{"id":368,"date":"2016-06-20T14:53:01","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T14:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/career.utk.edu\/CS\/NewSite_TEST\/?page_id=368"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:04:27","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:04:27","slug":"how-to-ask-questions-in-a-job-interview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/studentsuccess.utk.edu\/career\/students\/develop-career-tools\/interviewing\/how-to-ask-questions-in-a-job-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Ask Questions in a Job Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the purposes of asking questions in an interview is to gain information from the interviewer. Good questions can make a very positive impression by showing that you are thorough, interested, intelligent and knowledgeable. An absence of questions, or routine questions that show no research on your part, leave a negative impression.<\/p>\r\n<p>Careful preparation for the job interview is critical. An essential part of your preparation is to research employers and develop pertinent questions upon your research.<\/p>\r\n<p>These questions can fall into many categories dealing with the position, the organization, the career paths, or the individuals with whom you may be working.<\/p>\r\n<h2>Questions to Ask in an Interview<\/h2>\r\n<h3>Pertaining to the Position Description<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Can you tell me about the primary people with whom I would be collaborating with?<\/li>\r\n<li>Is this a newly created position? If not, how long did the previous person hold it? Was the previous person promoted?<\/li>\r\n<li>What challenges did the previous person in this position face?<\/li>\r\n<li>What support services are available to carry out the responsibilities of this position?<\/li>\r\n<li>To whom would I be reporting? How and when would my performance be evaluated?<\/li>\r\n<li>Is regular travel a part of this position?<\/li>\r\n<li>Can you tell me about the people who would be reporting to me?<\/li>\r\n<li>Could you describe a typical day in this position?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Career Paths<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Can you tell me about the career path this position offers?<\/li>\r\n<li>What percentage of people are promoted from this position? How often?<\/li>\r\n<li>Could you tell me about the people who have preceded me in this position and in the department? Where are they now and what are they doing?<\/li>\r\n<li>How are promotions or transfers determined within the company?<\/li>\r\n<li>Does advancement to upper management usually require an advanced degree?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Education &amp; Training<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>What additional training might be necessary for this position?<\/li>\r\n<li>Is training done in a classroom\/group session or is it handled on an individual basis?<\/li>\r\n<li>Are there training programs available to me so that I can learn and grow professionally?<\/li>\r\n<li>What type of on-the-job training programs do you offer?<\/li>\r\n<li>Does the company support further college education for its employers?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Company Values and Ethics<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>What kind of personal attributes and qualifications does your company value?<\/li>\r\n<li>What characteristics are important for this position?<\/li>\r\n<li>What do you consider ideal education and experience for this position?<\/li>\r\n<li>What is the most significant challenge facing your staff now?<\/li>\r\n<li>Is there anything unusually challenging about this position?<\/li>\r\n<li>What have been some of the best results produced by people in this position?<\/li>\r\n<li>What are your projections for this department\/position for the next year? (Specify type of projections, e.g. sales, production, products, profits, etc.)<\/li>\r\n<li>What do you see ahead for your company in the next five years?<\/li>\r\n<li>What are your plans for expanding the (Sales, audit, research, etc.) departments?<\/li>\r\n<li>What do you see in the future for this industry?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the purposes of asking questions in an interview is to gain information from the interviewer. Good questions can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"parent":351,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-368","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Ask Questions in a Job Interview - Center for Career Development &amp; Academic Exploration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/studentsuccess.utk.edu\/career\/students\/develop-career-tools\/interviewing\/how-to-ask-questions-in-a-job-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Ask Questions in a Job Interview - Center for Career Development &amp; Academic Exploration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the purposes of asking questions in an interview is to gain information from the interviewer. 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