5 Questions You Should Be Asking in Job Interviews

Written By:

Written By:

Questions You Should Be Asking in Job Interviews 1

Preparing yourself for your upcoming job-interview? Feeling nervous? Do you know what you should be exploring when in a job interview?

KEY POINTS
In an interview, try to ask as many questionsย as you are asked.
Itโ€™s important to ask about the history of the role you are applying for and how it may change or grow in the future.
Workplace culture and management style are among other key topics to explore.

Almost every time we go into a job interview, we are worried about how to present ourselves and how we will answer questions. We often forget that a job is a two-way contract between you and the employer. Therefore, we should try and ask as many questions as they ask us.

So when given the opportunity to ask questions yourself, here are my top five suggestions and why they are important.

1. Is this a new role?

If yes, why was it created? If not, what happened to the previous incumbent?

You want to know if you are following the footsteps of a โ€œrockstarโ€ and that standard has been set at an unrealistic level for a new employee. Alternatively, if the previous incumbent was fired, understanding what โ€œnonsuccessโ€ was will help you see where you can improve. If the role is new, understanding the strategy of why it was created or the mandate of what the role is to achieve will help you frame whether your skillsets are aligned.

Read 28 Fun Questions to Ask a Guy That Heโ€™ll Love

2. What does a successful incumbent look like for you?

Similar to the interview questions above, you want to know what the standards are for the role. If the leader provides a vague answer, they may not know what they want and you wonโ€™t get strong feedback on how to grow. The answer will outline how achievable you think their expectations are. You will also get a sense of how they like to work with their employees if they only talk about achievements rather than the process (e.g., โ€œcollaborate togetherโ€).

3. How do you see this job role expanding or growing?

You want to know that if this job role grows into being the โ€˜technical expertโ€™ that stays at this level or whether it grows into upwardย leadershipย mobility. Compare that to what your ownย careerย aspirations are. You also want to examine whether the leader is thinking about individual long-term development in their plans for their employees, rather than treating development as a check-the-box or side-of-desk task.

Read 10 Self-Growth Questions You Should Ask Yourself Every Day

4. What is the workplace culture like?

This question will help you see if the leader even understands what the culture actually is. Asking this will question will also help you see whether they hint at a โ€œwork hard, play hardโ€ or โ€œflexibleโ€ culture to get a sense of what workloads will be like. Itโ€™s super important to know which type of culture you prefer because if you are not a โ€œwork hard, play hardโ€ person, that type of environment will be veryย stressful.

Read 10 Questions To Know If You Should Support Your Leader Or Manager

5. What is your leadership style?

This question will tell you whether they are a manager versus a leader. A manager will just delegate the work and allocates resources, versus a leader who aims to inspire the team toward a strategy. This question will stump someone who hasnโ€™t worked a lot on their own leadership development. If they have dedicated the time to work on their leadership skills, they typically know what type of leadershipย philosophyย they have or at least the style they prefer to take.

Please share this article with anyone who you may think will find it valuable and helpful.


Written by: Lauren Florko
Originally appeared on: Psychology Today 
Republished with permission. 
Questions You Should Be Asking in Job Interviews pin

— Share —

Published On:

Last updated on:

— About the Author —

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Up Next

Mindfulness And The Spirit of Buddhist Meditation

Mindfulness And The Spirit of Buddhist Meditation

Ever felt overwhelmed by your thoughts and emotions? What if you could train your mind to stay present, calm, and balanced? Learn more about Buddhist meditation below!

How mindfulness can help cultivate self-awareness and emotional regulation.

In recent years, mindfulness meditation, rooted in Buddhist traditions, has gained widespread interest in psychology and beyond. Amid a performance-driven culture, where achievement often outweighs presence, mindfulness offers a collective yearning for balance.

Up Next

The Psychology of Emotional Shopping

Psychology of Emotional Shopping: Important Ways To Tackle

You often buy things to lift your mood, but have you ever wondered why? Emotional shopping is more psychological than practical. So let’s learn more about it!

