All 221 Interview Questions to Ask

This page lists all the interview questions currently added in alphabetical order. The list will grow over time and you can always add a new question or suggest goals, mistakes and examples for already added questions. We will then help provide answers and work on making sure that you are better equipped to not only ask the best questions, but also understand why.

Questions to Ask During Interview (alphabetical listing)

• Anything else I can provide you with to form a complete picture of my qualifications?
• Are any large changes planned for the company? For example acquisitions, mergers, layoffs, or shutting down an office.
• Are any previous employees being considered for the job that I'm interviewing for?
• Are my tasks limited to my job description, or will I be performing duties outside the described job scope?
• Are there any areas in which you feel that I fall short of your requirements?
• Are there any employees who have been disciplined or are on probation?
• Are there any other questions I can answer for you?
• Are there any personal development opportunities available?
• Are there any requirements for this job that might include education or travel at my own expense?
• Assuming I was hired and performed well for a period of time, what additional opportunities might this job lead to?
• Assuming I'm current with my work, how many days could I not show up at the office each week?
• Based on my experience and the job description, is it possible that you may consider me overqualified?
• Before I leave, is there anything else you need to know concerning my ability to do this job?
• Can you describe an ideal employee for this assignment?
• Can you describe the nature of the planning process and how budget is allocated?
• Can you explain what your take on the company's corporate culture is? What are the core values?
• Can you give me an example of any "outrageous conduct" this firm tolerates that the competitors would not?
• Can you give me more detail about the position's responsibilities?
• Can you give me some examples of the best and worst thins about the company's culture?
• Can you name three ways in which the company's values are practiced?
• Can you please describe the management team to me?
• Can you show me the business process(es) I will be involved in?
• Can you tell me about the other members of the team?
• Can you tell me about this executive's management style?
• Could I get a chance to see the team in action? Can I sit in on a team meeting? Spend a day with someone?
• Could I see my future work space?
• Could you tell me ahout a time when the company went out of its way to provide excellent service?
• Do team members typically eat lunch together, or do they tend to eat by themselves or at their desks?
• Do you enjoy working here?
• Do you have an organizational chart of the company?
• Do you have any concerns about my ability to do the job and fit in?
• Do you have any concerns about my skills, education, or experience?
• Do you have any concerns that I need to clear up in order to be the top candidate?
• Do you have any reason to not consider inviting me back for a second interview?
• Do you think those are realistic, aggressive or conservative goals? Who set them? How?
• Do you use 360-degree feedback evaluations?
• Do you use any formal metrics in the company to measure and reward performance over time?
• Do you work weekends? How often and how many hours typically?
• Does the company do formal strategic planning?
• Does the company have a mission statement? May I see it?
• Does the company support you in training? How specifically?
• Does this company mostly use IT to lower costs or increase sales?
• Has anyone in the company ever been rewarded for a failed project?
• Have you already identified staff members who are stars and are in line for promotion?
• Have you ever considered leaving the organization?
• How accessible is the CEO (name him or her) to people at my level of the organization?
• How are executives addressed by their subordinates?
• How big is the team in which I would be working?
• How can I be sure that you are a diverse and inclusive employer?
• How can I quickly become a strong contributor within your organization?
• How do you describe the working environment here?
• How do you feel I match your requirements for this position?
• How do you like me so far?
• How do you like working for your manager? What do you like most about working for him/her? What do you like least?
• How does the company acknowledge and reward outstanding performance?
• How does the company balance short-term performance versus long-term success?
• How does the company ensure quality while delivering products on time?
• How does the company support working parents?
• How does the company work with knowledge management?
• How does this company recognize and reward a a job well done?
• How does this position contribute to the organization's goals, productivity, or profits?
• How does this position relate to the bottom line?
• How does upper management perceive this part of the organization?
• How effectively has the company communicated its top three business goals within the organization?
• How formal is the organization?
• How has your business philosophy changed/evolved over the last five years?
• How important is creativity to you, and how do you identify it and reward it?
• How is the company personalizing its offerings or customer communications?
• How long did the person that had this job before work here?
