Questions to Ask in an Interview
For candidates in any industry deciding what questions to ask in a job interview, and for the moment the interviewer asks whether you have any. The questions here are grouped by subject: the role, the manager and team, success and growth, culture, the company, and the close. The standard ones are here, next to less common ones that tend to get a more candid answer. Each has a note on what a good or bad answer tells you about a potential employer. The guide covers how many to bring, which to put to a recruiter, a hiring manager, a future peer or an executive, and what to ask during a first interview and what to leave out of one.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The role
What does a typical day look like in this role?
Why ask it
The answer should sound like a day: tasks, people, and a rough shape to the hours. If what comes back is the job posting read aloud, ask about one real day instead, such as yesterday. A recruiter can only give the summary, so keep it for someone who sees the work up close.
What does success look like in the first 90 days?
Why ask it
A manager who has thought about the hire can name two or three concrete things: a system learned, a handover finished, a first piece of work delivered. If the answer is 'hit the ground running', ask what the last new person had done by that point. Write the answer down, because it is the closest thing to a brief you will get before day one.
Why is this position open: is it new, or is someone leaving?
Why ask it
A new post means nobody has tested whether the workload is realistic, so ask who did the tasks until now. A replacement means there are habits and expectations to inherit, and it is fair to ask where the last person went. A promotion or a move inside the company is the reassuring answer. If the job has been filled several times in a short stretch, ask what has changed since.
What is the biggest challenge someone in this job faces?
Why ask it
Most interviewers have heard it before and have an honest answer ready: a heavy workload, a demanding client group, old systems, a team spread across time zones. Decide whether it is a challenge you would enjoy or only put up with. An interviewer who says there is none either does not know the job well or is selling it.
What skills and qualities matter most for doing this job well?
Why ask it
A posting may list a dozen requirements, and the reply tells you which two or three they really hire on. If those are your strengths, say so with an example while you still have the floor. If one is a gap, you have learned what to address before you leave, or what to weigh before you accept.
What did yesterday look like for someone in this job?
Why ask it
Yesterday is harder to tidy up than a typical day, so you hear the real mix of tasks, interruptions and meetings. If the role is new or empty, ask what the manager did yesterday that they would have handed over.
Which projects or problems would need my attention first?
Why ask it
A specific reply, such as a backlog to clear, a launch in the spring or a client who needs winning back, means the hire has a purpose and you would arrive with something to do. It also shows what you are inheriting. If everything is urgent, ask which one the manager would pick if you could finish only one.
Which part of this job takes the most time, and which part matters the most?
Why ask it
When those are the same thing, the job is well designed. When they differ, you will be busy with one and judged on the other, so ask how people in the role protect time for the part that counts.
What does this job look like on a bad day?
Why ask it
Every job has one, and an interviewer who can describe it plainly is being straight with you. Listen for whether the bad day comes from the work itself, which you can decide to accept, or from other people, which is harder to live with.
What part of this job do people tend to enjoy most?
Why ask it
Interviewers get asked about the hard parts all the time and rarely about this. If the best part is something you would enjoy too, that is the fit you came to find. If they struggle to name one, weigh that with everything else you hear.
How is someone new trained here: a set program, shadowing, or learning as they go?
Why ask it
None of the three is wrong, but you should know which you are signing up for. Learning as you go under a busy manager can mean a lonely first few weeks, so ask who answered the last new person's questions.
At what point is a new person expected to work without help?
Why ask it
The answer is your grace period. Two weeks suggests a simple job or thin patience, and a year suggests deep specialist knowledge, so follow up by asking what people are trusted with at each stage.
How much of this job is written down, and how much lives in someone's head?
Why ask it
Procedures, handover notes and a record of past decisions mean you can start without chasing people for answers. If it all lived in the head of someone who has left, your first months are detective work, so find out who is still around to ask.
What are the normal working hours, and how often do they run over?
