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An interview is sometimes just seen as an opportunity for an employer to assess a candidate, but really, that is only part of it. A good interview will allow both sides to decide whether the appointment is likely to work, and good questions are central to making that happen.
When it comes to an interview, the employer needs to understand whether the candidate has the right experience, ability, and skill set, but it also helps decide whether the role, team and organisation offer the right environment for them.
For the candidate, the interview presents the opportunity to find out, well, exactly the same things.
Asking focused, relevant questions makes it easier to identify the right fit and reduces the risk of making a decision based on the wrong assumptions.
After many years in recruitment, we can categorically tell you that candidates who ask good questions are often more likely to secure the job. Not because they have found a clever way to impress the interviewer, but because thoughtful questions demonstrate engagement, preparation and a genuine interest in what the role involves. Which, when it comes right down to it, is usually what employers want.
It doesn’t matter which side of the table you are on; good, well considered, relevant questions can be the key to getting the right person and avoiding a bad hire.
Interviews Should Be a Two-Way Assessment
Interviews are an odd situation. Let’s be frank, the stakes are high for everyone involved, and the wrong decision can have some long reaching consequences. So, sometimes that means that one or both of these approaches can surface:
- Candidates mistakenly approach an interview as though the best game plan is to just provide the answers the employer wants to hear.
- Employers start treating the process as an examination rather than a professional conversation.
The right questions help everyone move beyond polished answers and rehearsed descriptions. They reveal how someone thinks, what they need to perform well and whether their expectations match the reality of the opportunity.
For employers, that means asking questions that explore evidence, judgement and working style rather than simply repeating the candidate’s CV details.
For candidates, it means using the interview to discover what the job will actually be like once the recruitment process is over. No serious candidate is going to an interview thinking it will be a temporary thing. They want to know they are going to a workplace where they will fit.
The interview is an opportunity to ask the questions that explore these things more fully.
Key point – A successful appointment requires a realistic match between the person, the responsibilities, the organisation and the expectations on both sides. It shouldn’t therefore just be a test of how well the candidate and employer perform for the duration of the interview.
What Should Employers Be Asking?
The best interview questions are connected to the real demands of the role, so while generic questions may help begin a conversation, they rarely provide enough information. Asking every candidate where they see themselves in five years, for example, may produce a polished answer about aspirations…. But what does it reveal about how well they could perform in the role?
Employers will have already identified what success in the role will look like. So, also include questions that explore whether the candidate has the experience, judgement and behaviours needed to achieve that or are willing to train and develop to meet your needs.
Key Point – Generic questions are great, but make sure your questions are pertinent to you needs as an employer and the needs of your culture.
Explore How Candidates Think as Well as Asking for Evidence
Technical capability is important, particularly within finance, but the ability to interpret information and communicate it can be equally valuable.
Useful questions might be around:
- How have you used financial information to influence a commercial decision?
- Can you give an example of explaining complex financial information to a non-finance colleague?
- What would you do if you noticed an issue shortly before a reporting deadline?
- How do you balance accuracy with the need to provide information quickly, and can you give us an example?
- Tell us about a process you improved. What was wrong with it, and what changed as a result?
These questions give candidates an opportunity to show how they apply their knowledge rather than simply confirming that they possess it.
Key Point – Evidence focused questions are much better if they ask for the thinking and the actions taken.
Be Honest About the Challenges
As an employer, it is natural that you want to present your workplace in a positive way. At the same time, most roles will have difficult aspects. When candidates are not given a realistic understanding of the challenges, they can’t make informed decisions. Their response to these challenges may also help the interviewer assess whether they have the experience and mindset needed.
If the successful candidate is going to inherit some challenges through common issues like inconsistent processes or a team going through change, it is not going to put off the right candidate if they know in advance. Rather than avoid it, make it a question.
“How would you approach <situation> during your first few months?”
Make the challenge a way to explore the approach the candidate will bring to the role.
This will usually also lead to a less formal and more conversational interview.
However, for fairness reasons, every candidate should be assessed against the same essential requirements. Having those key indicator questions also reduces the risk of unconsciously favouring the candidate with whom the interviewers had the easiest conversation over the person most capable of doing the job.
Follow-up questions can still be tailored to each candidate’s experience, but the central assessment should remain connected to the role.
Key Point – A strong candidate is not going to arrive with every answer. It is more important that they can prove core value, then demonstrate curiosity, practical thinking and an understanding of the people involved.
Candidates Should Also Arrive With Questions
“Do you have anything you would like to ask us?” is the question all candidates rehearse in advance, but it should never be treated as a formality.
This is the candidate’s opportunity to investigate the role and decide whether it is genuinely right for them. Asking good questions can also show that they have listened carefully and are already considering how they could contribute.
Here are a few particularly useful questions we have heard from candidates that facilitate the decision process for everyone.
“What are the biggest challenges the team is currently facing, and how could I help overcome them in this role?”
This is a great question that moves the discussion beyond the job description. It helps the candidate understand why the vacancy exists, what pressures the team is experiencing and where the successful applicant will be expected to make a difference.
It also allows the employer to picture the candidate working within the team and contributing to solutions and growth.
“What are the top three things you would like to see from me in the first 90 days?”
Wow! What a simple sounding, but clever question. The job description may list responsibilities, but this question identifies the employer’s immediate priorities. The answer could reveal that the first three months will focus on building relationships, improving reporting, learning systems, resolving backlogs, supporting a particular commercial project or any one of a hundred scenarios.
Candidates can decide whether those expectations are realistic and whether they have the skills and support needed to meet them, and employers are seeing the reaction to the real workplace.
“What do you enjoy most about working here?”
This is a simple question, but it can produce a revealing answer. A genuine response can provide useful insight into the culture, leadership and working environment. It can also open a more natural conversation about what keeps people within the organisation.
The candidate is seeing inside the workplace, and the employer is cementing company values into the interview.
Other Questions Candidates Could Consider
Two or three well-chosen questions are usually more valuable than asking several for the sake of it.
Depending on the role, useful questions could be around:
- How will success in this position be measured?
- What prompted you to recruit for this role?
- What are the most important projects I would work on?
- What opportunities are there to develop within the role, and will I be part of decisions about my development?
- What management and support should I expect?
- What has made previous employees successful in this position?
- Are there any concerns about my experience that I could address before the interview ends?
Now, OK, that last question is a big one. It requires a lot of confidence, but it allows candidates to clarify any misunderstandings or provide evidence that may not have emerged earlier. It could also open up a focused discussion about your ability to develop into the role that would not otherwise be on the table.
Key Point – Candidate questions should be treated as an opportunity for the candidate to explore the role and the company, not just mechanical responses. Bring your personality and approach to them.
Questions Should Help You Both Decide, Not Simply Impress Each Other
Candidates are often advised to ask questions because it makes them appear enthusiastic. Employers need to explore the suitability of the candidate. While these may be true, they should not be the only reasons for asking them.
The purpose is to gather useful information.
A candidate could perform brilliantly, receive an offer and then discover that the role, culture or expectations of the position are very different from what they anticipated. An employer could be impressed by someone’s confidence and presentation, only to discover that their working style or capabilities don’t match the needs of the position.
Good questions reduce these risks for everyone.
Candidates should pay attention to whether the answers are clear, consistent and realistic. Employers should consider not only the questions a candidate asks but also whether they listen to and engage with the answers.
Better Questions Lead to Better Appointments
The strongest interviews don’t feel like an interrogation or a sales presentation, and the objective is not simply to get through the interview or fill the vacancy; it is a clearer understanding of each other.
Questions, when used right, help facilitate an appointment that works from both sides of the table.