1.     Why did the last person leave this job?  While a job seeker may be curious about why the previous worker left the position, asking this type of question during an interview will make the candidate seem nosey.  Also, it may put the interviewer into an awkward situation because the previous employee may have been fired or quit under less than amicable terms. If you want to find out why the last employee is no longer working in the position find out some other way, not during the interview.

2.     You don’t require weekend work do you?  While it is important that a job candidate find a firm which will be a good fit for their lifestyle, asking about weekend or overtime work during an interview can indicate to a firm that you are unwilling to put in extra hours.  The time to find out if a company requires lots of overtime is BEFORE you take the interview.  If having weekends off is important, you need to find out if the company requires weekend work before you get to the interview stage.

3.     So what is the one thing that people like least about the company?  Once again, while it is important to find out the good and bad about a firm, you want to find it out before you go to the interview or at least before you accept the job.  This can be accomplished by talking to former or current employees, not during an interview. You don’t want to focus on the negative when you’re at an interview and asking about the downsides of working for a firm is focusing on the negative.