> Interesting idea popped into my head... If candidate is not going to ask good questions about the job and experiences and responsibilities and challenges and the company, should the interviewer torture the candidate with random pages from Knuth until candidate either asks a good question or breaks or runs out of time. (say yes! say yes!)
General etiquette for this sort of sitch seems to be to allow the person with more leverage to lead. Most of the formulaic/cold interviews I've had they'll get to the end and then ask you if you've got any questions.
Hmm... I'm unemployed that means they have leverage, I'm employed and looking that means I have the leverage?
Now that I think back over the years, as a stereotypical break the ice event is at the start of an interview, they usually thank me for taking the time off from work, at which point I mention I burned a vacation day to meet them and I've only got X left this year, at which point I tend to feel a little arrogant, I'm burning a rare limited day off for these guys, they'd best make it worth my while...
I know they're just fishing to see if I'm ethical enough to burn vacation instead of calling in sick, or maybe lying about being currently employed...
Your leverage is something like, 'Everything someone wants that they think you can give them, or take from them, for which they think they have no acceptable, (in terms of their culture,) alternatives that aren't more costly than whatever you'd impose on them in return.'
There's also an aspect of norms to it - most commonly in terms of consistency because people generally want to appear reasonable.
Anyway, if you've already got a job, their position looks worse in that respect since you need them less. Though that doesn't necessarily give you any more leverage in terms of extracting concessions from them since your job doesn't necessarily make you a more desirable employee.
Though, for some reason, companies seem to hang themselves in that regard - placing a great emphasis on whether you're unemployed, (which, personally, I've never found to be a great predictor.) So, while it's not an 'of necessity' thing, it probably does convert into some leverage on your part for a lot of potential jobs.
It is, in a round about way, why it's generally better to try to bargain about wages after you've got some sort of buy-in established on their side. Since you'll have the greatest leverage once they've decided they want you.
Things that you can point to that you can quantify, that's generally a good source of leverage - especially if you're a contractor. Anything I do that I can hang any sort of number on, I write down to use in interviews - not all of it goes onto my CV.
General etiquette for this sort of sitch seems to be to allow the person with more leverage to lead. Most of the formulaic/cold interviews I've had they'll get to the end and then ask you if you've got any questions.