An interview should be a 2 way street. You need to decide if you want to work for the company as much as they need to decide if they want to hire you. Here are some tips to help you "interview the interviewer."
1. Be prepared.
Before you enter the interview spent time learning about the company. What does their "about us" page on the website say? What have they been in the news for recently? What are the current industry trends? What do reviews on the internet say about the company? If you know anyone who works there, ask them about it. Then write down a list of questions you'd like to know more about. Find out about the company's future. Find out why they are hiring now - did someone leave or is it a new position. Find out what your manager would be like to work for.
2. Listen to their questions.
Listen carefully to the questions they are asking you? If they keep asking you about working with difficult people, then that a sign that you would be working with a difficult person. If they keep asking you about managing high workloads, then that's a sign your workload would be high.
3. Listen to their answers.
What are they telling you? What are they not telling you? What do they seem to be trying to telling you discretely? Ask multiple interviewers the same question and see if they give you the same answer. If you hear anything concerning, dig in to it. Ask them for more information.
Some good questions to ask are:
What was something you wish you had known before starting here?
If this position is a replacement, why did the last person leave?
If you could change one thing about the company, what would it be?
What would a typical day look like in this position?
What is the biggest challenge for this position at the moment?
Do you expect this position to change at all in the next year?
What are your expectations for this position for the first 90 days?
Where do you see the company in 3 years?
How would you describe this teams culture?
A career coach can also help you prepare for an interview.
You might also be interested in reading: Tips for phone and video interviews.
