Questions to Ask the Hiring Manager: 30 Good Ones for Marketing Roles

Why do your questions for the hiring manager matter?

Your questions are part of the interview. A hiring manager learns as much from what you ask as from what you answer: whether you think about outcomes, whether you’ve done your homework, and whether you’d be easy to work with.

They also help you decide. You’re choosing a manager as much as a job, and this is often the only time you’ll have their full attention before you say yes. That makes this part of the interview yours, so it’s worth a little preparation.

How many questions should you ask?

Three or four, depending on time. Prepare eight so you still have good ones left after the interview answers some of them.

If the hiring manager has left five minutes, ask your best two. Never say “no, I think you covered everything.” It sounds like you stopped listening.

Questions about the role and success

These tell you what you’d be judged on, which is the most useful thing to know.

• What does success look like in this role at the end of the first year?
• What would you want me to have done by the end of my first 90 days?
• Which numbers would you look at to know it’s going well?
• What’s the biggest thing you’d want this person to fix or change?
• Is there a decision you’re waiting on this hire to make?

Questions about the team

You want to know who you’d lead, who you’d depend on and how decisions get made.

• How is the team set up today, and what would you change?
• Which roles are in-house and which are with agencies?
• Who does this role work with most outside marketing?
• How do marketing and sales agree on what counts as a good lead, or a good quarter?
• How are budget decisions made, and who has the final say?

Questions about the company’s marketing

This is where research pays off. Ask about something specific you found, not a general “what’s your strategy?”

• I noticed [a specific change, e.g. the brand moved most of its paid social into creator content this year]. What drove that, and how is it going?
• Your [share of search / branded search] looks [up or down] over the past year. Is that something the team tracks?
• What does the brand stand for that you think customers don’t see yet?
• Which competitor do you watch most closely, and why?
• What’s one thing you tried in the last year that didn’t work?

For where to find those details, see how to research a company before an interview.

Questions about the hiring manager

People rarely ask these, and they’re often the most revealing.

• What do you like about working here?
• How would you describe your management style?
• How do you like to get updates: written, in a meeting, as things happen?
• What’s something a previous person in this role did that you’d want repeated?

Questions about growth and how work gets done

These show you’re thinking about doing the job well over time, not just getting it.

• How do people on the team usually grow from here, in skills or in scope?
• What does a typical week look like for this role?
• How do you give feedback, and how often?
• What’s something about how the team works that you’re proud of, and something you’d change?
• What would you want me to learn in the first six months?

Questions about why the role is open and what’s next

These tell you if you’re walking into a mess, and when you’ll hear back.

• Is this a new role or a replacement? What changed?
• What’s been hardest about filling it?
• What are the next steps, and when should I expect to hear?
• Is there anything about my background you’d want me to say more about?

The last one is worth asking near the end. It gives you a chance to address a doubt before they write their notes.

Which questions should you ask in each interview round?

Match the question to what each person can actually answer. The hiring manager is the one to ask about success, priorities and the team; save logistics for the recruiter and strategy for senior leaders.

Asking the recruiter about the hiring manager before your interview is fair game, and it helps you choose what to ask later. For the end-of-interview moment in any round, see questions to ask at the end of an interview.

A few example questions you can adapt

Reword these so they sound like you. A question asked in your own words, out of real curiosity, starts a better conversation than a perfectly polished one, and it gives the hiring manager a sense of what working with you would be like.

"You mentioned [problem they described]. If I joined, what would you want me to have tried by the end of the first quarter?"

"I saw that [specific finding about the brand or a campaign]. Is that the kind of thing this role would own, or is it handled elsewhere?"

"What would make you say, a year from now, that this hire was the right call?"

Questions to avoid

Some questions cost you more than they’re worth, especially early.

• Anything you could have looked up. “What does the company do?” or “Who are your competitors?” Ask about something you found instead.
• Pay, holiday and perks in a first interview. Save these for the recruiter or the offer stage. See salary negotiation.
• "How soon could I be promoted?" It sounds like you want to leave the job before you’ve started it. Ask what growth looks like for people in the role.
• Yes-or-no questions. They end the conversation instead of opening it. Start with “how” or “what”.

FAQ

What is the best question to ask a hiring manager?

“What does success look like in the first year?” is the most useful single question. It tells you how you’ll be judged and shows you care about outcomes.

When should I ask my questions?

Mostly at the end, when the hiring manager asks if you have any. If a question fits naturally earlier, for example right after they describe a problem, ask it then; it makes the interview feel like a conversation.

What should I ask if the interview isn’t going well?

Ask “Is there anything about my background you’d want me to say more about?” It gives you a chance to address a doubt directly, which is worth more than a clever question at that point.

Is it OK to read my questions from notes?

Yes. Having them written down shows you prepared. Just don’t read them word for word; glance and ask.

What if the interviewer already answered my questions?

Say so and go deeper: “You covered how the team is set up. I’m curious how that changes as you grow.” Following up on what they said is better than asking a new question.