6 Questions Every Candidate Should Ask During the Interview

Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA!

Today's Question: What are some questions candidates should always ask during the interview – and why are those questions valuable?

1. Can I See Your Administrative Policies?

Candidates should ask to see the company's administrative policies and the policies directed at customers. Every organization needs rules, but you can tell a lot about a corporation's culture from the way its policies are worded. Are they neutral in tone, or do they sound dictatorial and combative? Do they sound like they are the product of a collaborative environment, or more like the written dictates of a drill sergeant? Good policies are based on the assumption that employees want to do the right things, not on the assumption that people are always trying to get around the rules. Organizations with compliance and control problems word their rules in a way that betrays those problems.

— Lewis Eisen, Perfect Policies

2. How Will My Performance Be Measured?

If the criteria are not clear and measurable, then you are being set up for failure. Get specifics. Understand what you are expected to achieve, how others have achieved these things, and where people have struggled in the past. You should clearly know where you stand at all times. Don't work for companies where the criteria are not clear.

— Fletcher Wimbush, The Hire Talent

3. Do You Align With My Professional Needs?

It's important to first know what you want in a position. What type of management style are you looking for? What do you need in terms of company culture? If you want to grow professionally, how will this company support you? If you're happy staying in this role for the next five years, will the company support that decision, or will it look down on you?

Once you know what you want in the position and culture, structure your questions in ways that ensure example-based responses.

My four favorite questions from candidates are:

1. Can you give me specific examples of how this role will have an opportunity to impact the overall mission of the company?

2. As a manager, how do you give and take constructive feedback? Do other people on the team have the same style? What's the most common feedback you have given to people in this role?

3. No company is perfect. What one thing would you change about this team or the company in general?

4. Can you tell me about (or introduce me to) someone on the team who was recently promoted? What skills helped them get promoted? Do you look for these skills across the board, or are they unique for their specific role?