Best Questions to Ask an Interviewee for a Successful Interview

Finding the right person can only begin by asking the right questions in an interview. That’s because these questions get at the candidate’s skills, experience, and personality. This is invaluable insight that will help you gauge whether or not they are the right fit for the role and your team.

They open opportunities for real conversations that move beyond resumes and cover letters. The point is to find out how the candidate can contribute. We want to provide them an opportunity to tell their story.

Learning to ask the best interview questions can help you save time and make better hiring decisions. It should not be simply about filling the role, but rather hiring someone that will have an impact on your company’s success.

Importance of Asking the Right Questions

Asking the right questions in an interview is critical to choosing the right person to join your team. Well-crafted questions do double duty, revealing what a candidate can do while giving you insight into how they would behave in your organization.

Behavior-based interviewing has a 75% success rate. Conventional ways squeak by at 19%, illustrating how strategic questioning can revolutionize the hiring process.

Assess Candidate Skills and Expertise

Clarifying a candidate’s skills starts with asking the right questions. Start with their background:

• What was your job description for your previous position?
• Can you describe a project you’re particularly proud of?

Explore their career journey with prompts like:

• What inspired your career path?
• How have you grown in your field over time?

Finally, focus on their interest in the role:

• What excites you most about this position?
• How do you see yourself contributing to our team?

These questions give insight into their expertise and motivation.

Evaluate Cultural Fit and Team Compatibility

Cultural fit is just as important as skills. Use situational questions to explore problem-solving, like:

• Take me through a situation when you had to overcome a difficult challenge.

For teamwork, ask about collaboration:

• Tweet us an example of the last time you collaborated with a difficult team.

To gauge conflict resolution, try:

• How did you handle a disagreement at work?

Decision-making reveals their thought process:

• Tell us about a time when you had to make a difficult decision.

Finally, adaptability is crucial, so ask:

• How have you handled unexpected changes in past roles?

These pointed questions will reveal just how well candidates would fit in with your existing team.

Identify Growth Potential and Adaptability

Candidacies with the most growth potential bubble to the top. Start with technical competence:

• What specific tools or systems have you mastered?

For leadership, ask:

• How have you guided a team to success?

Time management can be assessed with scenarios:

• If given multiple deadlines, how would you prioritize tasks?

Problem-specific knowledge is revealed by asking:

• How would you approach [relevant big challenge specific to your field]?

Lastly, gauge their learning ability:

• What’s a new skill you’ve developed recently, and how?

These types of questions reveal candidates who have the potential to develop alongside your organization.

General Questions to Start the Interview

Opening the interview with broad questions is a good way to get into the discussion. This collaborative approach goes a long way to establish a positive tone for the discussion. A short note of thanks makes all the difference.

Begin by thanking them for meeting with you today. It’s a simple and easy gesture to make that goes a long way to show respect for the candidate’s time and effort. This can be quickly followed up by logistics questions, such as their availability to complete the scheduling process and finalize the appointment.

Such as, “We’d love to have you join us, please reply with your availability by the end of day tomorrow.

Once you’re into the real interview, starting with style of work questions is a great way to get a feel for the cultural fit. Questioning what the candidate’s ideal work environment would look like is another way to gauge how they will fit into your organization.

For instance, “Could you describe the type of work setting where you thrive?” reveals preferences for collaboration, independence, or structure. These responses truly underscore fit with the company’s culture and day-to-day.

Getting to know what motivates a candidate is just as key. Questions around motivations and passions, such as “What inspires you most in your work?” or “What keeps you excited about your field?” can uncover alignment with the company’s values.

These answers can yield valuable insights into how a candidate will stay engaged over the long-haul and even how they might uplift team morale.

Next, asking them what their ideal management style looks like is a more straightforward approach to figuring out how they like to be managed and supported. Questions such as, “What’s the best way for me to give you feedback?” or “What kind of leadership style do you need in order to thrive?

Questions like these will help uncover whether your style of leadership is aligned with what they’re looking for. This will go a long way in avoiding future miscommunications and creating a collaborative working relationship.

Finally, understanding how they value and prioritize inform them gives insight into their overall cultural match with the organization. Or “What things about a company are dealbreakers for you when evaluating a potential new job?” gets to their values.