• How long do you think it will take to make a decision about me, and is there anything I can do to help you make it?
• How long has this position existed? Has its scope or responsibilities changed recently?
• How many approvals would it take to get a new $150k project idea of mine approved? How much time?
• How many employees would I supervise?
• How many people work in this office/department?
• How much authority will I have in managing the team?
• How much freedom would I have in setting my objectives and deadlines?
• How much interaction do you have with supervisors and other co-workers?
• How much travel is expected? To where?
• How much travel is involved in your job?
• How often would we meet together to go over my progress?
• How soon are you looking to fill this position?
• How will my performance be evaluated?
• How will you judge my success?
• How would you characterize the management philosophy of this organization?
• How would you describe a typical week/day in this position?
• How would you describe the office environment here?
• How would you describe the responsibilities of the position?
• How would you describe your company culture?
• How would you describe your manager's management style?
• I am a top performer. I like being around likeminded people. Am I going to be comfortable with the level here?
• I have really enjoyed meeting with you and your team, and I am very interested in this opportunity. I feel my skills and experience would be a good match for this position. What is the next step in your interviewing process?
• I know I can match the requirements and can hit the goals for this position. Can I have the offer?
• I know your recommendation carries a lot of weight in the selection process. May I have your endorsement?
• I notice that you laid off X people last year. What was the reason behind it? What did the process look like?
• I think I'm good for the job. I really want the job and to work for you. How can we work it out?
• I think I've demonstrated I'm qualified for this job. I'd very much like to join the team. Can we come to an agreement?
• I understand that the CEO is really approachable. How does that work?
• I'd like to follow up with you in a week or two to see where I stand. How do you prefer that I communicate with you-by e-mail or telephone?
• I'm ready to make a decision based on the information I have. Is there anything else you need to make me an offer?
• I'm very excited about working with you. I think we're a good match. Do you have reservations?
• I've seen the posting for the job, of course. Is there anything else I should know about what's expected of the successful candidate?
• If a new CEO joined tomorrow and he questioned hiring someone for this position, how would you sell it to him?
• If I am extended a job offer, how soon would you like me to start?
• If I am offered the position, how soon will you need my response?
• If I asked the person who had this job before what stinks about the job, what would he or she say?
• If I don't hear from you within (time period), would it be okay to call you?
• If I get hired, what are the first three assignments I will get?
• If I stood outside the front door at closing time, what would I see? Smiling people? Staying late or leaving early? Would everyone be taking work home?
• In the interview, we discussed the [challenge]. I may know a potential source for you. May I make some inquiries and get back to you?
• In what areas of the job would you like to see improvement with regard to the person who was most recently performing these duties?
• In what stages of the buying cycle are your products?
• In your opinion, what is the most important contribution that this company expects from its employees?
• Is relocation a possibility?
• Is the company's human capital development strategy linked to the core business objectives? If so, How?
• Is there a structured career path at the company?
• Is there anything standing in the way of us coming to an agreement?
• Is there anything that you believe would prevent me from being a great contributor in this role?
• Is this a new position? If not, what is the previous employee doing now?
• Is this an equal opportunities workplace?
• It has been a pleasure meeting you. This job is everything I want and I know I can hit the ground running. Can you tell me where you are in your process?
• May I e-mail you occasionally with updates on my situation?
• Now that I have outlined my career goals, do you think you can offer me the opportunities I need?
• Now that we've had a chance to talk, how does my background measure up to the requirements of the job? To the other candidates?
• Presuming that I'm successful on this assignment, where else might I be of service to the company?
• Tell me about your typical work day
• To whom does the position report?
• Well, I think it's pretty clear that I would love to work for you. Please tell me, what are my next steps?
• Were your expectations met?
• What are some examples of the achievements of others who have been in this position?
• What are the day-to-day responsibilities I'll be immediately assigned?
• What are the forces that suggested the need for this position?
• What are the goals of the company in the coming year?
• What are the goals of the department in the coming year?
• What are the goals of the team in the coming year?
• What are the most challenging aspects of the job?
• What are the opportunities for career advancement?
