Questions to Ask Before an Interview

Calling the contact officer before applying

Almost every Australian government job ad names a "contact officer" — usually the hiring manager or someone close to them. Most large private-sector ads include a recruiter contact. Calling that person before you apply is one of the highest-leverage things you can do in the entire process. It's also the step most candidates skip, partly out of nervousness, partly because the value isn't obvious until you've done it once.

Your goal isn't to interrogate them. It's a short, professional conversation that demonstrates you're considering the role seriously and surfaces information you couldn't have gathered from the position description alone. Lead by introducing yourself briefly, naming the role you're interested in, and asking if they have a few minutes.

The questions worth asking at this stage:

1. "What are the most important challenges this role will be expected to address in the first six months?"

   Surfaces what's actually on the contact officer's mind — which is often more specific than the position description suggests. If the answer is "we need someone who can stabilise the team after a restructure," that's a substantially different role from the one the PD describes.

2. "How will success in this role be measured at the 12-month point?"

   The framing of "how is performance measured" gets stronger answers when you anchor it to a timeframe. Tells you whether the role is delivery-focused, capability-building, or relationship-development — each implies different evidence in your application.

3. "Is there anything you're particularly hoping to see in applications that the position description doesn't make obvious?"

   Direct, professional, and nearly always rewards an honest answer. Contact officers who've been doing this a while will tell you what the unstated weighting actually is — sector experience, particular tools, specific operational context.

4. "What does the team look like? Who would I be reporting to and working alongside?"

   Practical and grounding. Tells you the team size, the reporting line, and often surfaces interesting context about team dynamics or recent changes you can address in your application.

5. "Where does this role sit in relation to the broader work program over the next year or two?"

   A more senior question than "what are the team's goals" — it positions the role within strategic context. Particularly useful for EL1+ roles where panels are looking for evidence you can think above the operational layer.

6. "Are there any specific format expectations for the application that aren't in the published material?"

   Closes out the call with something practical. Sometimes surfaces useful information about preferred document length, what panels weight in their scoring, or specific things the contact officer wishes more applicants did. Especially valuable for WA Government roles, where departmental conventions vary substantially. We've covered this in detail in our state-by-state government recruitment guide.

Don't try to use all six on one call — you'll come across as interrogating. Pick the three or four most relevant and let the conversation breathe. A good pre-application call is short, focused, and ends with a clear next step ("I'll be applying by [date]; thank you for your time").

When the recruiter calls to schedule the interview

The pre-interview call is short and primarily logistical, but it's an opportunity to gather practical information that shapes how you prepare. Recruiters and HR scheduling staff usually answer these readily — they're not testing you here, they're trying to set you up to interview well.

The questions worth asking at this stage:

1. "What's the format of the interview? Behavioural, technical, mixed?"

   Tells you whether to prepare STAR-structured behavioural answers, technical knowledge, or both. Different formats reward different preparation — getting this wrong is the most common cause of underperforming in interviews you should otherwise have aced.

2. "Who'll be on the panel, and what are their roles?"

   Worth knowing in advance. A panel with the hiring manager, a peer-level colleague, and an HR representative weighs different things than a panel with two senior executives and the role's eventual line manager. Helps you calibrate which examples to lead with.

3. "Will there be any pre-reading, written task, or psychometric testing involved?"

   Some interviews include a written task on the day, a take-home exercise sent in advance, or psychometric assessment. Better to know now than to be surprised. If something is involved, ask when materials will be sent and how long you'll have.

4. "How long is the interview scheduled for, and is the time fixed or flexible?"

   Different interview lengths suggest different formats. A 30-minute interview is usually a screen; 45–60 minutes suggests a substantive panel; 90 minutes or more often means multiple components (panel + task + technical). Scope your preparation accordingly.

5. "Is the interview in-person, video, or phone? And if video, what platform?"

   Most Australian interviews in 2026 default to video (MS Teams or Zoom). Confirm the platform, test it well in advance, check your camera and lighting, and plan for the room you'll be in. Phone interviews — still occasionally used for first-round screens — favour different preparation: clearer verbal structure, no reliance on body language.

"Do you have any questions for us?"

This is the most visible of the three stages and the one most candidates think of when they hear "questions to ask." It's also where the lowest-leverage questions tend to come up — the ones that signal more about what the candidate wants from the role than about the role itself.

The strongest questions at this stage demonstrate that you've already started thinking about the work. They sit naturally with someone who has the role rather than someone applying for it. Avoid questions about salary, leave, flexibility, or remote-work arrangements at this stage unless the panel raises them first — those conversations belong with HR or the recruiter, not the panel.

The questions worth having ready:

1. "What does success look like for someone in this role at the 6-month point? At 12 months?"

   Differentiated framing — most candidates ask "what does success look like" without the time horizon. Asking it twice surfaces the difference between early-career deliverables (often onboarding-related) and full-velocity deliverables.

2. "What are the biggest challenges currently facing the team, and how is the team thinking about them?"

   Demonstrates you're thinking about the work as it actually is, not as the position description abstracts it. The answer is also useful — challenges named explicitly in interview almost always become part of your role.

3. "How would you describe the leadership style of [the panel chair / the line manager named on the PD]?"

   A direct version that nervous candidates avoid. The answer tells you what the working relationship would actually look like. If the panel chair is the line manager and they answer their own question, you learn how they see themselves; if a colleague answers, you learn how they're perceived.

4. "Where does the team sit in the organisation's broader strategy over the next 18–24 months? What's growing, what's stabilising?"

   A senior-level question that signals strategic awareness. Particularly valuable at EL1+, manager, and director levels where panels expect candidates to think above the immediate task layer.

5. "Is there anything in my application or what I've shared today that you'd like me to expand on?"

   A rare and disarming closing question. Gives the panel an opening to address any reservations they have, and gives you a chance to address them before the interview ends. Doesn't always get a substantive answer, but when it does, it's gold.

Pick three or four to have ready; you'll typically ask two or three depending on time. If the panel has already covered something in the course of the interview, drop that question and use a different one.