Questions to Ask About COVID-19 in Your Next Interview—During the Pandemic and Beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world in many ways—including how we think about our careers and workplaces. A lot of people began rethinking their priorities in life, and asking themselves what they want from a career. Multiple surveys have predicted that a significant percentage of American workers might switch jobs post-pandemic.
If you’re one of the millions who are, or plan to be, job seeking during and after this public health crisis, you may want to ask your future employers questions specifically related to how the company handled the pandemic and what impact COVID-19 had on the work environment. Some you could bring up during a first- or second-round job interview when your interviewer asks if you have any questions. But others might be better to ask after you get an offer (and before you accept it) or during the offer negotiation process.
The answers to these questions can uncover information about how the company values its employees’ safety, how it adapts to change, and how much it trusts its employees—all factors that are important not just due to COVID-19, but when exploring any new employment situation. Plus, if you’re looking for a new job because of how your last employer handled the pandemic, you don’t want to end up in a similar situation to the one you’re leaving.
Additionally, research indicates that around one in 10 people who were infected with COVID-19 could have “long COVID” (a range of long-term health problems stemming from a past COVID-19 infection). That means there are likely to be millions of people needing to adjust to a “new normal” that includes adapting to a new, chronic health condition or disability in the workplace. And if you’re one of these COVID long-haulers, you’ll have an additional set of questions that you might need to ask as you look for a new job.

Questions to Ask About COVID-19 During an Interview or Early in the Hiring Process

Questions you ask during an interview could give insight into how the organization treats its employees and what company culture it fosters more broadly. While the rules are gradually shifting, it’s still generally considered “polite” job search etiquette to avoid questions that focus too much on what’s in it for you when you’re in the early stages of the interview process, and instead focus your questions on how you can benefit the employer and how you’ll add to the organization’s culture. Of course, it’s fair to ask some questions, even in the early stages, to ensure the company and a job meets your goals and needs for a new position—for example, finding out if a position is fully remote or if you’d be expected to commute into the office in the future.

1. How Have You Created a Positive Community and High Morale Within Your Organization During the Pandemic?

During an emergency or crisis, it’s easy to forget about the need to build a culture of community in the workplace. Community-building activities, like holiday parties, staff lunches, birthdays, retirement celebrations, farewell parties and other events may have had to be altered if in-person meetings couldn’t take place. However, such activities are an important aspect of employee engagement. An employer that took the time and energy to think creatively about how to build and maintain a positive work environment, even when staff worked remotely, is one that truly values its employees.

2. Is Remote and/or Flexible Work Still an Option? If So, Is This a Permanent Option?

This was once considered an almost unthinkable question for most job interviews. Now, with so many organizations offering remote or hybrid work models, it’s worth asking early on in the job search process—not as your first or only question in your phone screen or initial interview, but perhaps before you are called back for a second- or third-round interview. If you’re seeking remote-only work, it’s better to know whether this is an option up front, rather than wasting your time and the company’s time on multiple interview rounds. And if the company insists that all staff must return to the office full-time without a business reason, it might provide insights into the organization's culture and priorities, too.

3. How Did You Handle the Transition at the Beginning of COVID? Was Your Whole Workforce Remote During the Pandemic? If Not, What Determined Who Had to Come Into the Office and When?

This question gives insight into whether the company puts safety first and whether leadership trusted their employees as they adjusted to working from home during a global pandemic. You can find out whether decisions regarding remote work were based on more impartial factors, like the specific nature of each person’s job duties or if they were made as a result of more subjective reasons, like personal opinions of individual employees. You may also gain insights into how the company thinks about work-life balance.

4. How Is Your Company Adapting to the Economic Changes Caused by COVID-19?

This answer can reveal a bit about job security and how the company is adjusting to keep themselves in business. Certain industries including retail (both online and brick-and-mortar), performing arts, restaurants, grocery delivery services, government agencies, and healthcare were radically altered by COVID-19. If leadership hasn’t thought at all about how to adapt, it might be a red flag for the company’s future.

5. How Did You Make Sure That Employees Had All of the Information They Needed About Safety, Work Expectations, and Other Process or Policy Changes During the Pandemic?

An organization that takes some extra steps to ensure their staff are well-informed about policies and procedures during an emergency tends to be well-organized and communicative in “normal” times, too. And if the interviewer says that employees were asked for their opinions about changes, it could indicate that company leadership will listen to input from workers down the line as well.