10 questions to ask at the end of an interview Have you ever walked out of an interview only to suddenly realise you have about 5 questions that you never got the answer to?  Or thought, *insert swear word*, I should have asked this…?  Most of us probably have.  You might have spent between 45 mins – 1.5 hours trying to impress your interviewers with your skills, knowledge and experience and missed out on a vital opportunity to completely swing the odds in your favour with some well thought out questions. Taking the time to prepare some good open-ended questions is worth its weight in gold, we have put together a list of 10 questions to help you on your way… Can you describe the culture of the company? This is a great chance for you to interview the company, there are certain types of environments that we will not be as effective in compared to others.  This shows that culture is important to you as well as showing your maturity in that you are looking for the right job in the right company. Respect. What are the challenges facing the company or department just now? Now you are giving the interviewer and potentially the hiring manager the chance to open up about the company and their challenges.  You may be surprised by the answers you get and if you think, waoh, that was really honest and open of them you might have just started to build a proper rapport with your interviewers. What do you like the best about working for the company? This is a nice clean and positive question to ask.  Again, it gives you the chance to gain more of a personal insight into the hiring manager / interviewer. How do you compare to…*insert competitor* and how are your products superior? This gives you the chance to demonstrate that you have done your research and have market awareness whilst establishing if you might be fighting and uphill battle or better yet working with innovative and market leading products. What are the next steps in the process? This is purely for your benefit, but it can be a good gauge of how the interview went.  On occasion you can be invited to the next stage there and then from asking this simple question and if nothing else you will have a clear idea in your mind of what will happen next and by when. What habits and processes did past employees have that helped them succeed in this position? Asking about the habits and processes will give you great insight into how the company or hiring manager measures success.  It also shows that you are open to other ideas and willing to learn / assess rather than someone that will come in like a bull. How does the company promote professional development of the employees? Are you walking into a company that looks after its employees by constantly improving their skill sets and knowledge or is it the opposite and there is no development culture in place? What would the future career path look like from this position within the company? This can be a tricky one as your interviewer may be your immediate boss if you are successful and might feel threatened especially if you have strong experience.  Having said that, wouldn’t you rather know that the ceiling is upon you before you start or 2 years in?  Avoid asking a version of this  question like “would there be an opportunity to move up into the next level within the first year?”, remember that you are applying for a specific job, trying to make a move for the next rung on the ladder before you are on the ladder can be looked at as disrespectful to your future team members. Why did the person that used to have this position leave? Whilst nobody should be negative during the interview, asking this question will give you a better idea of whether or not some of the other answers you have received match up.  It might also help you understand the timeline that you will be held to in order to achieve your KPI’s. What is the current flexible working policy? This is important to some more than others but if you would be looking for an environment that promotes flexible working practices and has more of a focus on employees being engaged and happy then this might be an important one to ask. Spread the word Facebook Twitter Google-plus Linkedin Snapchat