It reveals if they value work/life balance, creativity or collaboration. This information is essential for evaluating mutual interests and identifying if the candidate will contribute to the company’s purpose.

Behavioral Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

1. Learn About Problem-Solving Skills

Begin with prompts such as, “Tell me about a time when you encountered a difficult problem on the job. What was the biggest problem you faced and how did you address it?” This allows you to get an insight into how candidates think through problems and develop solutions.

Incorporating tools such as a standardized set of questions can assist in making sure these questions are the same from interview to interview. For example, platforms like Greenhouse or Workable allow you to create templates for problem-solving scenarios, saving time while ensuring fairness.

To assess problem-solving depth, ask follow-ups like, “What steps did you take to identify the root cause?” or “Did you consider alternative solutions?” Using data from past interviews can highlight patterns in successful hires who excelled in similar roles, giving you more confidence in your evaluations.

2. Understand Team Collaboration Experiences

Working together as a team is crucial in nearly every work environment. Ask, “Tell me about a time when you collaborated on a project with a small group of people. What was your contribution?” or “How did you go about resolving conflicts with other team members?

These questions will show you how candidates communicate, contribute, and build relationships. Handing off the process to newer, more powerful tools can help maintain that pace.

Platforms such as BambooHR keep data on applicant responses, aiding you in your ability to compare candidates’ collaboration skills. Analytical insights from these tools help make decision-making less complex, especially for positions that require a high level of multi-team collaboration.

3. Assess Conflict Resolution Abilities

Conflict is an inevitability in any workplace; therefore, knowing how a candidate handles it is essential. Ask, “Describe a time you were in conflict with a coworker. What was your approach and how did you deal with it?

This will allow you to observe how they operate—if they focus on finding solutions rather than placing blame. Follow-ups such as, “What was the end result of that situation?” help you to understand the whole outcome.

By applying structured question sets for each applicant, you’re bringing consistency to how you evaluate conflict resolution skills. Pairing these with existing platforms such as Lever not only streamlines hiring but gives robust analytics on candidate answers, bringing transparency to the process.

4. Explore Decision-Making Processes

To initiate meaningful introspection, try these soul-stirring questions. For example, you could ask, “Tell me about a difficult decision you had to make at work. What led you to choose that option?” or “How do you weigh risks and benefits when making a decision?

These provide a window into their thinking and priorities. Data-driven platforms can assist in this area as well. Track candidate feedback and contrast it with previous hires.

This method will allow you to gauge how closely their decision-making will match up with your company’s needs. Artificial intelligence tools like HireVue can offer these insights, streamlining the process while reducing speed of hire at pace, not in haste.

5. Gauge Adaptability in Changing Situations

Change is the only thing that is certain in today’s work environment. Instead of asking, “Tell me about a time you had to adapt to a lot of change at the office,” consider behavioral interview questions like, “Describe a time when your plan was wrenched away.

With structured interviews, you make sure you’re asking adaptability-related questions the same way every time. Utilizing tools that track candidate response and interview patterns, such as Jobvite, allows you to make more informed, data-backed decisions.

Data-based predictive analytics can identify candidates who succeed in fast-paced environments, taking the guesswork out of hiring.

Skill-Based Questions for Candidates

Focus on Technical Competence

Begin with questions about the tools, software, or processes the role will need to be familiar with. If you’re hiring a graphic designer, put their fave design programs to the test. Then, determine how they’ve used those tools to advance their previous projects.

Sure, this question shows their deep knowledge, but it shows how they use their knowledge to solve problems in a practical, real-world way. Another example could be for IT roles: “Can you walk me through troubleshooting a common network issue?” These pointed questions reveal their technical skills and real-world expertise.

Assess Communication and Leadership Skills

Good communication is important in every job, but it’s especially important in leadership positions. For example, perhaps you ask the candidate, “Tell me about a time when you successfully led a team to complete a project.

The way that they respond should give evidence of their clarity in articulating vision and their leadership in mobilizing or directing others. Instead, for individual contributor roles, consider something like, “How do you make sure that your point of view gets across in team discussions?

The questions below can give you a sense of their capacity to work in tandem with you—and their willingness to do so.

Evaluate Time Management and Organization

Diving into how a candidate manages their workload is immensely important. For example, you can ask, “How do you handle multiple projects with competing priorities and deadlines?

