other in an ordinary week. The written policy on office days is one to confirm with the recruiter, since it differs by employer and can change.
What do you all get up to outside of work?
Why ask it
Safe small talk that lets each host decide how much to share, which is better than asking anyone directly about family or home life. Offer one thing of your own in return and keep it short. A table full of hobbies, teams and trips suggests people have evenings. Do not read much into one quiet answer.
The team
What is the culture like on this team, in your own words?
Why ask it
'Culture' on its own tends to get the recruiting-brochure answer, which is why 'in your own words' is in the question. Nudge for something a visitor would notice within a week: how loud the room is, who speaks up in meetings, whether people leave at five. The same slogan from every host is the official line. A different small detail from each is the real thing.
How would you describe the way this team works together?
Why ask it
Open enough that whoever has an empty fork can pick it up. Ask for a recent example as soon as you hear an adjective. Hosts who finish each other's stories work closely. Hosts who each describe a separate job and never mention the others are colleagues more than a team, and the role may be a solo one.
Who do people on the team go to when they are stuck?
Why ask it
With the team at the table, the answer is often a finger pointed at one person, and how that person takes it is worth watching. A name and a laugh mean asking for help is ordinary. 'We mostly figure it out ourselves' could be independence or a place where asking looks weak, so follow up with what a new person should do.
How do you usually reach each other during the day: chat, calls, or walking over?
Why ask it
Quick to answer, which matters when the food has just arrived, and a preview of your days. Constant chat means a job done in interruptions, and a meeting for everything means a full calendar. Ask which habit they would drop if they could, since that is usually the one that wears people down.
What is something the team finished recently that everyone was glad to see done?
Why ask it
It invites a story, which is what a meal is for. Notice who gets the credit and whether the hard part is told with pride or with relief that it is over. A team that cannot think of anything finished may be carrying work that never closes.
What is the team's longest-running friendly argument?
Why ask it
The answers come in two sizes: who makes the worst coffee, and something real, such as how much to plan before starting or which tool is better. Teasing across the table over either one is a good sign. A subject that makes everyone go quiet is not a friendly argument, so change it and remember that it did.
How does a new person usually get to know everyone?
Why ask it
Some teams pair a newcomer with one colleague, some arrange lunches, and some leave it to chance. Ask the most recent arrival at the table how it went for them. If nobody can say, plan on introducing yourself desk by desk.
What happens on the team in the weeks when everything lands at once?
Why ask it
A healthy answer has a mechanism in it: work is shared out, something is postponed, the manager takes a piece. Jokes about not sleeping are normal, but watch whether anyone is actually laughing. Ask how often those weeks come around.
Apart from lunches like this one, when does the whole team get together?
Why ask it
You hear whether there is a weekly meeting, a monthly outing or nothing at all, and whether any of it falls in the evening. If you have commitments after work, ask whether the gatherings are optional in practice. A team that only eats together when recruiting may not know each other well.
What do you wish people outside the team understood about your work?
Why ask it
Every team has an answer, and it shows how the group is seen in the rest of the company. Mild frustration, such as requests that arrive late, is ordinary. A whole table agreeing that nobody values what they do describes a team that spends part of its energy defending itself.
For teammates
What does a typical day look like for you, and how typical was this morning?
Why ask it
The typical day is the tidy version, and this morning is the check on it, because nobody has a polished account of the last four hours. Listen for the meetings, the messages and whether there was an hour of quiet work. A host who moved three things to be at lunch has a tight calendar. The teammate in the same job as the one you want gives the most useful answer.
What was your first month here like?
Why ask it
Teammates remember this better than any manager can describe it. A good account has a person in it who showed them around and a first task they could finish. If 'sink or swim' is said with pride, expect the same welcome.
How have your own jobs changed since you started here?
Why ask it
Growth is easier to see in a person than in a policy. A teammate who has picked up a bigger account, a new title or a skill since joining shows that people move here. One who says the job is exactly what it was may be content or may be stuck, and the tone will tell you which. What the company formally offers in training or promotion is for the manager or HR.
What is it like working for your manager?
Why ask it
Only for a lunch without the manager, or a moment when they have stepped away, and ask it warmly. Few people criticize a boss to a candidate, so listen to what they choose to praise: clear direction, backing in a dispute, being left alone to work. Careful, faint praise tells you something too, and it is not an answer to press on.
