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I always hear that "do you have any question" when the intervew are going to end.

Actually, I want to know what should I do for best? What is the best answer actually?

update

I have seperate 2 stage.

1.During Phone screen Interview.

2.F2F interview.

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gmotree
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5 Answers5

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This is where YOU interview THEM. You ask what you want to know about the company.

Things I usually want to know:

  • What do you (the interviewer) like the most about working here?
  • Is the decision-making style in this group a ground-up or top-down approach?
  • Why is this position available? If it's replacing someone, ask why they left (they got promoted is the best answer). If it's a new position, ask how many new positions have been created in this department in the last 3 years. It will let you know if this is an "experiment" in hiring you or if this is part of a long-term growth trend.
  • What are your performance metrics for this position? Deliverables?
  • What would you hope I would accomplish in the first 90 days? The first 180?

Again, this is where YOU get to find out what YOU want to know about THEM. Don't waste it.

Wesley Long
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    Upvoted for mention the practical aspects of the work environment, against my social aspects :) – Jane S Jun 11 '15 at 22:08
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    Wow, so aggressive. He's just asking a question, calm down Wesley. – Jack Jun 11 '15 at 22:12
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    Hmm, I didn't read it as aggressive, just expressive :) – Jane S Jun 11 '15 at 22:14
  • Thans, I think your answer point is depend on the company culture. But what do you mean about don't waste it? – gmotree Jun 11 '15 at 23:17
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    @gmotree He means that it is an opportunity for you to ask questions about the company and workplace prior to you (potentially) receiving and accepting an offer. If you are successful, you won't be able to ask any of those question until after you start and you may find there was something there that was a deal breaker for you. – Jane S Jun 11 '15 at 23:48
  • Is there any specially reason don't do that asking after offer? – gmotree Jun 12 '15 at 00:50
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    You don't really get the chance to ask these questions after the offer. It, generally, also looks good if you have good questions to ask them. – Nic Jun 12 '15 at 03:02
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    @gmotree Well you can, but if you have accepted the offer, you can't really do much about it at that point. Best to find out everything during the interview stage so that both you and your prospective employer are can make an informed decision about whether to take up employment. – Jane S Jun 12 '15 at 03:04
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    Should you keep it short? – async Jun 12 '15 at 04:55
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    @LigamentThrasher If you can tell the interviewer is pressed for time then maybe but if you've got questions then you should ask them. I've only ever interviewed a handful of people but a lot of the times the questions they ask are the most memorable parts of the interview. – Dean MacGregor Jun 12 '15 at 06:09
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    Honestly, I might be bold or rude, but I always ask my questions during an interview, strike up a conversation instead of just an interview. So I don't have too many questions in the end. Always some though. – Mathijs Jun 12 '15 at 08:04
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    If you are being interviewed by a middle manager (failed salesman), they will lie to you if they don't have a good response. – Gusdor Jun 12 '15 at 08:44
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    @gmotree: the reason not to intentionally wait to ask after the offer, is that the interview panel has assembled in one room, with you, specifically for the purpose of speaking with you. After the offer you're communicating with one person, possibly in HR, and it may be rather inconvenient for that person to go back to the member(s) of the interview panel to get answers to questions that you could have asked those people when you were in a room with them. – Steve Jessop Jun 12 '15 at 09:14
  • How about during phone screen interview? – gmotree Jun 12 '15 at 10:00
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There is no best answer. The vast majority of the time, people are really just interested to know if you have any questions.

Normally, if the interview is going well, you'll have the opportunity to ask your questions at the appropriate point in the interview. For example, if the interviewer asks about your availability for after hours support, that would probably be an opportune time to ask about how they manage that and how big a commitment that would be. If you get to the end of the interview and you still have questions that you haven't had a chance to ask, either because they didn't come up or you didn't think of them at the time or because you didn't have a chance before the interviewer moved on, that's the time to ask them. Otherwise, it's perfectly fine to say that you don't have any questions.

