Top interview questions to ask candidates

The hiring process can be a complex endeavor with many moving parts. Not only are you tasked with choosing qualified candidates from large applicant pools, you must also ensure those candidates will complement and enhance existing teams.

Some of the most important tools in this process are the interview questions themselves. Like a biologist’s microscope, top-notch interview questions can provide a detailed, nuanced view of each candidate, helping you attract and retain high-quality talent for your organization.

It’s one thing for a candidate to extol their achievements or passion for their work — and another for them to describe how they would handle a pressing situation on the job. Recruiters can ask situational interview questions to help determine how candidates will likely approach role-specific scenarios. 

Similar to behavioral interview questions, which invite candidates to reflect on past job experiences, situational interview questions ask candidates to consider real-life job scenarios — but focus on hypothetical situations, rather than past events.

Situational interview questions give recruiters more insight into how candidates are likely to respond to challenges that might arise on the job. If promoting from within an organization, choose internal interview questions that ask candidates to consider situations or challenges their organization faces — and give them the opportunity to share specific solutions. These answers can give the hiring team a clearer picture of the direction in which a candidate hopes to take their company.

Behavioral interview questions can be a tool to discover candidates’ soft skills. These questions invite candidates to reflect on past job experiences and describe familiar circumstances in their own words, giving interviewers greater insight into how they approach challenges, team building, and professional growth.

To avoid asking common interview questions that candidates have heard over and over again — and to avoid getting rehearsed answers — try combining behavioral interview questions with situational ones. For instance, you can ask a candidate to describe how they approached collaboration with a coworker who rejected their ideas, and then follow up their response by asking, “If faced with a similar situation in this role, would you try any new tactics?”

Hiring teams know that interviews can be nerve-racking. Strategies like the STAR method — which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result — gives candidates a structured way of responding to behavioral and situational interview questions that can help ease anxiety and promote a smoother interview process. 

Laying the groundwork for interview success pays dividends: While a negative interview experience can significantly impact a candidate’s view of a company, positive, memorable interview experiences help sustain interest in your organization.

Questions to assess if a candidate is the right fit

An interview’s main purpose is to help you determine if a candidate is the right fit for the hiring organization. But what does “right fit” mean exactly?

Some recruiters assume it means a candidate should fit in with an organization’s pre-existing culture. But the right fit can also be someone who brings a new perspective to a company, a diverse background or skill set, or who challenges the status quo.

Once your team is aligned, you can create interview questions that aim to discover which candidates possess the qualities you’re seeking. Include behavioral interview questions that ask candidates to share specific examples from previous roles. 

For help designing relevant interview questions, craft a detailed candidate persona. The more you know about what you’re looking for in a candidate, the easier it will be to spot a right fit.

First-round interview questions

The first round of the interview process — whether held on the phone, virtually, or in person — is about forming a solid first impression of a candidate. Ideal questions in this round help you understand why the candidate has applied for the position, how their experience qualifies them for this role, and what skills and qualities they bring to the table.

Second-round interview questions

The second interview round is the ideal stage to ask questions that dig deeper into a candidate’s experience, skill set, and values. Situational and behavioral interview questions can give you a clear idea of how a candidate might perform in a role and work with your team. 

Get creative with questions to make the process more fun for interviewees and more enlightening for the hiring team. Second-round interview questions can be straightforward and role-specific, but they can also be as unexpected and abstract as “Which animal best describes your work style?”

If the first- and subsequent-round interviewers are different, the initial interviewer should share with their teammates any notes from the first round, along with questions they asked. That way, follow-up interviews can stay focused and purposeful — and the interviewers can avoid asking duplicate questions. 

Final interview questions

By the last interview round, the hiring team has hopefully gathered a good deal of information on each top candidate. To make productive use of time, ask any pressing questions you still have, get a better sense of salary expectations and how this role would fit into a candidate’s overall career goals, and give candidates the chance to ask final questions of their own.

To leave candidates with a positive feeling about your organization, thank them for their participation throughout the interview process and give them a timeline for when they can expect to hear back.

Common interview questions to ask by job title

Along with questions that explore candidates’ past job experiences and skills, recruiters ask job-specific questions to determine how someone will likely perform in a given role. Industry-related questions that demonstrate candidates’ relevant knowledge and skills are critical to ask, especially for roles that require advanced or technical skill sets. 

For a list of common interview questions by job title, check out these comprehensive hiring guides from LinkedIn.