A follow-up skill-based question I like to ask is, “What tools or techniques do you use to help keep you organized?” Their responses can provide a window into their propensity to plan and plan ahead as well as their capacity to work under pressure.

For instance, candidates could reference experience with innovative digital solutions such as calendar apps or developing granular to-do lists.

Test Problem-Specific Knowledge

Tailored problem-solving questions can be valuable for assessing critical thinking. For example, “If a client requests a last-minute change that conflicts with the project timeline, how would you address it?

This type of question evaluates their ability to think on their feet and balance competing priorities. For technical roles, you can present a hypothetical scenario or ask, “What steps would you take to debug an unexpected error?

Explore Learning and Development Capabilities

Growth-minded candidates can stretch their value over years in a team. Tell us about a time you learned a new skill on the job to help you perform your job better.

How were things then and there? This question helps you see their level of flexibility and openness to learn and grow. Or, you might ask, “When you’re looking to grow professionally, where do you go?

Their answers could range from online courses to reading books to establishing a mentorship program, showing you just how much they take responsibility for their own development.

Personality and Cultural Fit Questions

Discover Work Style Preferences

Getting a sense for how a candidate does their work is critical. Questions like “Describe a time when you had to juggle multiple deadlines” underscore a candidate’s ability to prioritize tasks and make good decisions under pressure.

To probe further, ask for concrete instances where they dealt with difficult circumstances before. For example, an applicant may provide an example of juggling competing projects and changing priorities successfully.

This one simple approach tells you not only how adaptable they are but how self-aware they are. Flexibility is critical here too, because inflexible work styles and often the inflexible cultures they originate from do not pair nicely with highly collaborative teams.

Explore Motivations and Passions

Motivations cut to the heart of what really motivates a candidate to act. Questions about their greatest professional successes or their favorite projects to date will go a long way in helping you suss out their passions.

For instance, if a tech candidate mentions the time they built a tool that automated workflow processes, it could indicate where their interests lie. This highlights their creative, problem-solving skills.

Instead, consider paying attention to enthusiasm and alignment with your company’s mission, because shared passions can supercharge cultural fit.

Understand Their Ideal Management Style

Questions like “Can you share an example of a manager you thrived under?” help you gauge how a candidate works with leadership. If they can’t give you three specific examples, you know that their version of guidance may be a more hands-off approach or might involve something more structured.

This too gauges their humility and self-awareness. Aligning management styles fosters collaboration and prevents mismatched expectations from creating tension and leading to a toxic workplace.

Learn About Their Values and Priorities

Values help us understand what a candidate cares about and wants to nurture in their work life. You might find it helpful to begin with some questions such as, “What values are most important to you on a team?” or “What motivates you to continue working for an organization long-term?

Candidates who seek out collaboration, seek paths for growth, or appreciate an innovative approach may be better suited for collaborative or innovative cultures.

Zappos, for example, excels at this by offering new hires $2,000 to quit, ensuring only those aligned with their culture stay. This emphasis on cultural fit has resulted in significantly lower turnover rates—only 18-20% compared to the industry standard of 30-45%.

Experience-Based Questions for Deeper Insights

Discuss Past Achievements and Challenges

When you ask for examples of what a candidate has done, you find the nuggets. This method uncovers their critical thinking, creativity, diligence, and ability to actually get things done. For instance, you could ask them, “Tell me about a project you’re very proud of and why.

This might be the most important question, because it reveals what they treasure most about their work. Then ask, “What were the biggest hurdles you had to clear on this project, and how did you do so?” In the process, you evaluate their critical thinking as well as their flexibility and agility in finding creative solutions to challenges.

Asking about concrete successes gets at what they do best. Sharing stories of overcoming adversity gives insight into how they are working to be better and more resilient.

Explore Industry-Specific Experience

When interviewing for more specialized roles, it’s good to ask for examples of industry-specific tasks they’ve performed. For instance, if using spreadsheets is an important part of the position, you could include, “Describe how you would use spreadsheet software to organize tasks or information.

This question will help you confirm that they have the technical knowledge necessary to succeed in the role. Relatedly, you could ask how they are responding to changes in their field, like the development of new technology or changing needs of clients.