• What are the prospects for growth and advancement?
• What are the three criteria that you are looking for in the successful candidate for this position?
• What are the three major short- and long-run goals and objectives? How are success and progress being measured? How is the company doing against these metrics?
• What are the top three things you would expect of me in the first six months?
• What are the two main functional tasks of this position?
• What are your concerns about hiring me?
• What attracted you to this company, and what do you think are its strengths and weaknesses?
• What attracted you to working for this organization?
• What can I bring to this organization to complete team?
• What can I tell you about my qualifications?
• What causes you concern about my candidacy?
• What competencies do you propose I will develop that I don't currently have?
• What condition is employee morale in, and why?
• What do my qualifications lack compared with those of the theoretical ideal candidate?
• What do you consider the organization's strengths and weaknesses to be?
• What do you consider the strengths and weaknesses of your major competitors?
• What do you consider the weakest part of my profile?
• What do you consider to be your company's greatest strengths and weaknesses?
• What do you feel the company is missing most at this moment?
• What do you feel the team is missing most at this moment?
• What do you know now that you wish you knew before you started in your position?
• What do you like about working here?
• What do you see as the critical success factors for this role for the next 60 days?
• What do your employees generally not like about working here and what would you change?
• What happened to the person who previously held this job?
• What have you done to develop your leadership? What feedback have you received about it?
• What have you liked most about working here?
• What immediate problem would I need to solve? Could you give me two days to provide you with my solution?
• What inputs do employees get in corporate decisions?
• What is currently the most pressing business issue or problem for the department?
• What is my spending/budget authority?
• What is one thing an employee might do here that would be a violation of the company's culture?
• What is the company's customer service philosophy?
• What is the management style of the manager or supervisor I would be reporting to?
• What is the organization's plan for the next five years, and how does this department fit in?
• What is the typical career path for this position?
• What is the typical work week? Is overtime expected?
• What is your "development plan" for me for my first six months?
• What is your management philosophy?
• What is your vision for your department over the next years?
• What major challenges are you currently facing as a manager?
• What makes my co-workers great people to work with?
• What managers/departments do I report to?
• What outside influences affect the company's growth most?
• What particular aspects about my background and experience interested you the most?
• What three characteristics do you feel are unique for your company?
• What type of internal and external training do you provide?
• What was the difference in total compensation of the best and worst performers last year?
• What were your primary goals for the team last year? Which ones were met? Which ones can I help you meet?
• What will be your recommendation to the hiring manager?
• What will have happened a year from now that will tell you that I have met your expectations?
• What will make my physical work environment a fun and stimulating place to spend time?
• What would make a person perform poorly in this position?
• What would you see as the top challenges facing the candidate who accepts this job offer?
• What's the makeup of the team as far as experience?
• What's the most important problem I can solve within the first 30 days?
• What, besides the obvious acts such as violence or theft, does it take for someone to get fired or demoted?
• When can I expect to hear from you?
• When do I start?
• When top performers leave the company, why do they leave and where do they usually go?
• When was the last time you had major layoffs in this office/country/overall?
• When was the last time you reward someone in your team for their performance? How were they rewarded?
• When will information be available regarding the status of my application?
• When would you like to schedule our second meeting?
• Where are you in the hiring process? What's our next step?
• Where can this position be found in the company?
• Where do you see this position going in the next few years?
• Where is the position located?
• Which individual in the department can I learn the most from? What can they teach me?
• Who are the most interesting personalities on my team? Can I meet them?
• Who do you consider your customers to be?
• Who does this position report to? Will I meet him/her?
• Who makes the final hiring decision? Will I be meeting with them as well?
• Who will I meet in the second interview?
• Who will make the final hiring decision?
• Why did the person before leave?
• Why did you decide to join this company?
• Why did you lose your last new business opportunity?
• Why do you enjoy working for this company?
• Why were the recent layoffs necessary?
• Will I be working abroad as well?
• Would you like a list of references?
• Would you like me to review any of my skills and qualities?
• Would you like to hear what I could do to really help your team?
• You know, this position sounds like it's something I'd really like to do. Is there a fit here?