Questions to ask at the end of an interview, and which to save for later

"Any questions for us?" is not a courtesy. By the time the interviewer asks it, they have mostly made up their mind about your skills, and what they are judging now is whether you have thought seriously about the job. "No, I think you've covered everything" tells them you haven't. So does a question whose answer is on the first page of the company website.

It is also the only part of the interview where you get to find out what you are walking into. A job looks very different once you know that the last two people in the role left within a year, or that the manager interviewing you is herself leaving in March. You won't learn that unless you ask.

Prepare five or six questions and expect to use two or three. Some will be answered during the interview, and you should drop those rather than ask them anyway. Write them down; glancing at a notebook at this point looks prepared.

About the role

These are the safest questions and a good place to start. They show you are already thinking about doing the job.

• What would you need to see from me in the first three months for you to feel the hire was a success?

• What does a typical week look like? How much of it is the work in the job description, and how much is everything else?

• Is this a new role or a replacement? If a replacement, what did the previous person do well that you'd want to keep?

• What is the hardest part of this job that isn't obvious from the ad?

• Which systems and tools will I be using day to day?

The first question is the most useful one in this whole list. The answer tells you what you will actually be measured on, which is often narrower and more concrete than the job ad. If the interviewer can't answer it, that tells you something as well: the role may not be well defined yet.

The new-or-replacement question deserves a careful follow-up. If they say the last person left after eight months, you can ask, neutrally, what they think made the role a poor fit. Most interviewers will give you an honest answer, and it is better to hear it now than in your second week.

About the team

You will spend more time with these people than with your family. It's reasonable to want to know who they are.

• How big is the team, and how is it split between seniors and juniors?

• Who would I work with most closely outside the team?

• How does the team work day to day? Fully in the office, hybrid, or set days?

• How long have most people on the team been here?

• What's the team's biggest challenge this year?

The hybrid question matters more in the Klang Valley than the ad usually admits. A commute from Kajang to Bangsar South twice a week is a very different job from the same commute five days a week. Ask it plainly; it is a normal question now and nobody serious will hold it against you.

Tenure is a quiet way to ask about turnover. "Most of us have been here four or five years" and "I'm the longest-serving at about eighteen months" are both useful answers.

About your manager

If the person interviewing you would be your manager, these questions let you assess them while they assess you. If they wouldn't, ask who would be, and whether you can meet them before an offer.

• How would you describe the way you manage? How often would we meet one to one?

• How do you prefer to be updated: messages, email, or a weekly catch-up?

• Can you tell me about someone who has done well in your team? What did they do differently?

• When something goes wrong on a project, how is it usually handled?

Managers rarely describe themselves badly, so listen for specifics. A manager who says "I give my team a lot of autonomy" and can't name an example may simply be hard to reach. One who tells you about a junior analyst who now runs the monthly reporting has actually developed someone.

If you are interviewing at a Japanese or Korean MNC, it's worth asking how decisions get made between the local team and headquarters. The honest answer often explains the pace of the place better than anything else you'll hear.

About growth

Ask one or two of these, once the role and team questions have gone well. Asked too early, they can sound as if you are already looking past the job.

• What does progression look like from this role? Where have people in it moved to?

• How are performance reviews done, and how often?

• Is there a training budget, and how do people usually use it?

• How does the company decide on increments and promotions?

A question about training is reasonable anywhere. At a larger company the answer should be a process; at a small one it may be "ask and we will see", which is honest and not necessarily bad.

The question about where people in the role have moved to is better than asking about career paths in the abstract. Every company has a career framework on paper. Fewer can name the people who actually followed it.

About the company

Use these sparingly, and only if you have done your homework, because they invite the interviewer to talk about strategy and you need to keep up.

• What's changed in the business over the past year, and how has it affected this team?

• What are you most focused on for the next twelve months?

• What do you think the company does better than its competitors, and where is it still catching up?

If the company has been in the news, for a merger, a new regional office or a round of retrenchments, you can refer to it. Keep the tone curious. "I read about the new Penang plant; does that change anything for this team?" works. "Are there going to be more layoffs?" in the first round doesn't, even if it's the thing you most want to know.

Company pages on Eternity Job carry interview reviews from other candidates. Read them before you go in; they often tell you which questions the panel likes and what the process looks like.

Each review is one person's experience, and our guide on how to read company reviews explains how to weigh them. They are still a good source for questions. If several people mention a long gap between rounds, ask about the timeline.

What not to ask first

Some questions are perfectly fair to ask but come across badly as your opening question in a first interview. Hold them until the second round or the offer stage, or until the interviewer raises them.

• Salary and bonus, unless they bring it up. If they do, see our guide on answering the expected-salary question.

• Annual leave and how quickly you can take it.

• Whether you can work from home every day, phrased as a condition.

• How soon you could be promoted.

• "What does your company do?" Ask this and the interview is over in all but name.

There are also a few questions to avoid in any round: anything about the interviewer's personal life, anything that asks them to criticise a colleague, and gossip you've heard about the company. If you heard that the finance director is difficult, look for the answer in how the interviewer describes the team.

One exception to the rule on timing. If something would genuinely stop you taking the job, say a mandatory relocation to Johor or a five-day office week you can't do, ask about it in the first interview. Wasting three rounds on both sides is worse than a slightly awkward question.

Closing well

Your last question should be about what happens next.

What are the next steps from here, and when should I expect to
hear back?

It sounds obvious, and a surprising number of people skip it. The answer gives you a date, which tells you when it's reasonable to follow up. Without it you are left guessing, refreshing your inbox for three weeks.

If you have a real concern about your fit, you can also ask, "Is there anything about my background you'd like me to clarify?" It is a slightly brave question. Sometimes it surfaces a doubt you can answer on the spot: an interviewer worried that you have never managed a budget may not know about the event you ran at your last job. Use it when the interview felt uncertain. When it clearly went well, leave it.

Then thank them, by name if you can, and go. Our guide to following up after an interview covers what to send that evening.