TL;DR: Questions to Ask
- How would your team describe your leadership style?
- What is the main challenge you face in delivering your key objectives?
- Could you describe the characteristics of employees in your team who excel?
- I am interested in the values of the company, could you speak to this organisation's philosophy?
- What is your preferred way to provide feedback?
- How do you like to communicate?
- Thinking back on your career, what are some of the moments when you have supported your employees' career development?
When going into a interview, it is easy to focus on what will be asked of us at the expense of what we should be asking a prospective employer. This is a folly, because an interview is a crossroad, one at which you are making a choice between merely seeking a job and wage or using the opportunity to develop a career. If you take the latter road, a road I would argue that is less travelled, you should go to the interview as well prepared with what you are going to ask as with what you are anticipating you will need to answer.
Below, I take a run at some example questions you might be wise to ask in these categories. But before I do, a note on good and problematic keywords. These are provided as a guide and as ever, context is everything.
