Asking the right questions during

your interview is key to

demonstrating your interest in the

role and convincing the interviewer

that you would do the job well.

Here are 15 questions, divided up

into five sections, that will create a

conversation during your interview

and will give you a good chance of

progressing to the next stage of the

recruitment process.

15 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR INTERVIEWER

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QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE ROLE

The answer to this question will

reveal whether the role has

expanded to absorb modern

practices and technology over time.

The question shows you are keen

to keep pace with advances, and

that you have a positive attitude to

change.

1. Is this role new? If not, how has it evolved?

This is another classic question,

which shows you have career

ambitions and want to get on in the

world.

It will also reveal something about

how talent is nurtured and promoted

within the organisation.

2. Is there scope for career progression?

This is a tactful way of determining

exactly what skills and experience

are required for the role.

You can use the interviewer’s

appraisal of your predecessor to

gauge exactly what it is you need to

do to take the role to the next level.

3. Can you tell me a bit about the predecessor of the role?

This is the best question to help you

visualise yourself in the role; you

can then decide whether it’s for you

or not.

4. What does a typical day

look like?

If possible, try and research your

colleagues before the interview

process.

If not, or on top of that, try and find

out as much as possible about them

from the interviewer.

5. Can you tell me more about the team?

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE TEAM

It can be difficult to understand the

full extent of your role from a job

description, so use the interview to

establish which departments you’ll

be liaising with most often.

You can then decide whether your

skillset is well suited to the role or

not.

6. Who are the key

stakeholders?

This question signals your interest

in working as a team as you want to

know where you will fit in and

contribute to the organisation’s

long-term success.

7. How does the team fit

into the overall structure

of the company?

This question will help you discover

the organisation’s priorities, which

you can then compare against your

own.

It will also help you understand

what the business expects from

their employees.

8. What constitutes success for the team and the role?

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT YOUR INTERVIEWER

Understanding your interviewer’s

background and why they were

selected to work for the employer

can help shape your own answers

about what you might bring to the

role.

9. What’s your background?

This question can tell you a lot

about the work culture at the

organisation.

It can also be a way of

communicating your desire to work

in a positive environment, and that

you’re someone who likes to get the

best out of yourself.

10. What’s it like to work

here?

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE BUSINESS

If you know the business has

recently launched a new product or

service, for example, you could work

this into the question by asking how

the new product is being received –

showing them that you’ve done your

research.

11. What challenges and

opportunities does the

business face?

It’s good to get an idea of how long

employees stay with the employer,

so you can gain a clear insight into

how well they are treated –

although high staff retention isn’t

always a good thing, as outlined in

this blog.

12. How long do

employees remain with

the business?

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

This is a searching question that

signals your focus on building your

career.

You’re signalling that you want to

know there’s a structured, pro-

active approach to assessing

individual performance, and that

you won’t be forgotten about.

13. How often will my performance be reviewed?

This is a standard question but an

important one to ask, not only for

your own sake but also to show

you’re interested in acquiring new

skills which will be of benefit to you

and the organisation.

14. What training

opportunities are available?

Don’t forget to ask what comes next!

You can then prepare yourself

thoroughly for the next stage of the

hiring process.

15. What’s the next step?

Good luck!

Ask the right questions and there is

a good chance you will be able to

advance in the recruitment process,

and what’s more, you’ll know if you

want to or not.

If you are seeking out new

opportunities, you may find these

Viewpoint blogs useful:

• 6 common resume/CV mistakes

to avoid

• How to impress in your video

interview

• How to make your interviewer

love you

ABOUT HAYS

Hays is a leading global

professional recruiting group, the

expert at recruiting qualified,

professional and skilled people

worldwide.

With over 8,748 staff operating from

244 offices in 33 countries across

20 specialism's, last year we placed

around 57,000 candidates into

permanent jobs, and around

212,000 people into temporary

assignments.

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