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Best questions to ask in an interview

Stay true to your priorities with thoughtful questions

Teresa de Figueiredo

Even if it doesn’t always feel like it, an interview is a two way street. It’s not only the interviewer evaluating if you are a good match for the company and role, you also are evaluating if the team & role is what you’re looking for. With this lens, your questions should be based on your top priorities for the job, not what you think the interviewer wants you to ask.

One of my mentors told me once that it’s important to ask questions that are important to me - not only because I’ll get an answer, but also if it’s also important to the interviewer/company/team, it will make me stand out & further my case for being there.

For example, something that was important to me was a company with focused diversity, equity & inclusion efforts. When I asked about this in interviews, it became clear which companies had this as a focus and those who didn’t The ones that were focused on DEI, were impressed & pleasantly surprised by my question & glad to hear this was also a top priority for me.

✨ A company who shares your priorities will be impressed by your thoughtful questions and even more excited to have you interviewing✨

If you don’t speak up about your priorities, you could miss out on an opportunity to set yourself apart from the rest of the interview candidates.

➡️ Interview question template

To think of questions, I recommend outlining your top priorities, and then within those, brainstorming questions that can get you to the answer you’re looking for. (This is also how I think about product strategy - product thinking is everywhere!)

I’ve outlined common priorities my clients (& myself) have, but feel free to take this table and make it your own.

My priorities for my next job

Questions to ask

A work environment that prioritizes work life balance

Can you walk me through a typical day in your role?

During COVID, I’ve recognized how important it is that I take care of my mental well-being; what are ways this company encourages that?

A close knit team

How frequently do you talk with your teammates?

What other functions does this role collaborate with?

What are ways you’ve celebrated big wins at the company/team?

A company and manager that helps me grow

What’s your management style?

Who is my manager going to be? Can I set up time to talk with them?

Does the company have any resources for growth and development?

Mentorship is important to me, can you share about how you’ve been mentored at the company?

A company that has strong leadership & has clear strategy

What is the company’s strategy for 2022? What risks do you see?

In 2021, were there any strategy pivots? If so, why did these happen?

What does your planning process look like? Who is involved in decision making

Culture of people that are proud to work at the company

What is your favorite thing about the company?

What do you dislike about the company?

Diverse team focused on DEI

Who are women leaders you look up to in the company?

What DEI efforts is the company focused on in 2022?

How does the company keep themselves accountable for these DEI goals?

Your priority

Your questions

There are no rows in this table

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To create your own priority table,

create a new doc

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& copy this table to fill in your own priorities

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I hope you find this helpful 🙂 If you want to chat 1-1 about interviewing, please

Contact me!

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