You’ve spent hours and hours studying for the interview. You know you need to nail the technical questions and be prepared to talk about your previous work experiences in STAR format. But what happens after your interviewer has asked you all those questions, turns the tables, and now gives you the chance to ask them questions about the company?

If you’re not asking your interviewer questions at the end of your interview, you’re unprepared for the interview. If you’re asking general questions about the company, you’re wasting an opportunity to learn more about the company from the people who work there. Understanding how the company you’re interviewing at and the team you will be joining operates by asking specific questions will yield better insights than asking general questions such as “What is it like to work at X company?”

Interviewers are trained to sell you the role, and asking general questions makes it really easy for an interviewer to avoid talking about the potentially less appealing aspects of the company. Those less appealing aspects can affect your experience at the company, such as your day-to-day on the job, your career growth, and your work-life balance.

While it may be exciting to have received interviews at companies you have long sought for, it is important to think past the interview. By asking your interviewers targeted questions, you can drill down into situations you may find yourself in on the job or maybe even something that you previously experienced at a past job that you want to avoid in this job. Many online resources have company reviews. However, oftentimes these reviews are either too general or too anecdotal to one’s own experience. Although the latter can be useful if it’s about the team you are joining, it’s important to understand software engineering teams can change frequently — especially at big companies. A change in teams can bring a change in culture — especially if that change is within senior management.

You need to ask the actual members of the team you will be joining the right questions to get their perspective on the current state of affairs.

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