Questions to Ask the Interviewer

Most interviews end with "What questions do you have for me?" It feels like the scored part is over, but it isn't. Your questions show what you care about and how you think about the job. "No, I think you covered everything" suggests you haven't pictured yourself doing the work. A sharp question about how the team decides what to build suggests you already have.

It's also your turn to interview them. These few minutes are one of the only chances you get to hear from the people you'd work with every day, so ask what you actually want to know.

Match the question to the person. Each interviewer sees a different slice of the job, so ask each one what they're best placed to answer.

• A hiring manager knows what the job really is. Ask "What would you need to see from someone in this role after six months to feel the hire went well?" or "How does the team decide what to build next, and who gets a say?"
• A peer engineer knows what the days feel like. Ask "What's a hard problem the team worked through recently?" or "How do code review and on-call work here? What does a bad on-call week look like?"
• A skip-level manager or senior leader sees further out. Ask "Where do you see this team in a year or two, and what has to go right to get there?"

The best question is often one you couldn't have prepared. If the interviewer mentioned a migration they're halfway through, or that the team just split in two, ask about it: "You mentioned the move off the old billing system. What's been harder than expected?" It shows you were listening, and it usually gets a more honest answer than a stock question.

A few questions cost you more than they earn:

• Anything the careers page or job post already answers. It tells the interviewer you didn't read them.
• Salary, vacation and benefits too early. They matter, but they're better asked of the recruiter, usually once you're further along in the process.
• "Did I get the job?" or "How did I do?" The interviewer usually can't say, and it puts them on the spot. Ask about next steps and timing instead.