Why ask it
Ask about an ordinary week first, since that is most of the year. A straight answer gives start and finish times and says how often evenings or weekends come into it. 'We are flexible' can mean that nobody watches the clock or that the clock never stops, so ask which.
What do the hours look like in the busiest month of the year?
Why ask it
Peak periods are when hours stretch and time off gets refused. Ask how long the peak lasts and whether extra hours are paid, given back as time off or simply expected, because that differs from one employer to the next.
How much of the job is working alone and how much is working with other people?
Why ask it
A mismatch with how you like to work is tiring in a way that is hard to fix later. Ask for a rough split of the week, then compare it with the job you have enjoyed most.
How much of the day is spent on your feet, on the road or at a screen?
Why ask it
A posting lists duties, not what they do to your back, your eyes or your evenings. Eight hours standing and eight hours in a chair are different jobs even under the same title, and you can ask without saying why it matters to you.
What happens to this role's work when the person is on vacation?
Why ask it
If a colleague covers, there is a real team around the job. If the work piles up or the person answers email from the beach, the role is a single point of failure and time off will be hard to take.
What is the oldest thing on this role's to-do list?
Why ask it
Whatever has sat there longest is either unimportant or too hard, and it is useful to know which. It also shows you where a new person could make a visible difference early.
If I needed to buy something or bring in help to do the job, how would I get it approved?
Why ask it
Responsibility without resources is how a reasonable job becomes an impossible one. An interviewer who can describe the route, and name the last thing that was approved, has been down it before. A shrug means you would be working with whatever is already there.
How much contact does this role have with customers or the public?
Why ask it
Postings are not always clear on this. Ask for a rough share of the week and what kind of contact it is, since handling complaints and advising happy clients make for very different days.
Is this job on site, hybrid or remote, and how settled is that arrangement?
Why ask it
Postings are sometimes vague on this, and policies change. Ask what the team does in practice, who decides, and whether the arrangement would be put in writing with an offer. If your decision hangs on it, raise it early with the recruiter so neither side spends three rounds on a job that cannot work.
Where is the team based, and would I be the only one in my location?
Why ask it
Being the one remote or satellite person on a team that sits together changes the job: you hear things later and are easier to overlook. If that would be you, ask what keeps that person in the loop, such as decisions written down or set days when everyone gathers.
What decisions about this role have not been made yet?
Why ask it
Title, reporting line, scope and even location are sometimes still open when interviews begin. That is not a bad sign in itself, but you want to know who will settle them and whether it happens before or after an offer.
Manager and team
Who would my direct manager be, and will I meet them during this process?
Why ask it
For when your interviewer is a recruiter, a panel member or someone senior. Your manager shapes much of what the job is like from day to day, so it is reasonable to want a real conversation with that person before you decide. If the manager has not been chosen yet, ask who you would answer to in the meantime.
What is your management style, and how would your team describe it?
Why ask it
The first half usually gets a label such as hands-off, supportive or direct. The second half is what makes it useful, because it asks the manager to look at themselves from the other side. Follow up with a recent example, like what they did the last time a piece of work came back wrong, and if you meet the team later, ask them the same thing.
Would the two of us have a regular meeting, and what is it usually spent on?
Why ask it
What the time is spent on matters more than whether the meeting exists. A slot for your questions and development is different from a status check, and 'my door is always open' usually means there is no meeting at all.
How much do you want to be involved in the detail of my work?
Why ask it
This is the polite way to ask about micromanagement. Good answers describe involvement dropping as trust builds, so ask what the manager would need to see before stepping back.
When something has gone wrong, how and when do you want to be told?
Why ask it
Most managers have a firm view: early, in person, with a proposed fix, never as a surprise in a meeting. Knowing it beforehand saves you from learning it the hard way, and a manager with no answer may not hear bad news often.
What do you expect from the people you manage that would never appear in a job description?
