Best Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

Getting through the recruitment process requires a sequence of strategic steps: writing job descriptions, reviewing resumes, going through skills assessment tests, and finally determining which candidates have made it through to the interview stage. 

But once you get to that almost-final step, what are the most essential interview questions to ask candidates to be sure you’re making a fully informed final hiring decision? It depends on the role, industry, and type of position, of course, but we’ve created a guide to the best types of questions to ask interviewees, and sample questions to inspire you as well. 

Personal Interview Questions 

Personal questions help you create a bond and a comfortable environment with each interviewee before you jump into the tougher questions. While you do need to tread with care here, both legally and professionally, taking the time to open on a human note benefits both sides. 

Tell me something about yourself that isn’t on your resume or LinkedIn profile. 

This question is purposefully vague, allowing interviewees to decide what to share and how to share it. It can be a great way to gain insights you wouldn’t have had otherwise. 

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses? 

A question so common it’s actually a cliche, but for good reason: you want to see how self-aware your potential new employees are. 

What career accomplishment are you most proud of? 

Give people an opportunity to tell you about their priorities, motivations, and purpose at work with this question. 

Behavioral Interview Questions

These types of questions give you the opportunity to evaluate if someone is suited for the job based on how they have behaved or would behave, in certain situations. It’s a good way to gain deeper insights into their soft skills too. 

Tell me about a time you had a significant disagreement with a boss or colleague. 

How people work together matters just as much as the work they do, and this question will help you discover how a potential hire handles conflict and confrontation.

Tell me about how you managed a time with a very heavy workload. 

If you’re looking for information about how a candidate performs under pressure and prioritizes when work is busy, this is a great question to ask. 

Was there a time in your most recent role when you had to overcome a significant challenge? 

Tough times happen to everyone in the workplace, and this interview question will help you uncover how each candidate handles those times. 

Motivational Interview Questions 

Finding out what motivates your candidates to succeed offers insights into what they expect from your organization if they’re hired, and also how long they are likely to stay before getting dissatisfied and moving on to something new. 

What made you want to apply for this role? 

This open-ended question gives candidates the chance to tell you about what attracted them to the position and to see if that aligns with your expectations and the team’s goals. 

How do you want to improve yourself in the next year? 

Asking about self-improvement goals will show you what each candidate values in their career and development, as well as their levels of self-awareness. 

Where do you see yourself in five years? 

Another question so common it’s become a cliche, this one allows candidates to tell you about their aspirations and motivations in the long term. 

Additional Questions 

These questions might not fit into the categories above, but they’re still quite useful for many types of interviews. 

Why are you leaving your current job? 

Asking candidates what factors have made them search for a different role will clue you into what they expect from your company if they’re hired, and what their individual dealbreakers were with their current organization.  

What one thing could your current company do to be more successful?

This question lets you evaluate a candidate’s big-picture thinking: do they answer with an eye to the larger strategy or are they hyper-focused on something that’s too small to really make a difference?

Takeaways 

Asking the right questions in a structured interview format (where you ask all the candidates the same questions in the same order to ensure consistency and equity) helps you get critical hiring decisions right the first time. If you’d like more guidance on the best questions to ask that gather vital information while remaining EEOC-compliant, try Cangrade’s Structured Interview Guides.