What part of the job did you have to learn the hard way?
Why ask it
Whatever they name is a gap in the training that you can now step around. An unwritten rule, a difficult system and a client with particular tastes are the usual kinds. Ask what they would tell a newcomer on day one to spare them the same lesson.
When you were interviewing here, what were you unsure about, and how did it turn out?
Why ask it
The people across from you once sat where you are sitting. A doubt that came to nothing is reassuring, especially if it matches one of yours. A doubt that proved right and is told with a shrug shows you what people here have learned to put up with.
Which parts of the work do you look forward to, and which do you put off?
Why ask it
The half about putting things off is the honest job description. Compare it with what the new role is meant to cover. If the tasks everyone avoids are the ones in the posting, you know why they are hiring, and you can decide whether you mind.
How often do you get pulled onto something you had not planned for?
Why ask it
Listen for the unit they answer in. 'Now and then' and 'most days' describe two different jobs, and in the second the plan is only a suggestion. Ask where the interruptions come from, since a manager who changes course and a customer with an emergency are different problems.
When a piece of your work needs changing, how do you usually hear about it?
Why ask it
The best version is a quiet word the same day. Comments made in front of the group, or nothing until review time, are harder to live with. The teammate's tone as they answer shows whether correction stings here or passes as routine.
What would you most want from whoever takes this job?
Why ask it
After the meal, these hosts will probably be asked whether they would want to work with you, and this lets them say what that takes. Each person has one thing: someone who admits when they are behind, who answers messages, who does not need the last word. Do not promise it on the spot. Show it in how you follow up.
Has anyone here taken a real vacation lately? Where did you go?
Why ask it
It is small talk on the surface. A trip described with no mention of a laptop suggests time off is respected in practice, and 'I checked in most days' is the worrying version. How much leave comes with the job is a question for HR or the recruiter, not for the table.
For the manager
What made you want to lead this team?
Why ask it
A conversational question that most managers have a story for. The good version is about the people or the problem. If the team was simply handed to them in a reshuffle, ask what they have changed since, which shows how much of it they have made their own.
What are you hoping this hire changes for the team?
Why ask it
This is the reason for the opening, asked in a way that suits a table. A strong answer names a load lifted from particular people, some of whom may be sitting beside you. Watch the teammates as the manager answers: surprise on their faces means the two sides picture the role differently.
What is the hardest thing on the team's plate right now?
Why ask it
The usual question about challenges, put so it can be answered between courses. Good answers are concrete and a little rueful: a deadline that moved, a system being replaced, two people's work spread across four. Take the answer as given and save the digging for the office, where the manager can speak without the team listening.
How do you like to work with someone in their first few weeks?
Why ask it
Some managers check in daily at the start and step back, and some leave a newcomer to settle and wait to be asked. Either can suit you. With teammates at the table, a nod or a grin while the manager talks is a quick check on the answer.
What do you look for in the people you hire, beyond what is on a resume?
Why ask it
Over lunch this is close to asking what they are watching for right now. Curiosity, ease with clients and the ability to listen are typical answers. Whatever they name, they have been looking for it since you sat down, so take it as a guide for the rest of the meal.
What is the best thing someone on your team has done this year?
Why ask it
Managers enjoy this one, and it is better still if the person is at the table. What gets praised is what gets rewarded: taking initiative, staying calm, rescuing an account. A manager who struggles to think of an example may not see much of the team's work.
What has surprised you about managing this group?
Why ask it
The fond, specific answer is the good one: how much they teach each other, how blunt they are in reviews. Be wary of a manager who takes the opening to complain about the team to a stranger. That is how you would be spoken of too.
How much of your week do you get to spend with the team?
Why ask it
A manager whose days go to other departments is one you would mostly reach by message. That suits people who like room and frustrates people who want coaching. Ask how someone gets a quick decision on a day when the manager is booked solid.
What is on your mind for the team over the next six months?
Why ask it
A restaurant tends to get a looser answer than a conference room. Plans to grow, a new system or a change of direction all affect the job you would be starting. If a reorganization or a budget worry slips out, ask one calm follow-up and then let it go.
Role and company
If I joined, who at this table would I work with most?
Why ask it
Usually someone raises a hand, and that is the person to talk to for the next few minutes. Ask what the two of you would pass back and forth. When the closest colleague is not at the lunch, ask to be introduced before you have to give an answer on the job.