Why ask it
Answer messages within the hour, speak up in meetings, never let them be surprised: every manager has a few of these. They are what you would really be judged on, and hearing them now is cheaper than finding out at your first review.
How much of your own week is doing the work and how much is managing it?
Why ask it
A manager who still carries a full workload has less time for you but understands the job in detail. One who only manages has the time, so ask how they keep in touch with what the work actually involves.
What part of managing people do you find hardest?
Why ask it
A manager who says 'giving bad news' or 'letting go of the detail' is telling you where they will be slow or clumsy with you, and that they know it. 'Nothing, really' is the less reassuring answer.
How did you come to manage this team?
Why ask it
Promoted from inside it, hired from outside and handed it in a reshuffle make three different managers. Someone who used to do your job will have views on how it is done, and someone new to the team may be learning it alongside you.
Who do you report to, and what do they want from this team?
Why ask it
Your manager's pressures become yours within a few weeks. If what their boss wants differs from how the role was described to you, ask which version wins when the two pull apart.
How do you usually find out that someone on the team is struggling?
Why ask it
'They tell me' suggests people feel safe speaking up. 'I see it in the numbers' or 'a colleague mentions it' tells you problems surface late, and that you would need to raise your own early.
When two people on the team do not get along, what do you do?
Why ask it
Any team that has been together a while has had a clash, so 'that does not happen here' usually means it is not being dealt with. The answer to hope for is a manager who speaks to both people early. Waiting for it to pass, or moving someone's desk, leaves it for the rest of the team to live with.
Can you tell me about the team I would be joining?
Why ask it
An easy, open question, and what the interviewer chooses to say first is telling: the size, the people, the workload or the gaps. Listen for how many there are, how long they have worked together and where this job sits among them. If the reply is all job titles, ask who you would spend the most time with on an average day.
What is each person on the team best at?
Why ask it
A quick answer means the manager knows their people as individuals, and it shows where you would overlap with someone and where there is room for what you do. On a large team, ask it about the three or four people you would work with most.
Who has been on the team longest, and who joined most recently?
Why ask it
A mix of long-timers and recent hires is usually a good sign. All veterans can mean a group that is hard to break into, and all newcomers means you should ask, gently, where the previous team went.
What is the biggest challenge the team is facing at the moment?
Why ask it
Too much work, a new system, a key person gone, a target moved halfway through the year: most teams have one, and it is often the reason for the hire. Ask what part of it this job is expected to take on. A manager who names the problem and has a plan for it is a better sign than one who says everything is fine.
What does the team do when there is more work than it can handle?
Why ask it
Something gives: quality, deadlines or people's evenings. A team that can tell you which one, and who makes that call, has thought about it. If the answer is 'we just get it done', it is the evenings.
How does the team share out the work nobody wants?
Why ask it
A rotation or a call for volunteers is fair. If the dull or unpleasant tasks always land on the newest or most junior person, you are hearing a description of your first year.
Could I spend half an hour with someone who does this job now?
Why ask it
Peers will tell you things a manager cannot, and many employers will arrange it for a candidate they are serious about. Ask once you are past the first round, and treat a flat refusal as information.
What turned out to be different from what you were told when you interviewed?
Why ask it
One for a future colleague, not the manager. Every job differs a little from the pitch, so a specific, mild answer is reassuring. 'Nothing at all' or a long pause both deserve a follow-up.
What do you spend time on that you think you should not have to?
Why ask it
Also for a future colleague. Chasing approvals, typing the same figures into two systems, sitting in meetings that could have been a message: the answer names the friction you would inherit. A long list delivered cheerfully is still a long list.
Success and growth
Is there a number, a target or a deadline this job is judged on?
Why ask it
Some jobs have one: sales, cases closed, an opening date. Many are judged on a manager's impression instead, and you should know which kind this is before you start. If there is no measure, ask what the manager looks at when deciding how someone is doing.
How is performance reviewed here, and how often would I get feedback in between?
