Questions to ask the interviewer

25 min · Beginner

Most interviews end with "Do you have any questions for us?" It is part of the evaluation: a thoughtful question shows interest and preparation, while "No, nothing" wastes your last chance.

Why asking questions matters

Here are weak and strong questions side by side. A strong question is specific and cannot be answered from the company website.

Example 1 · Weak and strong questions

Text

"No, I don't have any questions.""What does your company do?""How much salary will I get?""How many leaves do I get?"

Strong

"What would a typical first month look like for a fresher in this team?"
"You mentioned the team is moving the order service to Python 3.13. How are new joiners involved in that?"
"How does the team do code reviews?"
"What do freshers who do well here in their first year have in common?"

What this code does

The weak questions show no interest, no preparation or the wrong priorities for an early round.
The strong ones are specific, open and about the work; the second one uses something said in the interview, which shows you listened.

Asking questions shows genuine interest in the role, shows you prepared (the question uses something you learned), and shows that you think about your own fit. It also gives you real information to decide if you want the job.

Prepare four or five questions and ask two or three, adapting to who is in front of you:

Technical interviewer: tech stack, code reviews, how features go from idea to production.
Manager: what success looks like, team priorities, how freshers grow.
HR: training, joining process, next steps and timelines.

Find the bug

Find the weak question

Each round shows what a candidate asked. Click the line that is weak.

Which question is weak?

Round 1 of 3

Good questions about role, team, training and growth

This program picks questions that fit each round: technical, manager or HR. The same bank gives different questions for each.

Example 2 · Choosing questions for the round

Python

1FIT = {2    "technical": ["tech", "process", "role"],3    "manager": ["role", "growth", "team"],4    "hr": ["training", "process-hr", "growth"],5}6
7bank = [8    ("Which parts of the stack would a fresher work on first?", "tech"),9    ("How does a feature go from idea to production here?", "process"),10    ("What does a typical first month look like?", "role"),11    ("What does good performance look like after six months?", "growth"),12    ("How does the team share knowledge?", "team"),13    ("What does the training cover and how long is it?", "training"),14    ("What are the next steps and the expected timeline?", "process-hr"),15]16
17for round_name, wanted in FIT.items():18    print(f"{round_name.upper()} round:")19    matches = [text for text, category in bank if category in wanted]20    for text in matches[:3]:21        print("  -", text)

Output

TECHNICAL round:
  - Which parts of the stack would a fresher work on first?
  - How does a feature go from idea to production here?
  - What does a typical first month look like?
MANAGER round:
  - What does a typical first month look like?
  - What does good performance look like after six months?
  - How does the team share knowledge?
HR round:
  - What does good performance look like after six months?
  - What does the training cover and how long is it?
  - What are the next steps and the expected timeline?

What this code does

One prepared bank serves every round: each question has a category, and each round prefers certain categories.
Three per round is plenty; you will ask two and keep one spare in case it was already answered.

Good questions are specific and open: the careers page cannot answer them, and they invite real experience. Questions about the work, team, learning and success are always safe. The best link to something said in the interview: "You mentioned the team is moving to microservices. How are freshers involved in that work?"

One question for each area:

Role: "What would a typical first month look like for a fresher in this team?"
Team: "How does the team review code and share knowledge?"
Training: "What does the training cover, and how are freshers assigned to projects after it?"
Growth: "What does good performance look like after the first six months?"

Questions to avoid in early rounds

Here is a risky early-round question rewritten for the HR round, where it belongs.

Example 3 · Early-round question fixed for the HR round

Text

Technical round, end: "How much is the salary and how many WFH days are there?"

Better timing and wording

Technical round: "How does the team decide what to automate in testing?"

HR round (later): "Could you explain how the CTC is split between fixed and variable pay, and what the
work-from-office policy is for the first year?"

What this code does

In the technical round, ask about the work. The money and policy questions are valid, just better placed in the HR round.
In HR, ask about structure and policy, which is professional, rather than "How much will I get?".

Some questions are fine later but send the wrong signal early. Leading with salary, leave, work-from-home days or transfers suggests your priorities lie elsewhere, and a question answered on the website suggests no preparation. Even in the HR round, ask about structure ("How is the CTC split between fixed and variable?") rather than "How much will I get?". For the numbers themselves, revise salary and offer evaluation (opens in a new tab).

Where each kind belongs:

Avoid early: salary, leave count, WFH days, transfer timing, "Did I pass?".
Avoid always: website answers, personal questions, negative remarks about competitors, questions about other candidates.
Fine in the HR round: CTC structure, joining date, location process, training schedule.

Closing the interview and thanking the panel

A closing is the last 20 seconds of an interview: a thank-you, one line of interest linked to the conversation, and a question about next steps.

