Candidate Advice

Research & Questions to Ask

Posted on by Megan Oudine

Prepare For The Interview

Do some research:

It’s important to gain some knowledge by taking a few minutes to do some research.  Here are some great preparation practices to use when preparing for an interview.

Things To Research

  • Company Performance
  • Investors/Funding
  • Products (Consider signing up to use them)- *YouTube*
  • Customers or types of customers
  • Competitors
  • Recent company news
  • Company history
  • Leadership team, notably the CEO

Research Tools

  • Google
  • Owler
  • LinkedIn
  • ZoomInfo
  • Perplexity AI
  • Crunchbase
  • ChatGPT
  • G2
  • Capterra
  • YouTube- (great to look up product info and company news)

Ask The Right Questions

There is a progression in interviewing, which means there also is a progression in the types of questions that you should ask. Asking offer negotiation questions during the first interview is a sure fire way to not get invited back for the second interview. Know when to shoot your shot!

First Interview Candidate Questions

Focus on the challenge, location, and people:

  • How do you define success in this position?
  • What are ways you would like to see a new hire impact the business?
  • What are some ways that I could contribute right away?
  • What would you like to see accomplished in 90 days? 180 days? 1 year?
  • Is the position mostly an in-office role, hybrid, or remote?
  • How much travel do you anticipate?
  • What are some descriptors of the company culture?
  • What are some descriptors of the managers and executives in this company? What is their leadership style?

Second & Third Interview Candidate Questions

General questions on advancement, money, and stability:

  • The last interview you mentioned that this was how you defined success. If I were to achieve that level of success, what would a career path look like?
  • Can you provide an overview of how the compensation works in the company?
  • Can you provide an overview of company benefits, PTO, retirement plans, etc?
  • Is there anything that you can speak to as it relates to stability in the organization? And employee tenure?

Offer Negotiation

ONLY ask this question during the offer negotiation:

  • Can you get the compensation and PTO to this amount? If so, I am a “yes” for acceptance.

Questions Credit to Jim Guerrera, Managing Director of SCN