Good questions to ask at an interview

[Cliptin]

When going for an interview it is a very good idea to know the company you are interviewing with and what they do. Researching the company is a good first step. One of the methods I use to sell myself at an interview is to ask questions about the company and the technology they use. This shows I can at least talk intelligently about the technology and also helps me get a feel for the job responsibilities.

I am compiling a list of questions that would be good to ask. I have been going off the top of my head but I wanted to formalize a list.

What questions do you ask?

Keep in mind these should be noncompension related questions. The correct time to ask compensation questions would be after I know what they want me to do (after an offer).

 

[Cliptin]

This is my current list.

Dress code
typical working hours
nontypical working hours
scope of responsibilities
tell me about a typical problem I would be expected to solve
tell me about a nontypical problem I would be expected to solve
Working with what equipment/technology

 

[me]

My first question is always:

What percentage of your female employees are single?

The downside is, I find that the interviewers are often so impressed by this question that they immediately inform me that they are simply unable to offer me a position worthy of my tact and social prowess.

It's a hard life I live.

 

[Mercutio]

Ask how many other people do your job.
Is work given to "teams" or is responsibility placed on individuals? Or both?
How much self-direction is (someone in your job) allowed? Or less specifically, how management deals with people at your job rank.
Ask about the frequency of aspirn, antacid, and pizza/chinese food consumption among your peers (ie, if your interviewer knows, it's probably not a good thing).
Ask about corporate structure above your job rank, and maybe a little bit about those people. If your interviewer doesn't know beyond a certain point, you're either talking to the wrong person or in a very confused organization.
Ask about training. Especially cross-training to other work inside the company.
If you're going for computer work, ask about commonalities in environment (OS, hardware vendors, do you have a handle on inventory/licensing? Are the users idiots or do they get regular training?)
Talk about "Dilbert". That can segue into all kinds of interesting interview topics.
Ask about pager/cell phone/email etiquette, particularly if they want someone on a 24-hour call.

Also, if you get a chance to visit the area where you'll be working, or one like it, take a look at the coffee service. You want to see good coffee, maybe a selection of tea and cocoa. If what you see is a jar of Sanka, well, that's a little scary (it's an indicator of budgetary status). Look at cubes, too. Lots of clean desks = bored people. Lots of old, nasty food containers, excessive messiness, jar of Tums on desk = overworked people. Quality of toilet paper is another good indicator of work environment for an office.

I try very hard to find something nice (and non-threatening) to say to my interviewer. Avoid the obvious sexual harassment if you're talking to "Bambi from HR", but "That's a nice watch, what kind is it?" is kind of a nice icebreaker.

Remember to send a thank-you card (with an extra business card) after speaking with your interviewer. It's a nice touch, and it's gotten me contacts that have led to other short-term jobs.

 

[CougTek]

How much do you offer? is always the first question on my list. After that, I follow with : Hi, how are you?

 

[Bartender]

Usually it’s, “What three ingredients make up a French 75, or what are the only four permissible ingredients outlined under the Reinheitsgebot for bottom-fermented beers?”

 

[Pradeep]

Hopefully you could have done a bit of research into the company structure before the meeting, may show that you are keen and ready to go.

 

[Adcadet]

Seeing as how the vast majority of my employment experience has been in Academia (ok, all but a brief stint as a small company's IT guy), perhaps I'm the wrong person to suggest something. Since I mainly work in basic to semi-applied biomedical research labs (see www.tc.umn.edu/~calv0016/research for more info if curious), I'm usually interested in whether the head dude (to use the technical term) views my role as primarily as *doing* experiments, or *thinking* about experiments. If the answer is simply *doing*, I usually just move on to the next interview since the implication is that the head dude is looking for a lab tech (robot) and nothing more. The more *thinking* that is involved, the better. While I want to actually do experiments, and enjoy doing them, at this point in my career I demand a fair degree of autonomy and expect to get earn my keep through my mind, not my hands.

Cliptin (or others) - I'm not sure if this is a good point, but I hope it helps.

Good luck!
Adcadet

 

[James]

How much do you offer? is always the first question on my list. After that, I follow with : Hi, how are you?

Coug, that's just beautiful.

 

[time]

There's no denying its subtlety. It has that certain "Je ne sais quois" quality.