Questions to Ask at Interview

At some point during the proceedings, the interviewer may ask: ''Do you have any questions?'' It is then over to you, to provide the questions.

Interviewers frequently judge candidates on the nature of the questions that are asked. Do you ask about the pay and benefits? Are you focused about the day-to-day demands of the role? Or are you more interested about opportunities for promotion and enhanced responsibility? Different questions give interviewers different impressions about your motivations.

However, do not forget that this is your opportunity to find more out about the job and the company. If the interviewer were to offer you the job, would you have enough information to decide whether to accept it or not?

Show an Interest in you Role

There are many questions that you could ask about the role. However, remember to check that the questions you do choose to ask could not have been answered in your research.

Questions to ask could include:

• ''What are the day-to-day duties involved in this job?''
• ''How will my performance be measured?''
• ''How are targets set? How much say would I have in setting them?''
• ''Who will I report to?''
• ''Who would I be spending most of my working time with?''
• ''Who are the key decision makers that I would need to get along with, and how would you describe each of them?''
• ''What sort of budget would I have for running the team?''
• ''What do you see as the immediate challenges for me if I were to be given the job?''

You might also want to find out more about why the employer is looking to fill this role:

• ''Why has this vacancy arisen?''
• ''What happened to the previous job holder?''
• ''Are you looking for anything in particular from the person who will take this role?''
• ''How do you see this role developing?''
• ''How quickly are you looking for someone to take on this role?''

Questions About the Company

You could also ask questions about the structure and current challenges facing the company as a whole:

• ''How is the department that I would be joining viewed by the rest of the organisation?''
• ''How is the company structured?''
• ''When was the last company restructuring, and how did it affect this department?''
• ''What challenges is the organisation currently facing?''

Employers usually want to recruit employees who will stay for at least two to three years; so it may be worth your while to ask some questions about the future. For example, you could ask about your own future with the company:

• ''What training and development is given to employees?''
• ''What opportunities are there for promotion?''
• ''What opportunities are there for working abroad with the company?''
• ''How does the company promote personal growth?''