Imagine you’re interviewing two candidates for the same position.
Both have strong resumes. Both give thoughtful answers. Both seem capable of doing the job.
At the end of each interview, you ask, “What questions do you have for me?”
Candidate #1 asks:
“What does success look like in the first 30 days?”
Fine.
Candidate #2 says:
“One of the challenges I inherited in my current role was a team struggling to manage rapid growth. I helped create new processes that allowed us to increase volume without adding headcount. What would you say is the biggest challenge this team is facing right now, and how are you currently addressing it?”
Hmmm.
Which candidate just gave you more to think about?
The second candidate didn’t just ask a question. They reminded you of relevant experience, demonstrated how they think, and then turned the conversation back toward your needs.
That’s why I believe the questions you ask can be one of the most important and most overlooked parts of a job interview.
Your Questions Are Still Part of the Interview
Candidates often treat “What questions do you have for me?” as if the interview has ended and they’ve reached the informational portion of the program.
It hasn’t ended.
You’re still interviewing.
Everything you say is giving the interviewer information about you, and your questions can reveal quite a bit. They show what you paid attention to, how deeply you researched the company, what you’re curious about, whether you understand the work, and how you approach problems.
There’s another reason I take this part of the interview so seriously: it’s generally one of the last things you do.
You’ve spent the entire conversation creating an impression. Your questions can reinforce, elevate, or dilute that impression.
So, don’t ask questions just because someone told you that you’re supposed to have three questions prepared.
Use them strategically.
The Best Questions Can Do Two Jobs at Once
A good interview question should help you learn something you genuinely want or need to know.
A great interview question can do that while also helping the interviewer understand something valuable about you.
One of my favorite ways to accomplish this is to preface a question with a short, relevant experience from your career.
For example:
“A challenge I faced in my last role was getting three departments with very different priorities aligned around a new process. Ultimately, I was able to get everyone on board and successfully implement it. What’s the greatest cross-functional challenge this team is dealing with right now, and how are you approaching it?”
Notice what’s happening here.
You’re asking a legitimate question about the team’s challenges, but by asking it, you’ve also reminded the interviewer that you’ve successfully handled a relevant challenge yourself.
You’re not awkwardly announcing, “I’M GOOD AT CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION!”
You’re providing a little evidence and then using it to open a conversation about their situation.
Of course, the experience you share needs to be relevant to the job you’re pursuing. If you’re interviewing for a role focused heavily on process improvement, mention a process challenge. If leadership is central to the role, you might briefly reference a leadership experience. If the job requires navigating change, use an experience that demonstrates your ability to do that.
Keep the preface concise. This is a question, not an excuse to sneak in another five-minute answer.
You’re simply creating context that says, “I’ve dealt with something relevant to this before. Now I’d like to understand what it looks like here.”
That’s a powerful place from which to ask a question.
Show Them You’ve Done Your Homework
The second type of question I love comes directly from your research.
Before the interview, you should know more about the company than the three paragraphs on its About page. Look at what the organization is doing, where it’s headed, what has changed recently, what leadership is talking about, and what might be happening in the broader industry.
Then use what you’ve learned.
For example:
“I noticed the company is expanding into X market. How could the person in this role be a driving force behind that expansion?”
Or:
“I saw that the company recently introduced X. It looks like that’s a significant strategic priority. How does this team contribute to that initiative?”
Compare those with:
“What does a typical day look like?”
The research-based questions show the interviewer that you’ve invested time in understanding the company and that you’re already thinking about how your work could contribute to where it’s headed.
Once again, we’re shifting from me to you.
You’re not merely asking, “What will this job give me?”
You’re asking, “What’s happening here, and how could I contribute?”
This Homework Habit Should Start Even Earlier
This research is the same research that should already be shaping your resume and cover letter before you’re ever invited. Tailoring your resume to the job description runs on the exact same homework.
Listen for Questions You Didn’t Prepare
Some of your strongest questions may also emerge during the interview itself.
Suppose the hiring manager says, “We’ve grown quickly over the past two years, and one of our biggest problems has been getting everyone to follow consistent processes.”
Pay attention!
Later, you might say:
“You mentioned earlier that rapid growth has made process consistency difficult. In my current role, I standardized several processes after our team went through a similar period of growth. Where is inconsistency creating the biggest problem for your team right now?”
That’s an excellent question because it’s based on something the interviewer actually told you, connects to relevant experience, and invites them to tell you more about a problem you may be able to solve.
If their answer reveals something you’ve handled before, you now have an opportunity to discuss it.
That’s not performing an interview.
That’s having a useful business conversation.
Some Questions Can Work Against You
The internet is filled with lists of “great questions to ask at the end of an interview.”
I don’t agree with all of them.
Remember that your questions are part of how you present yourself. Before asking one, consider not only what information you’ll receive, but also what the question communicates about you.
Don’t Back the Interviewer Into a Corner
Consider:
“Why did the last person leave this job?”