How to tackle a tendency toward emotional shopping.

In a globalized market, we are daily faced with a great variety of products and services that are meticulously planned and proficiently marketed to us, having an emotional influence on our brain centres and activating a desire to acquire them.

All of us want to experience the thrill of intense positive emotions that will raise the generation of our happy hormones which will eventually ensure the experience of such positive emotions as excitement, happiness, joy, glee, delight, hilarity, or amusement.

Up Next

Mel Robbinsโ€™ Viral โ€˜Let Them Theoryโ€™: Can It Really Transform Your Life?

Mel Robbinsโ€™ Viral โ€˜Let Them Theoryโ€™: Can It Really Transform Your Life?

The Let Them theory psychology is a simple yet powerful self help mantra made popular by Mel Robbins; a reminder that you canโ€™t control other peopleโ€™s actions, only your own reactions.

Is there anything more frustrating than other people? You try to control situations, influence decisions, and shape outcomes, but people keep doing whatever they want. Itโ€™s exhausting, isnโ€™t it?

You find yourself overanalyzing why someone didnโ€™t text back, why a coworker got a promotion instead of you, or why your friend refuses to leave that toxic relationship. You waste time, energy, and peace of mind obsessing over things that, frankly, arenโ€™t yours to control.

Instead of over analyzing, stressing, or trying to change things beyond your control, you simply let it be.

Up Next

5 Ways To Find Peace When You Are Taking The High Road

Taking The High Road? Ways To Let Go And Find Peace

Taking the high road can feel like a challenge, especially when things get messy. But letting go of attachments can help you a lot in doing that. Itโ€™s also one of the best ways to maintain your peace and stay true to who you are.

KEY POINTS

Taking the high road means behaving in line with our moral and ethical values even when others don’t.

Fear of being misunderstood, judged, or rejected by our peers can make it challenging to take the high road.

We can find a sense of peace if we recognize that our suffering on the high road stems from attachment.

Releasin

Up Next

Boomerasking: The Silent Conversation Killer You Didn’t Know You Had

What Is Boomerasking? Signs You're Guilty Of This Bad Habit

We need to talk. And no, not about you, though thatโ€™s kind of the point. If youโ€™ve ever asked someone a question only to immediately shift the conversation back to yourself, you might be guilty of boomerasking.

What Is Boomerasking?

It is a conversational tactic identified by Harvard Business School’s professor Alison Wood Brooks, wherein a question that seems to show interest serves as a guise for the speaker to center the conversation about themself.

Up Next

Power Colors For Zodiac Signs: Learn To Supercharge Your Life!

Power Colors For Zodiac Signs Interesting Hues

Ever felt drawn to a certain color without knowing why? Or maybe youโ€™ve noticed how certain colors boost your mood and energy. Below are 12 power colors for zodiac signs. Find a hue that aligns with your strengths and helps supercharge your life. 

Wearing the zodiac sign power colors can help you feel more centered, confident, and in sync with your true self. 

So, do you want to learn more about the colors that can enhance your energy and success? Letโ€™s explore the power colors for zodiac signs!

Up Next

10 Subtle Signs Youโ€™re Secretly Becoming Your Best Self

Signs Youโ€™re Becoming Your Best Self

We always hear about green flags in relationships, but what about green flags in yourself? The truth is, youโ€™ve probably grown more than you realize. Itโ€™s easy to focus on what still needs work, but if youโ€™ve been showing up for yourselfโ€”whether in your mindset, habits, relationships, or careerโ€”youโ€™re already on the right track.

Becoming your best self isnโ€™t about waking up one day with everything figured out. Itโ€™s about the small shifts, the quiet wins, and the moments where you choose growth over comfort. So if youโ€™ve been wondering whether youโ€™re heading in the right direction, take this as a sign: Youโ€™re doing better than you think.

Ahead, weโ€™re diving into the green flags that prove youโ€™re stepping into your happiest, most authentic selfโ€”because real growth is happening, even if you donโ€™t see it yet.