Why ask it
The formal part varies by employer: yearly, twice a year, or nothing on paper in a small firm. The part in between tells you more, so ask when the interviewer last gave or received a piece of feedback and what it was about. If reviews are tied to pay rises, this is a natural point to learn that without making money the question.
What earns a new person trust here fastest?
Why ask it
In some places it is delivering something small quickly, in others it is asking good questions before touching anything. Getting this wrong in the first month is hard to undo, so it is worth asking outright.
How are goals set for this role: handed down, agreed together, or left to me?
Why ask it
Handed-down targets are clear but may not be achievable, and 'left to you' can mean nobody has decided what the job is for. Ask to hear one of the current goals for the role, word for word if they can.
When someone is not meeting expectations, how early do they hear about it, and how?
Why ask it
You are checking that nobody is surprised at review time. A good answer involves a direct conversation within weeks and a chance to correct course. A vague one suggests people find out when it is too late.
What training or professional development does the company offer or pay for?
Why ask it
Courses, certifications, conference places, paid study days: the offer differs widely between employers, so ask for an example of what someone on the team did in the past year. A budget that nobody has time to use is worth little. If there is nothing formal, ask how people here pick up new skills.
Does the company pair new people with a mentor or a buddy, and how are they matched?
Why ask it
Where there is a program, ask how often the pair actually meets, since a name on a form is not a mentor. Where there is none, ask who new people tend to attach themselves to. There is nearly always someone.
Where did the people who have done well in this job come from: inside the company, the same industry, somewhere else?
Why ask it
If they all came up through the company or from the same two competitors, an outsider has a steeper start and should ask what helped the last one. A mix of backgrounds means yours is less likely to count against you.
What would I be better at after two years in this job?
Why ask it
A job should leave you more employable than it found you. If the interviewer can only describe what you would produce and not what you would gain, the role may be a plateau, which is fine if that is what you want right now.
What have you learned in this job in the past year?
Why ask it
Asked of a manager or a peer, it shows whether people here are still developing or stopped some time ago. A new system, a qualification or a harder kind of client are the sort of answers to hope for. Then ask who paid and whether the time came out of working hours, which differs from one employer to the next.
Would I be the most experienced person doing this kind of work here?
Why ask it
If yes, others will learn from you and you will be teaching yourself, so the title and pay should reflect that. If no, ask who the experienced person is and how much of your week would overlap with theirs.
What does a career path from this job usually look like?
Why ask it
It asks where the job has led for others, which lands better than asking how soon you could move up. Useful answers name real people: one took a senior post, one switched teams, one has stayed and widened the role. If nobody has moved on from it, find out whether that is because they are content or because there is nowhere to go.
Who was the last person promoted from this team, and what had they done to earn it?
Why ask it
A real example shows what promotion takes here better than any description of the career ladder. If nobody can think of one, ask how long people have been at their current level.
Can people move sideways into other teams, and how often does it happen?
Why ask it
Sideways moves are how many people stay with one employer for years without getting stuck. Ask whether a manager can block a move, since some employers allow that.
If I wanted to grow without managing people, is there a route for that?
Why ask it
In many organizations the only way up is to manage. If that is true here and you love the hands-on work, you will face the choice in a few years, and it is better to know now.
If I had spare capacity, what else could I get involved in?
Why ask it
It shows ambition without asking about promotion, and the answer tells you how fixed the roles are. Some employers welcome extra projects and they lead somewhere. At others, stepping outside your lane causes friction.
How much do people above you see of this role's work?
Why ask it
If the role is out of sight, your raises and promotions depend entirely on your manager speaking up for you. Ask how they have done that for someone else on the team.
Culture
How would you describe the culture here?
Why ask it
The best-known question on the subject, and the one most likely to be answered in adjectives: friendly, fast-paced, collaborative. Take the adjective and ask for the last time it showed, for example what 'supportive' meant when someone made a mistake. Put it to two interviewers and see whether their descriptions sound like the same place.
