How to nail the “do you have any questions for us?” part of your interview
In 2018, I needed to unlearn everything I knew about how to interview. I moved to NYC and quit my job without a concrete plan, assuming it would be easy to find a new role quickly. But then reality hit. While preparing for interviews for product positions, I discovered the concept of “reverse interviews,” a fancy way to describe the process where candidates ask questions to better understand the job and company they are applying to.
Since then, I’ve actively contributed to hiring processes across many types of roles in both Israeli and U.S.-based tech companies. I’ve also been coaching many early-to-mid-career Product Managers and individuals aspiring to break into Product Management on how to excel in PM interviews.
Through many conversations with job seekers, I’ve noticed that often, the main reason to kick off a job hunt is dissatisfaction with one’s current work environment. As an interviewer, I have also noticed that candidates often miss out on the opportunity to leverage the reverse interview process properly.
So, in this post, I’ll give you tactical advice on how to reverse interview while avoiding your own biases and, as a result, increase your chances of choosing a role you’d be most successful in.
Seeing more than just your current challenges
A reverse interview is when the interviewee actively asks questions to gain insights into the company, team, and role they are interviewing for. The purpose of this process is to help you anticipate whether you’ll be successful in the context of the new company and role you’re exploring.
Many candidates approach job interviews solely as an escape from current challenges: Issues such as poor relationships with managers, toxic company culture, inefficient processes, and a lack of strategic alignment frequently drive individuals to seek change. This mindset shapes their approach to asking questions.
As an interviewer, I have observed that candidates often ask about existing difficulties, aiming to get confirmation of a more favorable environment in the new company. While addressing concerns is natural, such an approach overlooks a crucial part of the evaluation—assessing the prospective company for elements contributing to your enjoyment and professional growth.
This bias reflects a common human tendency to focus on and try to alleviate fears, but its downside lies in missing the chance to thoroughly evaluate the company’s alignment with one’s preferences and aspirations.
Candidates should shift towards a more balanced view. Instead of fixing issues, they should explore how the prospective company aligns with their positive experiences and preferences. This ensures a holistic and well-informed decision-making process, avoiding a tunnel vision focused solely on escaping their current situation.
Your reverse interview toolkit
Remember, the purpose of the reverse interview is to help you find a place where you’ll be successful. Adopting a mindset that goes beyond mitigating past challenges is essential to achieving that. The reverse interview then becomes a proactive exploration—an intentional discovery process to find synergies between your capabilities and the attributes important for your success in a new professional setting.
This nuanced change in perspective transforms the process from a formality into an exercise where you actively attempt to predict your success within the company and the role under consideration.
Here’s a straightforward three-step framework to ace your reverse interview preparation (a concrete example will follow):
- Self-reflect: Begin by identifying your strengths and areas for growth through an honest self-assessment.
- Define what companies are a good fit for you: Next, clearly articulate what you seek in your next role and company. You can also use this to filter your company shortlist based on information available online or through insider insights.
- Craft your questions: Using your self-assessment and the company-fit analysis, draft questions in several aspects to ask during the interview process. At the very least, I suggest you draft questions addressing the following criteria.
— Company culture: Probe company values and ensure they align with yours. Explore whether the way the company operates provides an environment in which you can thrive.
— Role alignment: Assess if the requirements of the role resonate with your work style.
— Expectations from you: Understand what the company expects from candidates and see if there are gaps and assumptions in the interviewers’ perception of you that you might want to refute.
Another important consideration is that interviews are an asymmetrical process. The company is trying to assess if you are a good fit for them–that’s the prime objective. As a result, most of the interview time will be dedicated to their questions. You’ll usually have no more than 5–10 minutes to ask your questions. Naturally, you won’t be able to go through the entire list you drafted in every single interview.
The best strategy to mitigate that is to (a) prioritize the questions based on their level of importance to you; (b) go deeper on one or two questions in each interview session with your interviewer, using follow-up questions based on their response; and (c) get multiple perspectives on your most important question(s) from several interviewers.
What does it actually look like?
Now, how might this look in practice? Let’s demonstrate this with a real-life example:
Meet Adam, a Product Manager with two years of experience. He transitioned to his current role from his position as a Customer Success Manager. Adam is just starting his job search, looking for his second product role. As part of his preparation for the interview, Adam is applying the reverse interview toolkit to reflect on his wants and needs from his next work environment.
He starts with an honest self-reflection. He recognizes two main strengths: his ability to grasp complex technical concepts swiftly and to articulate ideas clearly, both verbally and in writing. He acknowledges his areas for improvement are discomfort with data and decision-making under tight timelines.
With a clear understanding of his professional profile and previous work experience, Adam outlines key criteria for his next company. He seeks opportunities in a complex industry with a highly technical product or specialized product group. Adam values open communication channels that foster feedback at all levels and wants to challenge himself in companies that are known for their data-informed approach to product decision-making.
Based on his pre-work, Adam crafts his reverse interview questions in three key areas:
Adam continues to prioritize his questions based on their significance and assigns them to the different interview stages.
Additionally, Adam wants to get multiple perspectives and examples regarding the question around learning complex topics quickly, as this is his primary strength, and he wants to confirm it is relevant to the role/company.
Working thoroughly through the reverse interview preparation, Adam is ready for his interviews. By the end of the process, he will have a clear picture of whether the new company and role align with his aspirations, setting the stage for a successful career move.
Shaping your path to success
Reverse interviews are not about fixing what’s broken in your current job; they are an opportunity for you to actively architect your future. By shifting the focus from dissatisfaction to alignment with your aspirations, you can select an environment that will help you be more successful.
After applying the three-step framework — reflection, finding fit, and crafting questions — of reverse interview preparation, you’ll know more about where you aspire to be, what the right environment for you is, and how to test the prospective company for those.
Thoughtful questions during an interview not only showcase a candidate’s genuine interest and engagement but also provide valuable insights into their analytical skills, strategic thinking, and cultural fit within the organization for interviewers. It allows the interviewer to assess the candidate’s preparedness, depth of understanding, and ability to contribute meaningfully to the team and company.
