What questions should you ask the interviewer?

Interview Preparation
#1

Hello Everyone,

Most interviewers will give you a chance to ask them questions. The quality of your questions will be a factor, whether subconsciously or consciously, in their decisions. Job interviews should feel like a conversation, with two people asking and answering questions. You should follow the lead of your interviewer and prioritize giving them information about yourself, but know that interviewers expect you to ask questions, too. When you do, it shows that you have enthusiasm for and genuine interest in the job. Some questions may come to you during the interview, but you can - and should - prepare questions in advance. Doing research on the company or team may help you with preparing questions.

Questions can be divided into three different categories:

• Genuine Questions: These are the questions you actually want to know. Here are a few ideas of questions that are valuable to many candidates:

  1. “How much of your day do you spend coding?”
  2. “How many meetings do you have every week?”
  3. “What is the ratio of testers to developers to product managers? What is the interac tion like? How does project planning happen on the team?”

• Insightful Questions: These questions are designed to demonstrate your deep knowledge of programming or technologies.

  1. “I noticed that you use technology X. How do you handle problem Y?”
  2. “Why did the product choose to use the X protocol over the Y protocol? I know it has benefits like A, B, C, but many companies choose not to use it because of issue D.”

• Passion Questions: These questions are designed to demonstrate your passion for technology.

  1. “I’m very interested in scalability. Did you come in with a background in this, or what opportunities are there to learn about it?”
  2. “I’m not familiar with technology X, but it sounds like a very interesting solution. Could you tell me a bit more about how it works?