Last 5-6 years, I have been part of building teams and a step to that is interviewing. I would have easily conducted 100+ interviews over the last 5 years (and also gave some as I was shifting jobs)
I believe that a part (usually 20% of the interview slot) of each interview where the interviewee gets a chance to ask questions to the interviewer could be better utilized. This is how it gets typically used – questions about the company, work, team structures & experiences of interviewers at best
I truly believe that candidates can utilize this time much better by asking deeper questions on #sharedvalues (not of the company, which you can easily google but of the interviewers – given, there is a high chance that the interviewer is your potential peer, a leader or HR partner).
Some examples could be like
– (If you are collaborative & love building or being part of winning teams) How is collaboration incentivized in this team? If you could share a time when your team turned around a complex situation through team-work
– (If you value culture & work environment) How would you define the top 3 aspects of culture for your team & how do you bring these into day-to-day work
– (If you value equity, inclusion) How is your talent segregated & composed? Some sex-disaggregated data for the function/team you will be potentially part of…
…clearly, the above is not a full list but if the questions are specific to what matters to you as value at work (apart from the role, salary, and location); this can help you make better decisions. The fundamental shift is that we all join LEADERS and then the COMPANY they belong to… not the other way around. You can pretty much use 20% of the time given to you interviewing the interviewers as they equally owe you answers to questions that are truly important for YOU
This post is for whoever is going for interviews in the coming times
All the best and wish you success in finding the right fit work environment 🙂