This uncovers the extent to which they are proactive in keeping themselves informed and how they’re adapting to changing demands.

Understand Their Professional Growth Journey

Questions regarding professional development provide an honest look into a candidate’s motivations and future aspirations. Like, “What are you learning right now?” or “What’s a recent professional development experience that has changed you?

These questions allow you to gauge how they attempt to better themselves and if that matches the potential for growth within the role they’re filling. Asking about growth gives you clues into how their strengths and weaknesses have grown over time as well.

By breaking these topics apart, you can dive deeper in each space. From there, you can start asking deeper follow-up experience-based questions that reveal much more about their journey.

Great Questions for Candidates to Ask Interviewers

Inquire About Company Culture and Values

Inquire what the organization’s core values are and how they shape key decisions. For instance, you could inquire, “What culture/values does the company promote and how do they show up in day-to-day work?” This can help you determine if the workplace is a good fit based on the principles you value.

You might ask how the company recognizes high performers. For example, “Does the organization have any rituals for celebrating achievement?” reveals a lot about how the organization values its employees. These questions will make it easier for you to understand whether the place is an empowering, motivating environment.

Ask About Team Dynamics and Collaboration

Just as important as who you work for is knowing the dynamics of the team you’ll be joining. Inquire about what their creative process looks like and how the team works on projects. Questions such as, “How does the team collaborate on a large-scale project?” showcase their communication style and their problem-solving approach.

A follow-up to that question might be something like, “What roles are on the team currently, and how do they work together and build off one another?” This provides a better sense of accountability and collaboration. Understand the team’s strengths and weaknesses. This will inform you of the areas you’ll be able to add the most value.

Seek Clarity on Role Expectations

It’s important to have a realistic picture of what the job will be like. Specific questions such as, “What are the immediate priorities for this position in the first three months?” or “What does a typical day look like for someone in this role?” help you grasp the responsibilities and challenges.

Perhaps you might even consider asking, “What are the top three qualities and skills that successful employees in this position have demonstrated?” This provides some context for you to understand how your own strengths might fit into what’s required. Being clear about this up front avoids any surprises once you’re hired.

Explore Career Growth Opportunities

We know that professional development and growth opportunities are the most significant contributors to job satisfaction. Ask what the company is doing to support your learning opportunities. You might inquire, “What kind of internal training or resources does the company offer to help employees build new skills?” or “Do you offer mentorship programs?

This demonstrates your desire to develop as an employee as well. An even better one might be, “Tell me about people like me who have moved up in this organization.” This not only shows you what the possible routes are but proves to you if the company is committed to helping their staff grow.

Understand the Company’s Future Goals

Knowing where the company is headed is important in determining if you’ll be a long-term fit. For example, “What are the company’s goals for the next five years?” This shows that you care about the wider impact. It’s the best way to figure out whether the place is right for your long-term career goals.

A follow-up question you should be asking is, “How does this position fit into accomplishing those objectives?” This question connects your future job duties straight to the company’s mission. Inquiring about challenges the organization is currently facing can provide a good glimpse into the organization’s priorities and overall adaptability to market forces.

Tips for Structuring Effective Interviews

Prepare Questions in Advance

Taking time to plan questions ahead ensures the conversation stays focused and productive. Start with a question that sets a comfortable yet professional tone, like “What inspired you to pursue this career?” This approach helps candidates open up and creates a foundation for the discussion.

Consider including a mix of role-specific inquiries and broader questions about problem-solving or adaptability. For instance, ask how they’ve handled unexpected challenges or transitioned to a new environment. These kinds of questions allow you to evaluate their thought process and flexibility.

Even seemingly simple questions, like “What’s your favorite part of your current role?” can reveal surprising insights about their motivations and priorities.

Maintain a Balance Between Open and Closed Questions

Open-ended questions provide opportunities for candidates to speak freely about their experiences and perspectives. Instead, try asking, “How would you approach completing multiple projects on a quick turnaround?” This gives you insight into their critical thinking.

Closed questions, like asking if they’re familiar with xyz software, cut to the chase on the technical requirements. By combining these types, you make sure you touch on both strategic, big-picture qualities and more technical, specific competencies.

Don’t frontload the interview with one type to keep the interview flowing and the conversation alive.

