Interviewing A Potential Employer

We've all been at that point towards what's often the end of your interview where the interviewer asks "Do you have any questions for us? This is a crucial moment because not only can YOU interview THEM, but also you get to shine by asking good questions. Not asking questions can make you come across as uninterested or too aloof. Most employers don't share everything so just as they're drawing conclusions about you based on your answers to their questions, you can draw conclusions about them based on their answers.

INTERVIEWS SHOULD ALWAYS BE A 2-WAY STREET! 
Based on this, I always ask questions because I want to love where I work and I want them to love me working there. I don't always ask the same questions but I have a few I usually use if they haven't answered them by the time it's my turn to interview them.

• What's a typical day in this position look like?

This will tell me a lot about how the company sees this position. Does it sound at all like the job description posted? Does the interviewer actually know what this position is for and how the work benefits the company?

• What sort of projects do you see me working on?

This will tell you what they need. This will also assure y'all are both on the same page as to what the position entails. If you're applying for a Network Engineer position and they're talking about this position doing Sharepoint administration, that's important to know early on. 

• What makes someone really successful?

The first step to achieving success is defining success. It's important that employees & employers alike are aware of how success is measured. 

• Tell me about the Team Culture. Is it more Collaborative or more Independent?

This is important because maybe their team culture (if there is one) completely different from that of your current team. 

• How will I be trained?

Do you shadow somebody for a while or do they hand you a 4" binder of SOPs and tell you to be ready in a week? It's important to know. 

• Is this a new position or am I replacing someone? If it's replacement, what happened to the previous employee?

This is super important. Replacing someone who quit after a few months tells a very different story than filling a new position due to expansion. This can lead to other questions such as if the position is permanent or time-limited. 

• What are your favorite things about working here?

Get to know them. Talk. If they haven't been there very long, find out why without being rude. Unless a company is expanding, the other probable conclusion to a lot of recent hires is because they just cleaned house. 

• How is employee performance measured?

This goes inline with their defining a successful employee within their organization. Maybe they base IT performance on KPIs in SLAs or maybe it's just on how many tickets you crush in a day. You need to know before you consider working there.

Notice that these questions are all from the perspective of them hiring you. That's intentional. Also, none of these are answered with a simple "yes" or "no". Lastly, most of these questions lead to further questions. They want you to ask any questions you have provided they're not stupid questions. Communication in any position is important so making sure you'll be happy at a place you'll be spending most of your waking hours is a big deal.