Interview guide · Interview types
Interview questions to ask candidates
In short
The best interview questions to ask candidates are tied to the job's real demands: a few openers, behavioral questions about past actions, situational questions about likely problems, skill checks and closers. Below are 36 questions grouped by purpose, each with what it reveals, a strong answer, red flags, plus a scorecard and legal guardrails.
Most interviews fail for a boring reason: the interviewer walks in with no plan, asks whatever comes to mind, and leaves with an impression instead of evidence. Good questions fix part of that. The rest comes from asking the same questions of every candidate for a role, probing the answers, and scoring them before you talk to anyone else.
Do not ask all 36 questions below. Pick four to six competencies that separate great from average in the specific job, then choose two or three questions per competency from the relevant groups. A 45-minute interview fits about eight main questions with follow-ups. Use the openers to settle the candidate, spend most of the time on behavioral and situational questions, and keep five minutes at the end for their questions, which tell you more than people expect.
What these questions assess
- Specific evidence over general claimsCandidates who describe what they personally did, with numbers and names of tools or steps, are giving you something you can judge. 'I'm a hard worker' is not evidence.
- OwnershipListen for 'I' in the action part of stories and for honest accounts of mistakes. People who own outcomes in interviews tend to own them at work.
- Judgment in contextStrong candidates ask a clarifying question or two before answering a scenario, and their answer changes based on the details.
- Motivation that matches the jobInterest in the real work, including its less glamorous parts, predicts staying power better than enthusiasm about the company brand.
- Learning from experienceAsk what they would do differently. Good answers show they have reflected and changed something since.
- Clear communicationEvery answer is a sample of how the person explains things. Rambling, jargon or answering a different question are signals in themselves.
Opening questions
Walk me through your last two roles: what you were hired to do, what you actually spent your time on, and why you moved on.
- Why ask it
- A sharper version of 'tell me about yourself' that gets real scope and reasons for leaving.
- A strong answer
- Clear, concise, with how time was actually spent, results they are proud of and honest reasons for each move.
- Red flags
- A ten-minute monologue, or vague reasons for leaving every job.
What made you apply for this role specifically?
- Why ask it
- Shows research and genuine interest in the job, not just any job.
- A strong answer
- Connects specific parts of the role to their experience or goals.
- Red flags
- Talks only about the company's reputation or perks.
What do you know about what this job involves day to day, and what questions do you have about it?
- Why ask it
- Checks whether expectations are realistic, which predicts early turnover.
- A strong answer
- An accurate picture of the job with sensible questions about the parts they are unsure of.
- Red flags
- Major gaps in understanding, for example not knowing it involves shift work or cold calling.
What are you looking for in your next role that you do not have now?
- Why ask it
- Reveals motivation and potential mismatch.
- A strong answer
- Something this job can actually offer, stated plainly.
- Red flags
- Wants something this role clearly does not offer, such as fully remote work for an on-site job.
What part of your current job do you do better than most people around you?
- Why ask it
- A self-assessment that is easier to answer honestly than 'what is your greatest strength.'
- A strong answer
- A specific skill with an example and evidence, such as feedback, metrics or being the go-to person.
- Red flags
- Generic traits with no proof.
Behavioral questions about past performance
Tell me about the most difficult problem you solved in the last year. What made it hard?
- Why ask it
- Tests problem solving with a real example and shows what the candidate thinks is hard.
- A strong answer
- A specific problem, how they diagnosed it, options considered, the action and the result.
- Red flags
- The problem was trivial or someone else solved it.
Describe a time you missed a deadline or a target. What happened and what did you change?
- Why ask it
- Shows accountability and learning.
- A strong answer
- Owns the miss, explains causes without excuses, and names a concrete change.
- Red flags
- Blames others entirely or claims it has never happened.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager. How did you handle it?
- Why ask it
- Reveals how the candidate pushes back and accepts decisions.
- A strong answer
- Raised it privately with reasons, listened, and either changed the decision or committed to it.
- Red flags
- Never disagrees, or went around the manager.
Give me an example of feedback that was hard to hear. What did you do with it?
- Why ask it
- Coachability, which matters for every level.
- A strong answer
- Specific feedback, initial reaction, what they changed and how they know it worked.
- Red flags
- Dismisses the feedback as unfair.
Tell me about a time you had to work with someone you found difficult.
- Why ask it
- Teamwork and emotional control.
- A strong answer
- Describes the behavior, not the personality, explains what they adjusted, and shows a workable result.
- Red flags
- Long complaint with no reflection on their own part.
Describe a time you improved how something was done without being asked.
- Why ask it
- Initiative and ownership.
- A strong answer
- Saw a problem, proposed or made a change, got buy-in and measured the result.
- Red flags
- Only follows instructions or describes ideas they never acted on.
Tell me about a time you had too much on your plate. How did you decide what to drop?
- Why ask it
- Prioritization and communication under load.
- A strong answer
- Clear criteria for priorities, told stakeholders early, renegotiated deadlines.
- Red flags
- Worked until exhausted without telling anyone, or dropped things silently.
Tell me about something you learned quickly because the job needed it.
- Why ask it
- Learning speed and method.
- A strong answer
- What they learned, how (resources, people, practice), and how long it took to be useful.
- Red flags
- Waited to be trained or cannot name anything recent.
Situational questions about the job ahead
In your first week, you notice a process that seems inefficient, but the team has used it for years. What do you do?
- Why ask it
- Balance between initiative and respect for context.
- A strong answer
- Asks why it exists first, learns the job, then suggests a change with evidence once they have credibility.
- Red flags
- Would change it immediately or never mention it.
A customer or stakeholder is angry about something that was not your fault. How do you respond?