What would be waiting on my desk in the first week?
Why ask it
When a host can name the work, the first week has been thought about. With teammates present, this often turns into a cheerful list of what each would like to hand over, which is the truest account of the job you will get. 'We would figure it out' calls for a follow-up about who decides.
Is the job new, or was someone doing it before?
Why ask it
At a meal the teammates often answer this in plain words: she moved to another office, he was promoted, we have never had one. A newly created job comes with guesses about what it should be, and you would be the one testing them. A pause and a look toward the manager is your cue to drop it at the table and ask again in private.
What does a good first year in this job look like to you?
Why ask it
Keep it conversational and let more than one person answer. Listen for something visible by the end of it: a client taken over, a process that runs without help. If the manager and a teammate give different pictures, ask which comes first.
Is there anything about the job that the posting gets wrong or leaves out?
Why ask it
Away from the office, people admit more readily that a posting is out of date: duties get added and dropped between the day it was written and the day you interview. Whatever the hosts correct is the current job. A table that calls the posting accurate has thought about the role recently, which is a good sign.
Who does the team serve, and what are they like to deal with?
Why ask it
Stories about customers or internal clients make good table conversation and tell you a lot. Notice whether they are told with affection, eye-rolling or dread, since you would inherit the relationship. Ask how much of the role is spent in direct contact with those people.
Are meals like this one part of the job, with clients or partners?
Why ask it
An employer sometimes holds an interview over a meal because the role involves hosting, and in that case your manner at the table is part of what is being weighed. If the answer is yes, ask how often and whether it runs into evenings. Expenses and time back for evening events are handled differently at every employer, so ask what the practice is at this one.
What is the company excited about at the moment?
Why ask it
At lunch you find out whether that excitement reaches the team. People who can explain the news and what it means for their work are close to where decisions get made. A shrug suggests the team is far from the center, or that news does not travel down.
What feels different here compared with a year ago?
Why ask it
Growth, a new leader and a tighter budget all show up in this answer. Listen for 'it used to be', because fondness for an earlier time usually has a cause worth one follow-up. If nothing has changed, ask whether that is by choice.
What does a person have to enjoy, and not just be good at, to be happy in this job?
Why ask it
Skills get you hired and tastes decide whether you stay. Patience with detail, liking the phone, being comfortable with unfinished things: the hosts know which one this job demands. Check the answer honestly against how you felt in your last role.
Before the check
Was there anything from this morning's interviews you would like me to say more about?
Why ask it
A lunch often sits in the middle of a day of interviews, and it is where an earlier doubt gets mentioned if you make room for it. Answer in a sentence or two with one example, then go back to the meal. Skip it when lunch is the first thing on the schedule.
What does the rest of the day look like, and who will I be meeting?
Why ask it
Names and roles let you choose which questions to save for whom. Ask a teammate what each person tends to care about, since hosts at a lunch are often glad to coach a candidate they like. It has no use when the meal is the last stop of the day.
Is there anything you were hoping to ask me that we have not gotten to?
Why ask it
Conversation at a meal wanders, and a host may have been given a topic to cover and not found the moment. Offering the time as the plates are cleared lets them do their job. No takers is fine, and it usually means the lunch was about getting to know you.
Who is the right person for my questions about pay and benefits?
Why ask it
This is how to handle money at a meal: ask who, not how much. The answer is usually a recruiter or someone in HR, and a name gives you somewhere to go afterwards. If a host opens the subject themselves, answer briefly and suggest finishing it by phone or in the office.
Once today is over, who will be in touch, and roughly when?
Why ask it
Ask it once, near the end, of the most senior host. With a day in hand you know how long to wait before writing. Hosts who do not know are telling you the decision sits with someone who was not at the table, and the recruiter is the one to ask.
Would it be all right if I followed up with each of you by email?
Why ask it
It gets you the addresses for a thank-you note to every host, each mentioning something that person said. Thank them for the meal at the table as well. If you are told to go through the recruiter, do exactly that.
How to handle the questions at a lunch or dinner interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you sit down
Find out who is coming
When the invitation comes, ask the person who sent it who will be at the meal. A lunch with future teammates only is mostly a check on how you would fit in, and the questions under For teammates suit it. With the hiring manager at the table it is an interview with food, so add two or three from For the manager. When both are there, lean on The team, which anyone can answer.
