60+ Questions to Ask Recruiter During An Interview

You decided to change your profession or move up the career ladder, and everything seems to be going well. After many hours of sending your resume for positions, you finally got lucky and were invited for an interview! What could be better? Note that a resume determines how well you succeed in getting a job, so if you are not confident in your abilities, use professional CV writing services at WriteMyResumes.net – this will reduce the time of unemployment and increase the chances of getting a dream job.

After being invited for interviews, you dance, sing, and bring happiness to everyone around you. However, do not rush to rejoice because this is only half the way. You are faced with a difficult task – to stand out among other candidates and prove that you are a talented employee not only on paper.

According to CareerBuilder’s 2015 Candidate Behavior Survey, 67 percent of employers surveyed said that more than half of employees who received a phone interview or initial screening failed face-to-face interviews. To not be among them, you will have to study the frequently asked questions in the interview.

It is essential to ask questions of the employer, as they will determine how the given position meets your expectations. Do not ignore this step and prepare the questions ahead of time – you may show interest in the company, and the employer will understand how much you can improve the company.

Why Shouldn’t You Be Afraid to Ask an Interviewer?

Many job seekers do not ask the interviewer questions, thereby showing their indifference to the job. By asking questions to the recruiter, you will show your ability to communicate, find a common language. If you are afraid to ask questions – drop it, as your employment depends on it.

We recommend that you ask the interviewer relevant, logical, thoughtful questions. This approach will allow you to understand how much you can prove yourself in this position. In addition, the recruiter will see if the company can trust you – skills and experience on a resume are not an indicator.

As we mentioned above, you need to create a list of questions. Knowing ahead of time what you’ll ask will help you not miss out on anything essential and also demonstrate your commitment to excellence in your new position.

List of Best Interview Questions

Below you will find a list of the most relevant questions to ask during an interview. Your task is to select only those that fit your position or a specific person. For example, recruiters will answer company culture, advantages, competitiveness in the market, job responsibilities; the vice president or CEO will answer start-ups, strategies, company goals, achievements.

Questions to the Manager or the Future Colleague

The first people you can meet are company managers and employees. You can ask them the following questions:

1. What do you enjoy doing in your position?
2. Why did you decide to pursue this career?
3. How do you manage employees – style, manner of speaking, ethical approach?
4. What problems do you face at work?
5. Do you have to work on projects at night?
6. Who helped you get a job in the company?
7. How long have you been in a position with this company?
8. How did you advance on your career path?
9. Would you like to change or improve something in the company?
10. What difficulties in your work did you fail to solve?
11. Do you help employees solve problems?
12. What made the company successful?
13. Do you prefer to socialize outside the work environment?
14. Can you send tasks by email or messengers?

 Job Questions

When talking with an interviewer or recruiter, you can ask the following questions about the position:

1. Why did you decide to hire an employee for this position?
2. How long have you been looking for a suitable employee?
3. What skills and character did the previous employee have?
4. Do you want to cooperate only with a person with experience and skills?
5. Do you provide training courses to help an employee improve their knowledge?
6. Who assigns goals and objectives for this position?
7. If you hire me, what things should I look out for first?
8. How do you see a future employee for this position?
9. Is there information that I should know, but you did not indicate in the advertisement?
10. Can an employee fail in this position?
11. Why did the previous employee quit, or for what reasons did you fire him?
12. I have worked for very successful firms. Will I be able to move up the career ladder in your company?
13. Is your work schedule flexible, clear, or unstable?
14. Do you doubt my abilities?
15. What daily tasks does the employee in this position do?
16. In case of a positive answer, how quickly can I get started and get paid?
17. How long will you take to decide on hiring?
18. Will you inform me of your decision, even if it is negative?

Team Questions

If you want to know more about the team, you can ask the following questions:

1. Could you tell us about the team – how many employees are there, how old is the average age and how long have they been working?
2. Which team can I get into if the answer is yes?
3. What qualities does a team leader have?
4. What are some of the most common challenges for a team?
5. How does the team deal with problems within the organization?
6. Does the director help minimize problems?
7. What’s the biggest challenge the team has faced so far?
8. How are assignments checked within a group?

Organization Questions

If you are interested in learning more about the organization, you can ask the following questions:

1. People with what skills and personalities become more successful in the company?
2. What kind of corporate culture do you have?
3. What methods does the organization use to check the effectiveness of co-workers?
4. How can I benefit from my job?
5. When and how quickly can employees get feedback?
6. Does the organization have a system of incentives, merit, and awards?
7. Can the company provide monetary rewards for good results?
8. What types of rewards are there in the organization?
9. What achievements can you provide to an employee?
10. Is it possible to advance in several positions in the organization?
11. How transparent is the organization?
12. How often does the company’s management communicate with the staff?
13. Does the organization have an open day?
14. What problem is the organization unable to cope with at the moment?
15. What are the achievements of the organization?
16. Are you recruiting the younger generation?
17. How do you find a common language with young co-workers?
18. Do you help older and younger generations to establish work processes?
19. What are your plans for the next year?
20. Are you planning to launch a new product?
21. Do you have a growth plan?
22. Does the organization have volunteer events?
23. How many jobs have you added in the last year?

What Shouldn’t You Ask An Employer About In A Job Interview?

Interview candidates can and should ask the employer questions, but not all questions are equally helpful. Some can guarantee you won’t get a job.

Questions That Do Not Fit The Person’s Position

Don’t ask questions that a person cannot answer. You need to understand the area of ​​responsibility of different people, for example, the HR manager and the head of the department. It is essential to understand what questions which company representative will be able to answer.

Useless Questions

Some questions will not affect your working environment in any way. Asking meaningless things to keep the conversation going is to your detriment. For example, it is unlikely that information about the form of ownership of the company will be helpful to you, but this question may alert the interviewer.

Confidential Information

It would help if you did not ask about things that are not available to everyone, including you, for example, salaries in your future department, net profit for the last year, etc.

Personal Questions

Some candidates break their communication distance and ask personal questions to the interviewer. But this will not play into your hands. When for a job, you need information about the company, not the HR manager.

Obvious Things

Do not ask about what you can find out for yourself, for example, on the company’s website or in a job description. This will make you look lazy and disinterested. Instead, it would help if you asked the employer what you cannot find from other sources. And the information found can only be clarified but not asked directly.

Personal Terms

Questions about individual working conditions will also not be very correct. For example, suppose you would like to work on a flexible schedule. In that case, it is better to indicate this immediately on your resume so that later you can clarify this point and not surprise the interviewer.

Conclusion

We do not recommend asking all the questions – you will certainly get some of the answers during your conversation with the HR manager. Just make sure that you will receive answers to all questions after the interview, and then you can be sure that your interview went well. We wish you successful interviews and only worthy job offers!