What do you enjoy most about working here?
Why ask it
A friendly question that most people are glad to answer, which makes it a good first one when your turn comes. A quick, specific reply, such as the people, the problems or a manager who backs them, is a good sign. 'The benefits', or a long pause, tells you something as well.
What made you say yes when you were offered your job here, and has it held up?
Why ask it
It works on anyone, from the recruiter to the chief executive. The useful part is whether what drew them in turned out to be real, so wait for that half of the answer. Put it to more than one interviewer and compare.
What gets rewarded here that might not be rewarded somewhere else?
Why ask it
It asks about culture without using the word, which usually produces a recitation of the values page. Whatever they name, whether speed, caution, long hours or speaking up, is what the place really prizes.
If I walked through on an ordinary afternoon, what would I see and hear?
Why ask it
Quiet and heads-down, phones ringing, people calling across the room, or half the desks empty: each suits a different person. In a video interview, this stands in for the walk through the building you are not getting.
What is a habit or tradition here that a visitor would find odd?
Why ask it
The Friday quiz, the bell that rings for a sale, the meeting everyone stands up for. Habits like these show what a place is proud of, and an interviewer who lights up describing one probably likes working there.
What is a typical meeting like here: who talks, and does anything get decided?
Why ask it
Meetings are the culture at small scale. If the most senior person talks and everyone else takes notes, decisions work that way outside the room too. If people argue and leave with a list of who is doing what, you are looking at a different sort of place.
How do people react here when someone says no to a request?
Why ask it
In some workplaces a reasoned no is respected, and in others it marks you as difficult. If the interviewer cannot remember anyone saying no, assume the workload is set by whoever asks loudest.
What does recognition look like here: a thank-you, a bonus, or the next interesting job?
Why ask it
'Not much' is a real answer too. What you are listening for is whether recognition follows from doing the work well or from being seen doing it.
When did you last take a full week off, and did work follow you?
Why ask it
A specific question gets a truer answer than asking about work-life balance. If your interviewer cannot remember, or laughs, you have learned more than the leave policy would tell you.
How flexible is the day in practice if someone has an appointment or a school pickup?
Why ask it
Policies say one thing and managers allow another. Ask how the last such request on the team was handled. You do not need to explain why you want to know.
How much notice do people get when schedules or plans change?
Why ask it
For shift work this decides whether you can plan childcare or a second job, and the rules on notice depend on where you live. In office jobs the same question shows how often priorities are reshuffled at the last minute.
What do people on the team do at lunchtime?
Why ask it
It sounds like small talk, and it tells you a lot. Eating together, eating at desks and not stopping at all each say something about the pace and how well people know one another.
Do people spend time together outside work, and is it expected?
Why ask it
Whether it is expected is the part that counts. Optional gatherings are a pleasant extra, but if the real conversations happen at evening events, anyone with commitments after work is at a disadvantage.
How does news travel here: from managers, from all-staff meetings, or through the grapevine?
Why ask it
If people hear about changes from their own manager first, communication is working. If the grapevine is reliably faster, expect to learn about decisions that affect you after they are made.
Who is in the room when the important decisions get made, and does that group look like the rest of the company?
Why ask it
This asks about inclusion through something observable instead of a policy. A candid answer, even an unflattering one, tells you more than a statement of commitment would.
How does the company support people through big life events, like a new child or a serious illness?
Why ask it
Leave and benefits depend on the employer and on the law where you live, so ask how it works there and how it went for someone recently. You never have to say why you are asking, and in a first interview it is fine to save this one for HR.
The company
What are the company's main goals for the coming year, and where does this job fit into them?
Why ask it
A job tied to a goal the company cares about gets attention, budget and a clear answer when priorities clash. If the interviewer can state the goals but cannot connect the job to any of them, ask what would be lost if the job did not exist. Read what the company has said in public beforehand, so that you are asking about the connection and not the basics.
