Motivation & fit
An engagement test, not a formality. Bring specific, thoughtful questions that show you are evaluating them too.
Why it is asked
This always comes at the end, and many candidates treat it as a formality and waste it. It is not. Having no questions signals low interest; generic questions you could have googled signal low effort. Strong, specific questions signal that you are seriously evaluating whether this is the right place for you, which paradoxically makes you more attractive.
Prepare more questions than you will need, because some get answered during the interview. Aim for questions that only this person, in this role, can answer: how the team makes technical decisions, what the biggest current challenge is, how success is measured in the first six months, what the interviewer wishes they had known before joining. Tailor them to who is in the room; ask the engineer about the codebase and the manager about growth and team health.
Avoid questions that are really just about what you get (time off, when can I work from home) in a first round, and avoid anything you could have learned from a thirty-second search. The goal is a real two-way conversation.
The signal
Worked example
Scenario: Engineer closing with the hiring manager. Read it for the shape, then swap in your own story.
At the end the manager asked what questions I had.
I wanted to learn something real and show I was evaluating the role seriously.
I asked what the team's biggest technical challenge is right now, how decisions on architecture actually get made, and what success looks like for this role in the first six months. Then I asked the manager what they wish they had known before joining.
That last one opened up an honest, useful conversation about the team's growth pains, which told me more than any pitch could. It also clearly landed well, because we ran over time talking.
Answer skeleton
I do. What is the team's biggest [technical/product] challenge right now? How do [key decisions] actually get made here? What does success look like in the first six months? And what do you wish you had known before you joined?
Avoid these
By role
Ask the engineer about the codebase, testing culture, and how technical decisions are made.
Ask about how the roadmap is set, how product and engineering partner, and how success is measured.
Ask about team health, growth paths, and the biggest people or delivery challenge the org faces.
Be ready for
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Keep going
Behavioral rounds are only half the loop. See the technical and behavioral questions for your exact role, and when an offer lands, check it is competitive with the salary comparison tool.