Candidates Ask, Companies Answer: The Importance of Reverse Interviews

Hi, I’m Lovefield.

This post is about interviews. During a recent conversation with former colleagues from a previous workplace, an interesting topic about interviews came up—how to identify a good company. I introduced the concept of a "reverse interview," and the idea sparked significant interest. I decided to organize my thoughts and share them in this article.

Drawing from my experience working in an IT company managing an in-house service team, I aim to explain why reverse interviews are important and provide practical questions for candidates to ask.

Amid challenging economic conditions, many companies have become more cautious in their hiring processes. IT companies, in particular, evaluate not only technical skills but also cultural fit to carefully select talent. In this environment, candidates must also assess whether the company aligns with their values and work style. Reverse interviews can help in this evaluation process.

What Is a Reverse Interview?

A reverse interview refers to the opportunity for candidates to ask questions to the company during an interview. Typically, this happens after the interviewers finish their questions. I view this moment as crucial because it allows candidates to gain deeper insights into the company and evaluate whether it aligns with their goals and values. By going beyond job-related inquiries to ask about the company’s vision, culture, and work processes, candidates can determine if the organization is a good fit for them. This understanding significantly impacts job satisfaction and performance.

Questions to Ask Practitioners

When speaking with practitioners, it’s best to focus on practical, work-related matters. This is your chance to understand internal processes and the team dynamic.

1. What’s the atmosphere like during work hours?
   This question helps you gauge the company's organizational culture. For instance, is the workplace lively and extroverted or quiet and introverted? Understanding this can help you determine whether your personality aligns with the company’s environment. You might also ask about team activities like workshops or internal clubs. Personally, as an introvert, I don’t prefer extensive activities but value forming good relationships with colleagues.
2. Can you briefly explain the workflow or project management approach?
   This is essential to understand how the company operates—whether they use Agile, Waterfall, or Sprint-based methods, for example. Pay attention to whether the company has a structured review process at each stage, such as ensuring the finalized plan is not endlessly revised. Without such processes, teams often fall into a cycle of repeated edits, which can disrupt productivity.
3. How are schedules and task management handled within the team?
   This question reveals the effectiveness of leadership and task allocation. A poorly managed team often leads to overtime and inefficiency. As a team leader myself, I prioritize clear task distribution and ensure that everyone knows what’s expected of them.
4. What is the composition of the product team?
   Team composition may vary depending on the size of the company, but I think the ideal team composition is when the ratio of planners, designers, front-end developers, and back-end developers is 2:2:1:1. In particular, I think that efficient progress is possible only when developers start working with the planning and design completed first. On the contrary, if development starts without planning and design being finalized, the waiting time may be longer and fatigue may increase.
5. Are you running an in-house convention?
   Conventions are important documents that set standards for all team members to work in the same way. When team members of different styles collaborate, unnecessary fatigue is likely to build up unless there is a unified standard. Personally, I tend to be the first thing I care about after joining the company, in-house convention definition and terminology creation. This is because it can increase efficiency and consistency across the team.
6. If you hire me, what kind of task would you like to entrust to me first?
   This question is intended to identify the nature and priorities of the task you will be responsible for after joining the company. It is also an opportunity to learn where your company is currently understaffed or what challenges you are attempting to address first.

Questions to the executive team

It is recommended that executives ask in-depth questions such as the company's vision, direction, and in-house culture. This will help them determine how well the company wants to move forward and how well the applicant's values align.

1. Is there a reason why you chose that working condition?
   This is a question that shows how much the company has worried about employee welfare and productivity. For example, if you have introduced a staggered commute or a 35-hour workweek, it is recommended to ask why and why. This is to find out how much the company has worried about its working environment.
2. Is the town-hall meeting in operation?
   A town-hall meeting is a place where members can share the current status and direction of the company and freely share their opinions. It is an important factor in understanding the transparency and communication of the company.
3. What do you think is more important, business or product?
   This is a question to understand how deeply executives have agonized over business and products. However, the person who asks the question needs an understanding of the balance between business and product. For your information, this is a trap question. Business and products must be complementary, and if you prioritize only one of them, there is a high possibility of problems.
4. What is my Role And Responsibility (R&R) after joining the company?
   This question is to clarify the scope of work. If the scope of work is not clearly defined, there is a possibility that the workload will become excessive. If the company clearly defines R&R, it will be able to clearly recognize the role from the applicant's point of view, which will increase work efficiency.
5. Please introduce your company in one line.
   This is a question that shows how concerned the management, especially the CEO, has been about the identity and direction of the company. Only those who have thought deeply about the company can answer this question. The purpose of the question is, "How much has it been?" The more you think about it, the better the quality of your answers will be, and it will contain enough of your company's beliefs.

These are questions that I ask from the team leader's point of view, so I think new employees need to modify them to suit their purpose to some extent. Back interviews are not just about asking questions, they are valuable opportunities to judge whether your career and company can be in harmony. I conclude by wishing everyone preparing for the interview to be helpful.