How does the company make its money, and which part of that is growing?
Why ask it
You want your role attached to the part that is growing, or at least to know if it is not. For a charity or public body, ask where the funding comes from and how secure it is for the next few years.
Who owns the company, and what do they want from it?
Why ask it
Look up the ownership beforehand if you can, then ask what the owners want. A founder, a family, outside investors and a public body all work to different timelines. Owners planning to sell in a few years run a business differently from a family planning to keep it, and that reaches budgets, hiring and how secure your role is.
Who do you lose customers to, and why do they go?
Why ask it
It is a more revealing version of 'who are your competitors'. Someone who can answer frankly understands the market, and the reasons customers leave often point to problems your team will be asked to fix.
What do customers say when they complain?
Why ask it
Complaints show where the organization is stretched, and they reach nearly every role eventually. The answer also tells you whether the person you are talking to hears from customers directly or only through reports.
What are the one or two things leadership talks about most at the moment?
Why ask it
Whatever leaders keep repeating is where attention and money will go next. If your interviewer cannot say, priorities are not reaching this part of the organization, which is its own answer.
What is the company deliberately not doing?
Why ask it
A good one for a senior interviewer. Leaders with a clear strategy can name what they turned down and why. If everything is a priority, expect to be pulled in several directions.
Where do you expect the company to be in three years, and what has to go right?
Why ask it
The first half gets the pitch and the second half gets the truth. Count how many of the things that must go right are within the company's own control.
What is the company worried about that an outsider would not guess?
Why ask it
Recruiters will rarely answer this, but a hiring manager or executive often will. A considered answer about a real risk is more reassuring than being told there is nothing to worry about.
How did the company treat people the last time business was slow?
Why ask it
Pay freezes, reduced hours, layoffs and holding steady each tell you something different. Ask someone who was there at the time, and listen to how the decision was explained to staff as much as to what it was.
How long have you worked here, and how has the company changed in that time?
Why ask it
Someone with a few years behind them can tell you which way things are moving: growing, settling or tightening. Notice whether the changes are described with energy or with a sigh. With an interviewer who joined recently, ask what has changed since their own interview instead.
How long has the leadership team been in place?
Why ask it
A long-standing team suggests stability and settled ways. Several recent changes at the top usually mean the strategy, and possibly your manager's priorities, are about to shift, so ask what the new people have changed so far.
How much do staff get told about how the business is doing?
Why ask it
Some employers share figures every month and some share nothing until there is a problem. If you would have no way to see trouble coming, you are relying on your manager to tell you.
What does the company measure most closely?
Why ask it
The number on the wall or in the weekly meeting is what the organization really manages, whether that is sales, safety, waiting times or hours billed. Ask whether this role moves that number directly, because the roles that do get more attention and more pressure.
What would you change about the company if it were up to you?
Why ask it
People answer this more freely than 'what are the downsides'. A small, practical wish is normal. If two interviewers independently name the same thing, you have found the real issue.
Is there anything in the news or in online reviews that you would like to give your side of?
Why ask it
Use it only if you have read something specific, and name it. It shows you did your research and gives them a fair hearing. A defensive reaction to a polite question tells you how criticism is handled inside.
Closing
Of everything we have covered today, which one thing matters most to you in this hire?
Why ask it
It makes the interviewer rank their own criteria just before they write their notes on you. Whatever they name, speak to it in one or two sentences before you leave the room.
Do you have any concerns about my experience that I could address now?
Why ask it
It gives you the chance to answer a doubt before it goes into the notes. Ask only when the conversation has been warm and you can hear the reply without getting defensive, then respond briefly with an example. Some interviewers are told not to give feedback on the spot, so if you get a polite deflection, let it go.
Is there anything I have not asked about that you think I should know?
Why ask it
Interviewers know things you would never think to ask about: a reorganization on the way, a client about to leave, a quirk of the job. This gives them an opening to mention it. Often the answer is no, and that is fine. Now and then it is the most useful thing you hear in the whole interview.
