At a time when more and more people are striving to have satisfaction in their lives and purpose in their work, I still see job seekers who go to an interview and allow it to be one-sided. When the interviewer prompts for questions, too often, the interviewee says "I don't really have anything" or they ask questions about "what kind of tool do you use" for this or that or "what's the process for" whatever.
While those questions can be helpful in understanding the structure of the work, they will in no way give the person a sense of the culture or the experience of working for a company. Even asking questions like "what's the culture like?" doesn't give the information you're looking for. You'll get rote answers about their culture messaging. If someone is really open and kind, you might get a somewhat realistic picture of the place but if you really want to get answers that will help you make a decision here is what I suggest:
1. How has your life changed for the better since you started working here?
This question will help you know if the interviewer enjoys being at the company. The open-ended nature of the question leaves a lot of room for interpretation from the interviewer and hopefully you will get a feel for their sentiments. Pay attention to body language and facial cues, especially in the moments immediately after you ask the question because you'll likely get more information from that than you will the words that follow.
2. What are 3 things you do for work each week that make you happy?
It's easy for someone to say they are happy and wax on about how fulfilled they feel but it puts a fine point on it when they are asked to come up with specific things that bring them happiness during their work week. It also gives you two pieces of information: do they value being happy while they work and what kinds of things they do that make them feel positive.
3. How does your personal mission align with the company mission?
When someone thinks deeply about their own personal mission and how it aligns with the company it provides a lot of insight to you as the interviewee about the culture. You may notice that they need a few minutes to reflect to come up with an answer. If they find a way to talk about their personal mission and connect it to work, that would be a sign of a healthy culture. It would indicate they have a strong sense of their identity which fits in with the company identity. If someone regurgitates the company mission as their own personal mission and they are not the company owner, I would wonder if the company messaging is so strong or strongly enforced that there isn't room for people to bring their own sense of self to work.
These questions are relevant to me because they reflect the things I value. Try to think about the things in life that are most important to you and then frame questions to see if those things you value are also supported by your potential employer.
Even if you are completely inexperienced or feeling like you are lucky to be considered for a job, please don't forget that you have value even if it's not been proven yet. The person interviewing you is also lucky that you are willing to spend your time talking to them and they should also be grateful that you are considering being part of their team. When you take a job, you are essentially giving up options to work elsewhere (at least temporarily) and you are committing to spend a large part of your time doing work that will profit the company considerably more than it will profit you. The world is big and diverse and if you desire it, you can find a job that fits you. Ask questions that will help you identify the right one.
If you're job searching, good luck! Any specific questions, please ask me! I've been in hundreds of interviews, on both sides of the desk, for a variety of companies, enterprise to startup.
-Deanna