Questions you ask when being interviewed should be focused on what you will contribute to make the role and the team successful. Even for an internal interview don’t ask about salary, promotion, benefits – save those until you have an offer. Suggested questions you can ask:
- What is the ultimate success picture for the team?
- What do you want the department to have achieved in 6 months and how will I have contributed to that?
- Can you give me an example of the high-performing behavior of someone successful in this role?
- What would you expect of me in Project X which is currently underway?
- Who are the stakeholders who need regular communication?
And it’s fair to ask “What’s the next step in this process?”
I’m going to assume you’ll hear about the team members, structure, and projects, so there might be room for asking clarification questions. Ask questions about how you will best deliver value for the team.
It’s wise to think through questions you are likely to be asked.
You can practice succinct answers to expected questions about
Your interests and technical skills
Your strengths and weaknesses
Your approach for managing projects
Your career ambitions
The best advice I’ve ever seen on the “Tell me about yourself” question is from Manager Tools (yeah, I’m a fan). The important point is to weave in specific ways you brought your strengths forward and created value.
A good interviewer is going to ask behavioral questions. They’re looking for you to explain how your past experiences (and especially what you may have learned from things which didn’t go smoothly) apply to this new role. Therefore, think about projects, events, individual people interactions, etc. which showcase your growth and your ability to perform.
In the past I hired many people during the fast-growth phases of informatics at Pioneer and DuPont Pioneer, so I developed a useful set of questions to ask (and knowing what I wanted to learn by asking them). I eventually published this list. You might use them as a means of preparing.
Finally, I would be suspicious about much of the advice on interviewing you find on YouTube and public media. Some of it is schlock, and much is extrapolating from a couple of anecdotes. Give more credence to what recruiters say– they only make money by doing a good job of finding the right people for a role, and know how to interview well.