Is there anything you wanted to ask me that the format did not leave room for?
Why ask it
Structured interviews make people skip the thing they are most curious about. Offering the opening tends to surface a real question, and it leaves the impression of someone at ease being asked anything.
Is there time for me to add one thing I did not get to mention?
Why ask it
For when you walked in with a strong example and no question gave you room to use it. Keep it under a minute and tie it to something they said they need. With nothing specific to add, skip it.
How would you sum up this job to a friend who was thinking of applying?
Why ask it
With a friend in mind, people drop the official wording and give the two-sentence version, catches included. It suits the last minute of an interview because the answer is short.
What is the best thing that has happened in your own work here this year?
Why ask it
A warm last question for when time is nearly up and you already have what you need. The answer shows what a good year looks like in practice, and you both leave on a high note.
When would be the right point in this process to talk about pay?
Why ask it
If the range has not come up, this raises it without making money your first question, and many interviewers will simply tell you the range in reply. The law where you live may require employers to publish it, so check the posting first.
Is there anything else I can send you that would help with your decision?
Why ask it
A portfolio piece, the names of referees, proof of a qualification, a fuller answer to something you fumbled: the offer shows you want the job and gives you a reason to write afterwards. If they name something, send it within a day. If they say no, take them at their word and do not send extras.
What happens after today, and what could hold the decision up?
Why ask it
A decision-maker on leave, budget sign-off and other candidates still to be seen are the usual hold-ups. Knowing which one applies here stops you reading two weeks of silence as a rejection.
How does the offer stage usually work here, and how long does someone get to decide?
Why ask it
Ask late in the process, not in a first interview. Knowing whether offers come by phone or in writing, and how long they stay open, lets you line up your other conversations before the clock starts.
If this role turns out not to be the right match, would you keep me in mind for others?
Why ask it
Only for when the conversation has made it plain the fit is off, for example the job is more senior or more specialized than the posting suggested. Said warmly, it can turn a likely no into a contact. When things are going well it sounds like doubt, so leave it out.
How to use these in a real interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
How many to bring, and how many to ask
Bring eight to ten written down, because several will be answered before you get your turn. Plan to ask two or three in a half-hour interview and four or five in a full hour. When the interviewer says there is time for one more, there is time for one.
Rank them, and lead with the one that could change your mind
Time for your questions is the first thing cut when an interview runs over. Put first the question whose answer would make you walk away, or want the job more. Keep the pleasant ones for when there is time to spare.
Questions to ask during a first interview
What kind of questions to ask depends on the round. A first interview is often a short screen with a recruiter or the hiring manager, where both sides are deciding whether a second conversation is worth having. Ask about the work and the basics: what a typical day looks like, why the position is open, what success looks like in the first 90 days, whether the job is on site, hybrid or remote, and what happens after today. Questions for future peers, the ones about owners and strategy, and anything about the offer can wait for a later round.
The standard questions and the unique ones
The well-known questions, such as what a typical day looks like or how the interviewer would describe the culture, are well known because the answers matter, so do not drop them to seem original. A less common one, such as what the oldest thing on the role's to-do list is or what the company is deliberately not doing, tends to get a fresher answer because the interviewer has no rehearsed reply. One or two of those in an interview is plenty. No question wins the job on its own, and what counts more is whether you listen to the answer and follow it up.
Bring them on paper
A notebook with your questions in it reads as prepared, and few interviewers mind you glancing at it. On a video call, keep the list beside the camera, not in a window you have to click to. Leave space for the answers, since you will want to compare what different interviewers said.
Skip what the website already answers
Asking what the company does or how big it is tells the interviewer you did not look. Use what you read as the starting point instead: 'I saw you opened a second site last year. How has that changed this team?'
