Something you can always count on to happen at the end of your Software Engineer interview - both technical and non-technical rounds - is for the interviewer to ask you if you "have any final questions?".
This question actually isn't a real question at all - candidates are generally expected to ask questions. As an interviewer myself, candidates who don't have any questions might come off as less interested in the role.
Besides that, the questions you ask reveal what you care about. If asked well, this can be a very predictable opportunity for you to leave a good impression while also knowing more about the role (including uncovering potential red flags).
Here, I present questions to ask at the end of your software engineer interviews, for every purpose:
## Best questions to ask for knowing more about technical work
- What is the most costly technical decision made early on that the company is living with now?
- What is the most fulfilling / exciting / technically complex project that you've worked on here so far?
- What has been the worst technical blunder that has happened in the recent past? How did you guys deal with it? What changes were implemented afterwards to make sure it didn't happen again?
- What is your stack? What is the rationale for/story behind this specific stack?
- Does your team use Agile or Waterfall dev methodology and why?
## Best questions to ask for knowing more about the role
- What qualities do you look out for when hiring for this role?
- What concerns / reservations do you have about me for this position?
- What does a typical day look like in this role?
- What would be the most important problem you would want me to solve if I joined your team?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current team? What is being done to improve upon the weaknesses?
- What resources does the company have for new hires to study its product and processes? Are there specifications, requirements, documentation?
- What would I work on if I joined this team and who would I work most closely with?
## Best questions to ask for knowing more culture and welfare
- How is individual performance measured?
- What is the current team composition like?
- What do you like about working here?
- What is the most frustrating part about working here?
- What is unique about working at this company that you have not experienced elsewhere?
- What is your policy on working from home/remotely?
- What does the company do to nurture and train its employees?
- Does the company culture encourage entrepreneurship and creativity? Could you give me any specific examples?
## Best questions to ask to know more about team leadership or management
- How do you train/ramp up engineers who are new to the team?
- What is your management philosophy?
- How do you measure individual performance?
- How do your engineers know what to work on each day?
- What is your team's biggest challenge right now?
- Have you managed a poor performer at some point in your career before? What did you do and how did it work?
## Best questions to ask to know more about company direction
- What assurance do you have that this company will be successful?
- How does the company decide on what to work on next?
