The interview is drawing to an end and you still don’t know much about the job you applied for, besides what was written in the add and the scarce information the recruiter offered you.

You just can’t not be curious: if you get the job, the better part of your every day, for a long time, will be spent at work.

Ask. Enquire. Probe for information. It’s your right to know.

But what is it that you would actually want to find out?

Go to the interview with your homework done. Be prepared. Think about what you know about the role and about the company, and aim to compose a list of what you don’t know, but would like to.

Anything. You can sort through the questions later but, for now, just be curious.

For some of your questions you will get indirect clues, during the visit to the company’s offices, for the interview: what is the atmosphere like? How are people treated in this company?

For such queries you most deffinitely can formulate an answer by yourself, if you think about them well enough: have you been greeted respectfully? Were you welcomed well? What was happening in the lobby when you arrived? Did anyone acknowledge you right away? Were any confidential matters being discussed in the hallway? How many employees were on a „smoking break”? Did anyone send you smile without having been previously introduced? Were you left waiting for a long time? Did you have the interview in an appropriate space? Did the interviewer ask before calling you by your name? Did they explain what the discussion will be about and what are the „rules of the game”?

Then, pay close attention to what the interviewer will ask you.

What kinds of questions are they insisting upon? Do they offer enough details about the workplace? Do they have a pre-made list of questions and desired answers?

Don’t be shy. Ask if you may interrupt with appropriate questions, whenever their explanations are not clear enough to you. It’s not a problem if you interrupt with a question, as long as it’s on point, and relevant to the topic you were discussing at that particular time.

It is, however, a problem if, while the recruiter is explaining something, you interrupt to enquire about a previous topic or one which you are especially interested in, but haven’t got to that part yet. Gather the questions you have that do not fit anywhere during the discussion in a sort of „bunch”, and ask if you are permitted to address them at the end, before the final stage of the meeting, while mentioning that they are odd questions on topics which haven’t been covered so far.

Don’t be indifferent. Don’t ask solely about the material benefits, no matter how much you are interested in them. If not for a more practical reason (wanting to know where and how you will have to work, that is), at least through the perspective that it’s not the least flattering for the employer to learn that you are not one bit interested in their company and the opportunity they present you with. Why would they hire you, provided that you’re not interested in what they are doing or their environment, but exclusively on the material gains?

Be sharp. Asked directly, people tend to get embarassed and few actually still manage to lie. So ask short, straight-to-the-point questions.

Don’t be so sure you can always get your answers later.