3 Questions to ask during your following hiring manager interview

Do you have any questions for me?

Umm… not at the moment

Don’t end your valuable design interviews like this. You might have got a chance to interview at your dream company. Still, by rejecting the opportunity to ask any questions to your interviewer, you have effectively just blown your options to make a lasting impression on the interviewer. Additionally, you have also missed an opportunity to understand more about the inner working and mindset the company operates on a day-to-day basis.

I firmly believe that this question is as important to prepare for as “tell me about yourself” or the dreaded “walk me through your portfolio.” The reason for that is because you are interviewing “the company” as much as they are interviewing you. It’s not a one-way street. You are here to learn a ton more about the company than what you can already find and research thru’ your desktop research.

To leverage this opportunity, here are my top three questions to ask the “hiring manager” or someone you think has the authority to call the shots and makes the decision.

Note: Some interviews might end with the hiring manager being the last to chat with the candidate. It is best to reserve the most design process and decision-making questions for this person.

Q: If you could change the product roadmap for the company, what would you do differently?

Thought process:

• It is similar to the question that tries to establish what you would do as a designer without a budget, technical and resource constraints.
• Try to dive deep here and ask counter questions in between to understand more about the constraints that the design team faces due to which the product roadmap changes its direction. Some might be uncontrollable, and others can control with proper management.
• Take this opportunity to also empathize with the individual perspective of the employee, as well as understand what the current tensions are in the company. You can often encounter individuals who might crib about the company and its processes when answering this question. If you see this, know that these feelings might also plague others in the company. Therefore, you should take note of these concerns and get them addressed with the talent acquisition team.
• This is also an excellent opportunity to understand the company’s perspective on its current direction and the incentives for the decision.
• Cross-check on the company employee alignment with the mission and goals. Observe hints of employee disagreement, company culture, and silent dissent. Based on your preferences, some of these might be red flags.

Q: What skills are most important for a designer in this role?

Thought process:

• Take note of all the things that you might have in your arsenal. Then, if you get this position, it will be wise to learn the exact nuances of those skills before you start at the company.
• If some skills seem doubtful, ask probing questions and understand why specific skills that don’t stand out for you are required to succeed in this position.
• Sometimes, these skills can be resilience, standing your growth when talking to stakeholders and PMs. But, on the other hand, it can also be hands-on skills like frontend coding and tools like Webflow. For larger organizations, they might expect heavy data analytics work. For some startups, they expect designers also to display basic project management skills.
• As product design skillset varies from company to company, it is vital to understand what your future manager and co-workers expect from this role.

Q: How do decisions get made at the company?

Thought process:

• This question tries to reveal interesting organizational details about the company that is critical to understand the role you are stepping into.
• Decision-making varies vastly among companies, so understanding the key drivers of decisions and people involved will help clarify the road ahead for you, should you accept the role.
• You can also ask other probing questions like, “What happens if there’s a disagreement between the designer and the product manager?”, “Who presents to executive leadership?”
• You will learn about the company culture encompassing conflict and consensus. These things mostly never show up using desktop research. Remember that it is better to work for a company that embraces conflict and opens the dialogue to ensure everyone feels like a stakeholder in the mission.

More basic questions

Suppose you haven’t yet reached the burning hiring manager round and would like to collect some basic information on the company first. Then I suggest you use the 3Cs framework to let the interviewer speak about themselves, their experiences, and the zoomed-out company culture. The 3Cs stand for Connect, Culture, and Close. This framework will help you establish the basics and groom you for the next rounds.

Here are a few questions that I love asking during the initial rounds:

Connect

1. How did you come to work here?
2. What do you love most about working here?

Culture

1. Who is the most successful recent hire, and why?
2. Who didn’t succeed as a new hire, and why?

Close

1. How is the interview process like? What can I expect from the next round?
2. What are the next steps in the process?