What happened to the person that had this job before me?
It doesn't apply to all positions, but I've asked that a couple of times. When I've asked, it usually flusters the interviewer and they can't give a good answer. That's a bad sign. If it's a quick "his wife took a new job in <city> and he needed to move," that's batter. Today with LinkedIn, there's a good chance that you can find that person and ask them directly.
When I interviewed in Microsoft I asked this question. The person who interviewed me honestly said that he was interviewing a replacement for himself: he was leaving because he hated it there.
So yeah, go ahead and ask! You may get surprisingly honest answer :)
This site is blocked in China. Anyone want to help with a synopsis? Maybe just a list of the questions.
Mine would be:
1. Is there healthcare? Which provider? Plan?
2. If you wanted to change something at the company, how would you go about it? Is there an established process? How are decisions made?
They're questions about the people you'll be working with and for - can you learn from them, can you work with them, can you trust them, is the team focussed on 'creating value' (instead of just marking time or playing politics), are they going to take an interest in your growth and development?
It doesn't apply to all positions, but I've asked that a couple of times. When I've asked, it usually flusters the interviewer and they can't give a good answer. That's a bad sign. If it's a quick "his wife took a new job in <city> and he needed to move," that's batter. Today with LinkedIn, there's a good chance that you can find that person and ask them directly.