I understand why you want to know. I might want to know, too.
But you’ve just put the interviewer in an awkward position. Maybe the previous employee was fired. Maybe they left under difficult circumstances. Maybe there’s information the interviewer shouldn’t or can’t share with you.
You can get at the information you need without making someone squirm.
Try asking about the role’s history and evolution, the team’s current priorities, or the challenges the new hire will inherit. You’re more likely to get useful information without forcing the interviewer to discuss another employee’s circumstances.
Don’t Broadcast Self-Doubt
Another question I don’t recommend is:
“Is there any reason you wouldn’t hire me?”
I’ve seen variations of this recommended as a bold way to uncover objections.
I don’t love it.
You’re asking the interviewer to search for reasons not to hire you. You’re also potentially ending the conversation by introducing doubt.
That’s not the impression I want you leaving behind.
If you feel like something went sideways during the interview or you think an answer wasn’t as complete as it could have been, there’s a better approach:
“Is there anything we discussed today that you’d like me to provide more depth on?”
Now you’re opening the door to clarification without asking someone to identify your deficiencies.
That’s confident and helpful.
Skip the Generic Questions
“What does success look like in the first 30 days?”
“What does a typical day look like?”
“How would you describe the company culture?”
These aren’t terrible questions, but they’re generic. The interviewer may have answered them 15 times this week.
If you genuinely need that information, make the question more specific to what you’ve learned.
Instead of asking what success looks like generally, ask about the actual problem:
“You mentioned that improving customer retention is the biggest priority for this position. What would you hope to see change during the first six months?”
Instead of asking someone to describe the culture, ask about behavior:
“When someone on the team has an idea for improving a process, what typically happens next?”
The more specific the question, the more useful the answer tends to be.
Save Salary and Benefits for the Appropriate Conversation
Unless the interviewer brings them up, I generally don’t recommend using your valuable end-of-interview time to ask about salary and benefits.
Those things matter. Of course they matter.
But there is an appropriate time to discuss compensation and benefits, and your conversation with a hiring manager about the team’s biggest challenges probably isn’t the moment to pivot to PTO.
Use this time to understand the role and reinforce the connection between what they need and what you can provide.
Yes, You Can Ask What Happens Next
You don’t need to get fancy with everything.
It’s perfectly reasonable to ask about next steps.
“When do you anticipate moving to the next stage of the process?”
“Can you tell me what the next step in the interview process looks like?”
Those questions provide useful information and don’t require a strategic backstory.
Ask what you need to know.
Then, if you have any lingering concern about the conversation, you can create one final opportunity to clarify:
“Before we wrap up, is there anything we discussed that you’d like me to provide more depth on?”
If they say no, great.
If they bring something up, you’ve just been given an opportunity to strengthen an area that might otherwise have remained unresolved after you left.
Use it.
What Happens After You Ask About Next Steps
Knowing the timeline is only half the value. There’s a follow-up strategy most people haven’t thought of yet that turns waiting into another chance to stay top of mind with the interviewer.
Don’t Waste Your Last Few Minutes
Let’s go back to our two candidates.
Candidate #1 asks, “What does success look like in the first 30 days?”
The interviewer gives an answer. They shake hands. Done.
Candidate #2 briefly references a relevant challenge they’ve successfully handled and asks about the team’s biggest current challenge. The interviewer describes it. The candidate listens, asks a follow-up, and perhaps recognizes another connection to their experience.
Now the interviewer is ending the conversation thinking not just about what Candidate #2 said they can do, but potentially picturing how that person might contribute to an actual problem on the team.
That’s exactly where I want you.
The Last Impression Matters as Much as the First
A little thoughtful, personal effort right where most candidates go generic is what people remember. The same idea applies earlier in the process, too a personal note can help your application get noticed in the first place.
So, prepare questions before your interview, but don’t just make a random list so you can say you have questions.
Look at your career. What relevant experience can you briefly reference before asking about their challenges?
Look at your research. What’s happening within the company that you can ask about intelligently?
Listen during the interview. What did you learn that deserves another question?
And above all, remember the mindset we’ve been developing throughout this series:
What does the person on the other side of the table need?
Your questions can help you understand the answer while simultaneously helping the interviewer understand how you might meet that need. That’s why questions are an important part of what I teach in Nail Job Interviews. They’re not something we tack onto the end because interview etiquette says you need them.
They’re part of your strategy.
And sometimes, the question you ask right before you leave the room may be one of the things the interviewer remembers most.
In the next post, we’ll turn the tables and tackle some of the questions they ask that candidates tend to dread, including “Tell me about yourself,” “What’s your greatest weakness?” “Tell me about a time you failed,” and “Why should we hire you?”
Want Help Preparing Questions That Demonstrate Your Value?
Learn more about Nail Job Interviews and working with me, Kyla Duffy, at kyladuffy.com. You can find more strategies like this one on the blog.
