Most interviewers love to talk about themselves and impress people with their experience and knowledge. In responding to this question the interviewer often provide insight they don’t typically volunteer in interviews, which gives you an opportunity to learn more and connect with them in a meaningful way. Ask this question of everyone you meet with.

This question can be very revealing about the company promoting from within, retention, or growth and will give visibility into what you would be walking into if hired for the role. Continue to ask follow-up questions based on their response to understand why someone left, what role the person got promoted into, or what the business justification is for creating a new role.

It’s always great to know what’s expected beyond a generic job description before being hired. This also provides insight into priorities of the role and business that you can focus on during the rest of your interview and in your thank you note. If the response if vague, follow up with “How do you measure success in the role?” This also shows the hiring manager that you are confident and comfortable and with metrics-driven environments.

Who you work with is shown to have as much of an impact on your longevity with a company and happiness on the job as who you report to, so it’s in your best interest to make sure that you respect and connect with the people you will work with every day. These conversations with potential peers also set the stage for a positive working relationship as they share more about their background and goals.

Companies want to hire people who are lifelong learners, and this question gives them an opportunity to share more about their culture and practices around career growth. Remember, growth has transformed from hierarchical career ladders to breadth and depth of knowledge being desired and rewarded, so stay curious about ways that you can grow professionally.

Executives love candidates that are interested in how their role impacts the business. This is also a great way to learn if the role is strategic and drives high-value activities or is purely execution focused.

Professionals grow exponentially faster when they work in a learning culture that encourages open dialog and allows mistakes. Be prepared to share how you prefer to get feedback.

This is a great way to ask more about the culture and specifics of the team and company. Are there unusual perks? Are people ultra-competitive? Do they socialize outside of work? Do they have team events? Do they have lunch together or do their own thing?

It’s always great to be aware of the full interview process, especially if you are actively interviewing with multiple companies. This also opens dialog to gauge how interested they are in your candidacy as they will often ask to be notified if you receive another offer if they think you are a strong candidate. This also gives you a timeline that you can use to follow-up with them if the process stalls.

This is your power question for the hiring manager and any other individual that you are having difficulty getting a read from. This question shows confidence and accomplishes one of two things; either the interviewer tells you the skills they believe you are lacking which gives you an opportunity to reframe your response and influence their opinion, or they give you positive feedback about your candidacy so that you know where you stand before leaving the interview.