Your next boss is going to be disproportionately more important than your next role, your next company, your next sector. So, when the time comes for you to ask questions, be ready to interview them. A few ideas.

Tell me about the last time you changed your mind.

What would you do if a colleague and I disagree on how to move a project forward?

What were you doing at my age / at my level of seniority?

Tell me about the last organizational change you managed and what did you do?

What of my background do you find most interesting?

What is the number 1 problem you are trying to fix these days?

How would you react if I’d told you that I want to invest part of my working time for personal development?

I understand, it is challenging to get yourself to ask those questions. That’s because we have been told that during an interview, we ought to do anything to land the job. And that includes being nice and pleasant. And that does not include asking questions that might make the hiring manager uncomfortable.

But if they are uncomfortable with that, isn’t that a sign already? Does it not tell us they will be hiding when the time comes for them to support us? Or to tell us we are not doing a good job? Or to find a better role for ourselves, so that we could thrive in the company?

Interviews are always two-way. You can get better at extracting the information you need out of them.