What’s the best questions you’ve asked interviewer in the interview?

What are the reasons you wouldn’t hire me today?

Had a lot of different roles at numerous companies, and built out this list as I’ve learned different lessons about screening new opportunities (and looking for red flags as part of the interview process). I pick and choose which questions depending on who is conducting the interview, what round I’m in, what I already know and what I still want to know.

About the Role/Immediate Team
1. What does a typical week in the life look like in this role?
2. What is the biggest problem you're trying to solve right now?
3. Tell me more about the team. How does this role fit within the [immediate] team? How does that team fit within the larger org?
4. What does the growth within this team look like?
5. Who are my primary customers and how do they measure success?
6. How is success defined for this position?
7. What would the first 90 days look like? What are the most important objectives for this position in the first few months? If I joined the team, what would be my top 2 priorities for the first 30 and 60 days?
8. How can I make an impact at this company in this role?
9. What is a common mistake new hires make, and how would you recommend avoiding that mistake?

About Management Styles
1. How do you describe your team?
- Look for: Are they talking only about themselves? Or do they dive into their team members and what those team members do, truly showing understanding of their team members?
2. How do you as a manager—or, if more appropriate, how does your manager—support and motivate your team?
3. How do you provide visibility of your employees' efforts to your leadership/senior leadership?
4. Do you encourage risk-taking, and what happens when people fail?
5. How does your team share information with each other?
- Look for: what types of information is being discussed? Is it a culture of knowledge sharing or knowledge hoarding?
6. How would your team describe their relationships with one another at work?
7. What slows your team down the most and prevents you from hitting your goals
8. What causes conflict with your team, and how do you resolve conflict?
9. Who owns the solutions in your org? And who owns the problem?
- Look for: Does leadership take control or give control?
10. Is your team more heavily rewarded for individual accomplishments or contributions to their success of others?
- Look for: Do people take action to protect themselves or make the outcome better? Is it an ego-driven org or team-driven org?
11. Why does diversity matter to you?
12. What are the primary cultural tenets/values/leadership principles that your team operates under?

About Company Politics
1. What do you think is most challenging about working within the company?
2. Is risk-taking encouraged, and what happens when people fail?
3. What role do company values play in hiring and performance reviews?
4. What’s one thing you would change about the company if you could?
5. What causes conflict, and how is conflict resolved?
6. How would you describe “organizational politics” at the company?
7. How are decisions made when there’s disagreement and stakes are high?
8. When and how do people like to give and receive feedback?
9. Titles aside, who in the organization has the power to gets things done?
10. What are some of the ways the company celebrates success?
11. How does the leadership team respond to bad news?

About Org/Company Culture
1. When you joined the company, what is one aspect of the culture you were really excited about that if you were to go somewhere else you’d want to implement? On the flip side, what is one aspect you’d like to change?
2. Pick three words that describe the corporate culture at the company.
3. What's the most exciting project you've worked on recently?
4. What do you like the most about working at the company?
5. What do you like the least about working at the company?
6. What makes you proud to work at this company?
7. How does the organization support your professional development and career growth?
8. What is career advancement like here? Is career advancement based on potential, performance, tenure?
9. What kind of flexible work arrangements do people have? Are flexible schedules the norm?
10. Do you offer any parent-friendly perks? (Great proxy for determining if company values work/life balance regardless if you have kids)
11. Do you have a matching gifts program or sponsor local volunteer events?
12. Do you have a budget for professional development?
13. Are there women in leadership positions? What % women vs. men?
14. What employee resource groups do you have?
15. Why does diversity matter to you?
16. When was your last vacation?
17. Can you give me an example of when someone with a different perspective or background was successful in impacting the team/org?

How do you measure success for the team?

The question I should've asked for a previous role:

Why did the last person leave?

What would it look like if I were successful in this role in 6 months' time and in a year's time?

I’m going to start asking “Are you currently looking for a new job?”

My last two jobs, the Director left a month after I started… Am I the problem??

If you are reasonably confident you have done well through the various rounds, in the very last round, "So when do I start?". I know this is cocky, but if it works, it works very very well. I got the entire interview panel chuckling away at it. It was a fantastic finisher and I ended up getting the job.

One thing you were hoping I’d ask. Or more dialed in - what areas do you anticipate me struggling or having room for opportunity/growth in this role

I almost always get a lot of ‘oooh that’s a good one’ from interviewers with this:

“I always ask any fresh face in an interview process this. What is your favorite and least favorite thing right now? This can be anything from WLB, benefits, meetings, tech stack, team dynamics, etc, literally anything as long as you can connect it to the company or your role.”

Personally this gives me a lot of insight into the company culture and their candor.

A recent least favorite was in an interview with the lead dev and the dept director. The lead said he wished for better family health insurance coverage which the director quickly responded to saying that upper management had heard this and changes were coming soon.

What performance metrics will I be evaluated against?

What skill or experience you wish I had that would make me a better candidate for this position?
This question gives you one last chance to address their concerns directly before the end of interview. If they are on the fence on something, you can hopefully win them over.

Lately a home run has been addressing the recent layoffs and how they can justify growing in an unstable economy (Can you speak to the stability of the company and your growth plans for the next 5 years given the current state?)

Is there anything in my skill set that brings you pause?

They were talking about short term goals, etc. So I asked them how short is short term? How do they manage their business plan for visibility and stability?

Do you offer/ invest in mentorship programs and professional development programs? Are they formal or informal? What is the benefit of completing such programs at this company?

- looking for an answer where company promotes personal/ professional development and benefits to employees for being successful throughout opportunities (i.e. promotion, new role, leadership visibility, etc.)

What key attributes would make me successful in this role?

One important question to the hiring manager that’s almost never asked: if you ever change roles or go for a long break, is there someone in the team who’s ready to take over?

This is a yes no question. If the answer is no, it usually hints at someone who’s not invested in the team. If the answer is yes, then you’ll need to ask follow up questions to figure out what actually matters most to them (technical ability, personality, years of experience, etc).

What's the companies Runway if they are still pre-profit and if not, the Year over year rate of increase in profit.

Is there anything else you want to know about me? Essentially covering your back on making sure they have everything they need to make an educated decision.

I recenlty asked what they didn't like about the job. I had already interviewed with the hiring manager and this was with one of her direct reports.

I usually also ask what happens when the economy goes bad. When was the last batch of layoffs and how many were let go? My employer, SAP, will eliminate your position and give you 30 days to find another and I try to not walk into a group that does it often when I apply internally.

I also like to know about at-home vs in the office.

What is the ramp-up time to do the job? Do I just start or is there some amount of training to do first?

Is there anything lacking in my background that would prevent me from moving forward with the role? This question allows you do address any objections the interviewer might have immediately.