Now if you're going through the entire interview without asking any questions of your own, that would often be concerning since it often implies that you're not particularly engaged or that you don't care much about the position. If you've had a good back-and-forth conversation throughout the rest of the interview, there is no need to force yourself to ask something at the end.

Justin Cave
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Short answer: Ask what you want to know!

Ask what you want to know about the company, hours, after hours activities, social club, anything you want to know that would influence your decision to take the job. Remember, an interview is for both of you to decide if it is a good fit.

You want to see if there are any factors that would make it a good or poor working environment. Don't ask contrived questions, think beforehand and know what interests you about the place you will be spending many hours a day for the forseeable future :)

[Edit]

Wesley's and my answers are somewhat complementary. Wesley focuses on the work related issues where as mine on the social aspects of the work environment. Both of these are very important aspects of taking on a job and being happy!

Jane S
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    I work as a Project Manager and at the end of the interview I always ask them "What is the biggest problem this company|department|team|whatever faces when trying to deliver projects on-time and within budget". This always gives them pause for thought, I get a "great question!" approximately 80% of the time, and what and how they answer can give some great insights into the nature of the problems and issues that reside in every company but which are never spoken about to candidates for fear of frightening them off... – Marv Mills Jun 12 '15 at 08:49
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The question I prefer to ask is "What did those who were most successful in this position do that you really like and that really matters to you?" If the interviewer answers by mentioning a topic or a skills set or work experience that we did not cover in the interview, I make sure to cover that ground before the interview is officially over. My question is designed to make sure that I did not miss discussing anything that is of critical importance to the interviewer.

Vietnhi Phuvan
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    The AskAManager version of this question is "What is the difference between a person who does well in this job and a person who really excels?" – thursdaysgeek Jun 12 '15 at 23:22
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We ask this question to give you a chance to show you have done more than just glance at our website. We are hoping you will ask questions that show you want know about our business (or the type of work we do), or that show you have experience in our craft and are aware of some of the common challenges we face and how we address them.

Wesley Long's list of questions is great - ask about the things that matter to you (if you were completely satisfied with your current situation, you wouldn't be looking for something else to do, right?)

Please, please, have something to ask. Having nothing at this point in the interview causes us to believe you really don't know anything about us, and that you don't care about knowing anything, either.

The one exception that is acceptable is to respond that all of the questions you brought with you have already been answered during the course of the interview, or beforehand by your primary contact.

Honestly, don't ask about salary or benefits. Many interviewers are not in a position to discuss those. The recruiter/HR rep will be the best person for those topics, and you'll get to discuss them freely with them at the time an offer is made. But do ask about culture, challenges, etc. Do they really like working there? Is there anything in their body language, or inflections of voice when they are talking about company culture?

EDIT: One question to not ask: Is there anything I could have done better in this interview to make you more apt to give me an offer? (True story, the candidate assumed he had failed before he even stood up. He hadn't, until then.)

Kent A.
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    Good call on the last sentence, but I do sometimes try to go for a "close" by asking "Can I ask how you feel this interview has gone? Are there any subjects you wanted to ask me about that are key, which we haven't discussed?" - note, I know they will not tell me if they think I have got the job, but what they say in response, their body language and how they respond can tell you a lot about how they feel about you. I only ask this if I haven't already got a good impression how they feel about me. – Marv Mills Jun 12 '15 at 08:53
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    @Marv: note that if they conclude the interview by asking if you have any questions, and there are still key subjects they want to ask you about, then they're not doing a great job of interviewing you (in the time available)! – Steve Jessop Jun 12 '15 at 09:18
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    @SteveJessop Surely that would never be the case?! ;) – Marv Mills Jun 12 '15 at 09:23
  • Marv Mills : actually, I have been used your manner before yesterday, but he does not any action to me. This manner is depend on a man personality I think. – gmotree Jun 12 '15 at 10:16