Carry five or six questions in your head
A notebook next to a plate looks out of place, and reading from a phone is worse. Memorize two from Sitting down, two for the people hosting you, one from Role and company and one from Before the check. If you want to keep a record, write the answers down as soon as you are alone.
Treat the meal as part of the interview
The hosts are usually asked for their impressions afterwards, even when the lunch is described as informal. How you speak to the server, how you listen and whether you ask anything all go into that. Be relaxed, and stay on duty.
Decide what to order before you arrive
If you know the restaurant, look at the menu ahead of time and pick something in the middle of the price range that can be eaten with a fork in small bites. Then your attention at the table goes to the people. If you could not check, ask the hosts what they recommend and stay close to it. If there is food you cannot eat, tell whoever is arranging the meal when you accept the invitation. You do not owe anyone the reason.
Pacing questions around the meal
Small talk until the order is in
While people are reading menus, nobody can give a real answer. Keep to the Sitting down group until the server has taken the order, and let the hosts set how long the chat runs. Some tables get to work talk in two minutes and some never fully do.
Ask, then eat while they answer
A good question buys you a few bites. Put it to a host who has just set a fork down, not one who has just lifted it, and take small mouthfuls so you can reply within a second or two when the conversation comes back to you.
Let the hosts eat too
If your plate is empty and theirs is untouched, you have asked too much. Answer something at length yourself, tell a short story, or turn to a different person so the last one can catch up.
Move the questions around the table
With two or more hosts, use names and include the quiet one. Each person will have a say afterwards, and the one who spoke least during the meal may hold the view you most need to hear.
One question per lull
A meal has natural gaps: drinks arriving, plates being cleared, the wait for coffee. Those are the places for a question. Follow what was just said instead of working down a list, and let a good tangent run.
Close before the check arrives
When the plates go or coffee is offered, ask one question from Before the check. At an interview meal the host usually pays, so thank them and do not reach for the bill unless you were told otherwise. If you are unsure how it will be handled, ask the recruiter beforehand.
What fits the table and what waits for the office
What suits a meal
Anything that can be answered with a story: how the hosts came to the company, what the team is like, what they enjoy, how the work gets done between them. These are the questions a conference room handles badly and a restaurant handles well.
Role and company questions that still fit
Keep the ones a person can answer from memory in a few sentences, such as what would be waiting in the first week, whether the job is new, or what a good first year looks like. Leave anything that needs figures, a document or a careful answer, such as targets, budgets and review criteria, for a meeting room.
Hold pay and benefits
Salary, bonus, vacation allowance and insurance are for the recruiter or HR, by phone or in the office. The teammates at the table may not know the terms on offer, and other diners can hear. Every employer sets these in its own way, so the question that suits the meal is who handles them at this one. If a host raises pay first, reply briefly and ask to continue with the right person.
Teammates and the manager want different questions
Teammates can describe an ordinary Tuesday and what a newcomer runs into. The manager knows why the job exists and how it will be judged. When both are present, never ask a teammate something that would make them criticize the boss in front of the boss. Keep that kind for a lunch with teammates alone.
Leave the hard-edged ones for another room
Questions about turnover, layoffs, expensive mistakes or doubts about your experience need privacy and a steady answer. Across a table, with food on it and strangers nearby, they land as an ambush. One gentle question about what the team is finding hard is as far as a meal goes. If the rest matters to your decision, ask it in the office or on a later call.
Mistakes to avoid
Forgetting it is an interview
The setting is meant to relax you, and that is when people complain about a current employer or share more than they would in an office. Keep the same judgment about what you say and only loosen the tone.
Interviewing straight through the meal
A candidate who fires question after question turns lunch into a deposition. Half of what you learn at a meal comes from conversation you did not steer, so leave room for it.
Ordering as if nobody is watching
The most expensive dish, food that needs both hands, or an extra course when the hosts ordered one all draw attention away from what you say. Follow the hosts on how much to order, and water or a soft drink is always a safe choice.
Getting personal
Let hosts volunteer anything about family, age, health, religion or politics, and do not ask. 'What do you get up to outside of work?' leaves the choice of subject with them.
Asking nothing
Polite silence reads as a lack of interest in the people you would work beside. Two or three questions from this page, asked because you want the answers, are enough.
Leaving without a thank-you
Thank the hosts at the table, then send each a short note the same day that mentions one thing that person told you. It shows you were listening during the meal as well as eating.