Use Follow-Up Questions for Deeper Understanding

Often the best answers are achieved by probing further, getting past a candidate’s first answer. Follow-up questions such as, “Can you provide an example of that?” and “What was the takeaway from that experience?” probe further into the dialogue.

They shed light on things that would otherwise remain in the dark. These questions show candidates you’re genuinely interested in their answers, fostering better rapport. If a candidate discusses long term teamwork on a project, dig in and ask about their specific involvement.

This question will start to get at the impact of their work. This approach is especially valuable for gauging how they’d mesh with your staff and culture.

Stay Flexible While Staying on Track

Of course, interviews rarely go exactly as planned, so being flexible while still keeping the core goals in focus is key. If a candidate says something interesting, such as an innovative solution to a common problem, be prepared to dive deep into that subject matter.

Always make sure to ask the key questions first, just in case the interview ends early. For instance, if you ask, “What are you most excited about with this role?” you’ll likely get a short but substantive answer.

When you work to construct questions that push past what’s been answered before, you make way for surprising discoveries. This strategy demonstrates your intellectual poise and breadth.

How Technology Can Enhance Interviews?

Use Tools for Structured Question Sets

Technology makes it easier to develop and share an inventory of interview questions. Using technology such as Google Forms and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), you develop standardized question sets developed specifically for IT professionals.

Dedicated HR technology solutions take the burden off of them even further! For example, when hiring for IT positions, you might divide questions into three groups: personal qualities, work approach, and technical skills.

This simple structure allows you to identify important aspects. For one, it will enable you to judge a candidate’s skill in troubleshooting remotely—which is an essential skill in today’s remote work world.

Technology tools allow you to save yourself time by reusing or adjusting template content for other interviews.

Leverage Data for Better Candidate Assessment

These data-driven tools can provide more objective insights about a candidate’s potential. These systems can automatically filter resumes for keywords such as “cloud computing” or “cybersecurity,” indicating newly acquired, in-demand skills.

Outside of the application, look for candidates who are committed to lifelong learning, evidenced by tech blogs or online certifications on platforms like LinkedIn Learning or Coursera.

This attitude is a strong predictor of adaptability in fast-changing industries such as information technology.

Simplify Decision-Making with Advanced Platforms

Technology, such as video interview software or collaborative decision-making dashboards, makes hiring more efficient. For example, collaborating on interview feedback with colleagues is fast and streamlined.

This prevents you from hiring by committee and makes sure that you’re hiring someone who fulfills immediate needs and aligns with the company’s long-term objectives.

HirewithEve.ai

HirewithEve.ai is a company focused on empowering recruiters and hiring managers to make better, faster hiring decisions through intuitive and impactful tools. One standout feature is its ability to generate customized interview questions that focus on the unique needs of a role.

HR managers and talent acquisition partners can focus less time on developing questions. Instead, they can spend more time evaluating candidates effectively. The platform creates an immersive experience that mimics real interview situations. With this new feature, recruiters can practice their techniques and improve their approach in a safe, controlled environment.

Another way HirewithEve.ai supports hiring professionals is by emphasizing scenario-based interview questions. These assess how well candidates handle real-world challenges, offering deeper insights into their problem-solving skills.

Users can create a year-long schedule for assessments, prioritizing areas of concern and ensuring consistent improvement over time. With proven success in boosting engagement, like Uber’s use of scenario-based learning, HirewithEve.ai fosters happier teams, better preparation, and stronger workplace unity.

Conclusion

Asking the best possible questions will help you get the best interview possible. Specific, targeted questions reveal experience, character, and potential more effectively than rote, run-of-the-mill questions. The intention isn’t to find a quick replacement—it’s to discover a person with vision, perspective, and passion that will best complement the team and elevate the organization. With thoughtful, targeted questions, you can look past the resume and get to the heart of what a candidate is capable of.

Excellent interviews always make space for the candidate to dazzle and share their narrative. With the right tools and strategies, you can ensure that the entire process is more seamless and informative. Tools like HirewithEve.ai can help make the process efficient without losing the personal touch.

Begin retooling your strategy right now. Better interviews lead to better teams, and better teams lead to better success. Being intentional in the interview process is an important first step to making sure it’s the right match.

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