Ask as you go, not only when invited
If the interviewer describes the team and you have a question about it, ask then. An interview that turns into a conversation goes better for both sides, and the last five minutes no longer have to carry everything. Some employers run a fixed format with candidate questions held to the end, so if you are told that at the start, follow it.
Which questions go to which interviewer
A recruiter or HR screener
They know the process, the pay range, the working arrangement and why the role is open, and usually much less about the daily work. The practical questions in Closing belong here: when to talk about pay, what happens after today, how offers work. Why the position is open, and whether the job is on site, hybrid or remote, are theirs to answer too. Detailed questions about the team's work will get a guess, so save them.
The hiring manager
The role, Manager and team, and Success and growth are written mostly for this person. Spend your time on how they manage, what they need from the hire and how they will judge it, since nobody else can answer those.
Future peers
Colleagues can tell you what the days are really like. Ask them what yesterday looked like, what turned out different from what they were told, and what they spend time on that they should not have to. Keep it conversational: they are also deciding whether they want to work beside you.
An executive or founder
Ask up, not down: where the company is headed, what worries them, what it has chosen not to do. They will not know your daily tasks, and one well-chosen question about direction does more than five about detail. The company group is mostly for them.
A panel
Put each question to one person by name, chosen for their role, and let the others add to it. A question thrown to the whole table tends to get the most senior person's answer and nobody else's.
Ask a few of them twice
Some questions, such as what made you say yes to the job here or what you would change about the company, are worth putting to every interviewer. Matching answers mean the place knows itself. Different answers show you where to dig.
The last five minutes
What to ask at the very end
Finish with two things: one question about fit, such as which one thing matters most to them in this hire, and one about what happens next. The first gives you a last chance to answer a doubt. The second means you leave knowing when to expect news.
The 'any doubts about me?' closer
Asking outright whether the interviewer has reservations about you is common advice, and with a relaxed interviewer it can work. It also asks for a verdict on the spot, which some people dislike giving and some employers tell their interviewers not to give. Asking which one thing matters most in the hire gets you to the same doubt and leaves them room to answer. If you do ask, make it about your experience and not about you: whether there are any concerns you could address now is easier to answer than a request for a verdict.
If your questions have all been answered
Say so, and show it: 'You covered training and the team already. One thing I would like to hear more about is how goals get set.' A flat 'no, I think you covered everything' reads as lack of interest, however well the rest went.
When time is short
If you are told there are two minutes left, ask one question, listen to the whole answer and thank them. Offer to send anything else by email. Three rushed questions make the interviewer late and leave a worse impression than one asked properly.
Say that you want the job
If you do, say it plainly before you leave: that the conversation made you more interested, and why. Interviewers are often unsure whether a candidate would accept, and removing that doubt costs you nothing.
What not to ask in a first interview
Pay, vacation and perks as your opening question
They matter, and you should know them before accepting anything. Leading with them in a first interview suggests the job itself is an afterthought. Let the recruiter raise the range, or ask when the right time to discuss it would be.
Complaints about your last job dressed as questions
'Will I be micromanaged?' and 'Do people here actually pull their weight?' tell the interviewer about your last workplace. Ask the neutral version: how involved the manager likes to be, how the work is shared out.
How soon you can move on
Asking in round one how quickly you could be promoted or transfer out says you already want a different job. Questions about what you would learn and who was last promoted cover the same ground without sending that message.
Offer details before there is an offer
How long you would get to decide and when you could start belong to the round where an offer is close. In a first interview they put you a step ahead of the person across the table. The exception is a hard constraint, such as a long notice period or a move, which is fairer to mention early.
Anything personal about the interviewer
Their career, why they joined the company and what they enjoy are fair. Their family, age, health and beliefs are not, in the same way that they should not ask you about yours.
Yes-or-no questions and traps
'Is the culture good?' can only be answered yes. A question built to catch the interviewer out makes the room colder and gets you a careful non-answer. Ask for an example or a recent instance instead, and let the detail speak.