Ask about how the team actually works, not only perks.
High-signal questions (pick 3–5)
Team & ownership
- What does a Data Engineer own end to end here?
- How are pipeline on-call and incidents handled?
Stack & practices
- What does the current warehouse / orchestration stack look like?
- How do you test data quality today?
- How do you manage schema changes with producers?
Success & growth
- What would great look like in the first 90 days?
- How do juniors get mentored on this team?
- What are the hardest data problems the team is tackling this quarter?
Product context
- Which metrics or domains are most business-critical right now?
Example closer
> I'd love to understand how you balance feature delivery with pipeline reliability, and what success looks like for a new DE in the first three months.
Avoid
Only salary/benefits in the first interview; questions answered clearly on the careers page; "I have no questions."
Fresher tip
Asking about mentorship and onboarding is appropriate and professional.
Interview tip: Prepare questions in advance; customize one to something they said in the interview.