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 haysplc.com/viewpoint

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. haysplc.com