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. These 15 questions will create a conversation during your interview and will give you a good chance of progressing to the next stage of the recruitment process. Images: Thinkstock

1. 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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2. QUESTIONS TO ASK
ABOUT THE ROLE

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. 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?

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. QUESTIONS TO ASK
ABOUT THE TEAM

9. 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?

10. 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?

11. 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?

12. QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT
YOUR INTERVIEWER

13. 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?

14. 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?

15. QUESTIONS TO ASK
ABOUT THE BUSINESS

16. 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?

17. 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?

18. QUESTIONS TO ASK
ABOUT LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT

19. 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?

20. 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?

21. 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?

22. 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

23. 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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