Here is a closing script that fits in 20 seconds. Notice its three short parts.

Example 4 · A closing script

Text

Interviewer: "That is all from our side. Any final questions?"

Close (under 20 seconds)

"Just one: what are the next steps, and when can I expect to hear back?
...
Thank you both for your time today. Hearing about how the team handles payment retries made me even
more interested in this role. I look forward to hearing from you."

What this code does

Next steps first, then thanks, one specific line of interest and a calm finish.
"Thank you both" acknowledges each panel member. The specific detail shows you were engaged.

A strong closing has three short parts: thank them, restate your interest in one line connected to the conversation, and confirm the next steps. For example: "Thank you for your time. Hearing about the payment-retry work made me even more interested in this team. May I know the next steps?"

Keep it under 20 seconds. Stand up when they do, make eye contact (or look at the camera online), and thank each panel member if there are several.

Order of execution

Order the closing

Put the parts of a strong closing in order.

Follow-up email after the interview

A follow-up email is a short thank-you sent within 24 hours of an interview. It thanks the reader, mentions one specific point from the conversation and restates your interest.

Here is a short thank-you email, then a polite status check if the promised date passes.

Example 5 · Follow-up email and status check

Text

Situation: interview with Mr. Arjun Menon (Engineering Manager) on Tuesday; he said results by Friday.

Emails

Subject: Thank you - Graduate Python Developer interview

Dear Mr. Menon,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me on Tuesday about the Graduate Python Developer role.
I enjoyed learning how your team handles payment retries and idempotency, which connects closely to
the order API I built in my project. I am very interested in the role and look forward to hearing
about the next steps.
Regards,
Ananya Rao
+91 90000 00000

(If no reply by the following Tuesday, one short note to the recruiter:)
"Dear Ms. Iyer, I wanted to check politely whether there is any update on the Graduate Python Developer
role I interviewed for on 14 October. Thank you, Ananya Rao"

What this code does

The thank-you is short, specific and sent within a day. It adds one real connection between their work and yours.
The status check waits until after the stated date, is sent once, and goes to the recruiter. Names and dates here are examples.

Send it only if you have the interviewer's or recruiter's email. In campus drives, follow your placement cell's instructions: many colleges route all communication through them.

A status check is one polite email to the recruiter after the date they gave has passed. Do not send repeated reminders or message interviewers on several platforms.

Next step

Check your understanding

12 quick questions

"What would a typical first month look like for a fresher in this team?" "You mentioned the team is moving the order service to Python 3.13. How are new joiners involved in that?" "How does the team do code reviews?" "What do freshers who do well here in their first year have in common?"

1FIT = {2 "technical": ["tech", "process", "role"],3 "manager": ["role", "growth", "team"],4 "hr": ["training", "process-hr", "growth"],5}6 7bank = [8 ("Which parts of the stack would a fresher work on first?", "tech"),9 ("How does a feature go from idea to production here?", "process"),10 ("What does a typical first month look like?", "role"),11 ("What does good performance look like after six months?", "growth"),12 ("How does the team share knowledge?", "team"),13 ("What does the training cover and how long is it?", "training"),14 ("What are the next steps and the expected timeline?", "process-hr"),15]16 17for round_name, wanted in FIT.items():18 print(f"{round_name.upper()} round:")19 matches = [text for text, category in bank if category in wanted]20 for text in matches[:3]:21 print(" -", text)

TECHNICAL round: - Which parts of the stack would a fresher work on first? - How does a feature go from idea to production here? - What does a typical first month look like? MANAGER round: - What does a typical first month look like? - What does good performance look like after six months? - How does the team share knowledge? HR round: - What does good performance look like after six months? - What does the training cover and how long is it? - What are the next steps and the expected timeline?

Technical round: "How does the team decide what to automate in testing?" HR round (later): "Could you explain how the CTC is split between fixed and variable pay, and what the work-from-office policy is for the first year?"

"Just one: what are the next steps, and when can I expect to hear back? ... Thank you both for your time today. Hearing about how the team handles payment retries made me even more interested in this role. I look forward to hearing from you."

Subject: Thank you - Graduate Python Developer interview Dear Mr. Menon, Thank you for taking the time to speak with me on Tuesday about the Graduate Python Developer role. I enjoyed learning how your team handles payment retries and idempotency, which connects closely to the order API I built in my project. I am very interested in the role and look forward to hearing about the next steps. Regards, Ananya Rao +91 90000 00000 (If no reply by the following Tuesday, one short note to the recruiter:) "Dear Ms. Iyer, I wanted to check politely whether there is any update on the Graduate Python Developer role I interviewed for on 14 October. Thank you, Ananya Rao"