Good new hire survey questions change with the checkpoint: at 30 days, ask how the job compares with what they expected; at 60, what's slowing them down; at 90, whether they see a future here. Below are 27 onboarding survey questions for week one through day 90, each with the follow-up Spoke asks when a new hire says “it's going fine.”
The cohort is engaged but nobody knows who owns their onboarding.
An example of the line the Agent Results Brief leads with.Each checkpoint tests something different. Here is what to look for at each one. The questions for each checkpoint follow.
Look for missing equipment, access or introductions, and a first week that looked nothing like the offer.
Look for gaps between the job and the job description, help that faded after week one, and questions nobody has answered.
Look for unclear standards, stalled access, one-on-ones that slipped, and where the new hire already feels confident.
Look for flat answers about the future, no named next step, and good work nobody noticed. This is the checkpoint to act on before the first review.
Under every question is the follow-up Spoke asks when the first answer is vague. That second question is where the real answer usually is.
What did you need this week that you didn't have yet?
What did you end up borrowing or working around?
How did your first week compare with what you expected?
What's one moment where it felt different from what you pictured?
What's still unclear about your role?
Who have you asked about it so far?
What surprised you most about the job so far?
What's one moment this month when that hit you?
Who do you go to when you're stuck?
What were you stuck on the last time you asked them?
How does the job compare with how it was described when you were hired?
Which part of your week looks least like the job description?
What have you had to figure out on your own?
Where did you end up finding the answers?
What's been the most helpful part of onboarding so far?
What did it help you get done in your first weeks?
What tools or access are you still waiting on?
What are you doing in the meantime to get the work done?
What was harder than it needed to be this month?
What would have made it easier?
What questions do you still have about how things work here?
Who would you expect to know the answer?
How does your work now compare with what you expected to be doing by this point?
What's one thing you thought you'd be doing by now?
How clear is it what good work looks like in your role?
What's one piece of work you've seen praised here?
What feedback have you had on your work so far?
When did you last hear how a piece of your work landed?
How are your one-on-ones with your manager going?
What did you talk about in the last one?
What slows you down most in a normal week?
What happened the last time it slowed you down?
Where do you feel most confident in the job now?
What helped you get there fastest?
How connected do you feel to the people you work with?
Who, other than your manager, have you worked with most?
What training would help you most right now?
What would you do differently next week if you had it?
How would you describe this job to a friend thinking of applying?
What's the one detail you'd make sure to mention?
What's kept you most engaged these first three months?
What were you working on the last time you felt that?
What would make you more likely to still be here in a year?
What would that look like day to day?
Where do you see yourself growing here?
Who have you talked to about that so far?
What do you know now that you wish you'd known on day one?
Where should that have been written down?
How has support from your manager changed since your first month?
What's one thing they do differently now?
What's one thing you've done here that you're proud of?
Who noticed it?
What should we change about onboarding before the next person starts?
Which week would that change matter most in?
Every person gets interviewed, not surveyed. Spoke asks, listens, and follows up on what that person actually said. Here's an example.
Read the answer, not the transcripts: themes ranked by how many people raised them, the quotes behind each, and the places where two groups disagree.
The cohort likes the work and the people. What is missing is an owner: many describe help drying up after week one, and most can't name who is responsible for their onboarding after that. Several have questions they have not asked anyone.
An example Agent Results Brief. The counts, themes and quotes are illustrative, not from a real survey.
New hires want to look like they're coping, so the first answer is often “fine.” Here is what one follow-up turns it into. Examples, not real respondents.
The answers live in old threads, not in onboarding.
A stuck access request, and a workaround nobody in IT knows about.
Silence read as “fine.” Nobody has told them what good looks like.
The first growth conversation is three months after the question starts to matter.
Open questions tell you why. To see whether onboarding is getting better, add one rating you ask the same way every time, such as “How prepared do you feel for your role?” on a 1–5 scale, and let the open questions explain the score.
Then tell the next cohort one thing you changed because of the last one. It shows new hires their answers go somewhere.
What do you want to learn, and who's answering?
Drafted the spec. Should I ask about their manager directly, or let it come up?
Ask how the job compares with what they expected, who they go to when they're stuck, what's slowing them down, and what would make them stay. Pick three to six of these for each checkpoint; the follow-ups fill in the detail, and you can cap the interview at 5, 10 or 15 minutes.
A short pulse at the end of week one, then at 30, 60 and 90 days. Each checkpoint asks something different, so reuse the structure, not the exact questions.
At 30 days, ask what surprised them, who they go to when they're stuck, and how the job compares with how it was described. At 90, ask what's kept them engaged and where they see themselves growing: you're listening for whether they see a future here.
A 30-60-90 check-in is a conversation with their manager about goals. A new hire survey asks the same questions of everyone who started, so you can see what the whole cohort has in common, including things people won't say to their manager.
It helps at 60 and 90 days, when the honest answer may be about their manager. In ScatterSpoke it's a per-survey setting on paid plans, so if it isn't on, don't promise it. In a small cohort, ask about the experience rather than details only one person would know.
Compare against your own last cohort rather than a benchmark. To raise it: ask while they're still new, keep it short, send a reminder to anyone who hasn't answered, and tell them one thing you changed because of the last cohort.
Free to start. No card. Your first ten agent surveys are on us.
