How to ask why the role is open at a job interview

Is it true? I understand that personnel matters are private to individuals, but are they private to the company? Of course, I don’t want to anger the interviewer. Have times changed so much that what was once considered an appropriate and smart question is now bad form?

Carla: As an old guy who has been in this gig for almost a decade –

— here’s my cynical take: Interviews are as much about avoiding bad choices as they are about making good ones. Both sides try to present themselves in the best possible light, while exploring the other side’s shadows as subtly as possible.

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The employer is looking for reasons not to hire you. But instead of asking, “So what’s wrong with you?” the interviewer will ask why you’re interested in the job and have you explain any gaps in your work history and create an impression based on how you answer – or don’t answer – to the questions.

On the other side of the conversation, even though you’re there to sell yourself as a great candidate, you should also be looking for warning signs why you wouldn’t want to work for this employer. But instead of asking, “What’s wrong with this job?” you ask about the work environment and management’s expectations, keeping one ear trained on the silence between the lines.

In any case, your asking why the position you’re applying for has been vacated is just as relevant as an interviewer asking why you left/are leaving your old job. Instead of getting indignant and telling them it’s not their beeswax, you’d probably expect and have practiced answering this question, especially if the circumstances are strange.

Likewise, experienced interviewers will have anticipated your curiosity and prepared some boring answer, perhaps with a slight deviation from the question they can’t or won’t answer to the question they’d rather you asked. The fact that your interviewer went into buffer fish mode and tried to embarrass you for some alleged breach of business etiquette should absolutely set off your warning system.

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Of course, a clumsy interviewer may have nothing wrong to hide, and smooth, neutral answers can hide a multitude of sins.

That’s what reference checks are for. Glassdoor and LinkedIn can offer leads or connections to people willing to talk freely about employers, and you can always ask to talk to prospective colleagues to get a sense of the work culture.

Back to your original question, it’s true that some interview questions that were once considered reasonable are now considered inappropriate because they may indicate illegal hiring bias, such as “Do you have or plan to have children ?” So employers have learned to ask less personal, more job-focused questions to get what they really want to know: Are you available to work on short notice? Can you maintain consistent working hours? What are your goals beyond getting this job?

So again, while nothing in your original question is inappropriate as far as I can see, if this experience has made you anxious, you can rework your interview questions to focus on the job itself and what it requires, such as for example:

– When and why was this position created?

– What do you think is the average time people spend in this position?

-What are the characteristics of the people who have been most successful in this position?

This leaves it up to the interviewer to reveal as much or as little about the individual staff as they see fit, while giving you the opportunity to listen for clues about whether the job is right for you.