- Why ask it
- Service mindset and composure.
- A strong answer
- Acknowledges the frustration, takes ownership of fixing it, and avoids blaming colleagues.
- Red flags
- Explains whose fault it was.
You realize you made an error in work already sent to your manager. Nobody has noticed. What do you do?
- Why ask it
- Integrity check.
- A strong answer
- Tells the manager promptly with the fix.
- Red flags
- Hopes nobody notices.
Two senior people give you conflicting instructions on the same task. What do you do?
- Why ask it
- Handling ambiguity and politics.
- A strong answer
- Points out the conflict to both or to the shared manager and asks for a decision, rather than picking one quietly.
- Red flags
- Picks whoever is more senior without telling the other.
You are asked to deliver a project in half the usual time. How do you approach it?
- Why ask it
- Planning and negotiation.
- A strong answer
- Clarifies what must be delivered, cuts scope sensibly, flags risks and agrees trade-offs up front.
- Red flags
- Just works longer hours with no plan.
A teammate keeps missing their part of shared work and it affects yours. What do you do?
- Why ask it
- Direct communication and teamwork.
- A strong answer
- Talks to the teammate first, offers help, then escalates if it continues.
- Red flags
- Complains to others or silently picks up the work forever.
Skills and work-sample questions
Show me how you would do [a core task in this job], step by step.
- Why ask it
- A short work sample predicts performance better than talking about it.
- A strong answer
- Clear steps, explains choices, checks their work, asks good clarifying questions.
- Red flags
- Cannot walk through a task listed as a core requirement.
Which tools or systems do you use most, and what is something you know how to do in them that most people do not?
- Why ask it
- Depth of skill beyond listing tools on a resume.
- A strong answer
- A specific advanced feature or workaround and when they used it.
- Red flags
- Only knows tools by name.
Here is a real problem we faced last month. How would you have approached it?
- Why ask it
- Tests thinking on a realistic, job-specific case.
- A strong answer
- Asks clarifying questions, structures the problem and suggests a practical first step.
- Red flags
- Jumps to a confident answer without understanding the problem.
How do you measure whether you are doing well in your current role?
- Why ask it
- Shows understanding of what good looks like.
- A strong answer
- Names the metrics or outcomes that matter and where they stand.
- Red flags
- Does not know how they are measured.
Teach me something from your work in two minutes.
- Why ask it
- Communication and depth of knowledge.
- A strong answer
- Clear, structured and checks the listener understood.
- Red flags
- Lost in jargon or cannot pick a topic.
Motivation, fit and closing questions
Describe the best manager you have had. What did they do that worked for you?
- Why ask it
- Reveals management needs and fit with the hiring manager.
- A strong answer
- Specific behaviors, such as clear goals, regular feedback or autonomy.
- Red flags
- Only describes what a manager should not do.
What kind of work environment brings out your worst work?
- Why ask it
- An honest way to check fit.
- A strong answer
- Self-aware answer with how they cope.
- Red flags
- Describes exactly this job's environment and does not seem to know it.
What would make you leave a job within the first six months?
- Why ask it
- Retention risk and expectations.
- A strong answer
- Reasonable dealbreakers, such as a job that is very different from what was described.
- Red flags
- A list that includes common realities of this role.
What would you want to have achieved in your first 90 days here?
- Why ask it
- Shows how they think about ramp-up and goals.
- A strong answer
- Realistic goals: learn systems, build relationships, deliver a first result.
- Red flags
- Overpromises or has no idea.
What is your availability to start, and is there anything about the schedule or location we should talk about now?
- Why ask it
- Surfaces logistics early.
- A strong answer
- Clear start date and honest about constraints.
- Red flags
- Hedges on basics that the job requires.
What questions do you have for me?
- Why ask it
- The quality of a candidate's questions shows preparation and priorities.
- A strong answer
- Questions about the work, the team, how success is measured and challenges.
- Red flags
- No questions, or only about time off and perks.
Questions for leadership candidates
Tell me about a hire you made that did not work out. What did you learn?
- Why ask it
- Shows hiring judgment and honesty.
- A strong answer
- Owns the mistake, explains what they missed and how they changed their hiring process.
- Red flags
- Blames the hire entirely.
Describe how you turned around an underperforming team member.
- Why ask it
- Coaching and performance management.
- A strong answer
- Clear expectations, regular check-ins, support and documented follow-through, including when it led to exit.
- Red flags
- Avoided the conversation or moved the person on immediately.
Tell me about a decision you made with incomplete information. How did it turn out?
- Why ask it
- Decision making under uncertainty.
- A strong answer
- What they knew, what they did not, how they reduced risk and what happened.
- Red flags
- Waits for perfect data or decides on gut with no reasoning.
How have you handled a change your team did not want?
- Why ask it
- Change leadership.
- A strong answer
- Explained why, listened to concerns, adjusted where possible and supported people through it.
- Red flags
- Announced it and expected compliance.
What metrics do you look at every week, and what do you do when one goes red?
- Why ask it
- Operational rigor.
- A strong answer
- Specific metrics with thresholds and a clear response process.
- Red flags
- No regular metrics or only reacts when someone else notices.
How do you build trust with a team you have just inherited?
- Why ask it
- Transition and relationship skills.
- A strong answer
- Listens first, meets each person, keeps early promises and makes few changes until they understand the team.
- Red flags
- Changes everything in the first month.
Sample answers
Last spring I owned the monthly hiring report for our three distribution centers, due on the second business day. In April I missed it by two days. I'd assumed the new site's data would come through the same export, and it didn't, and I found out the morning it was due. I told my manager that morning, sent the two sites I had on time, and sent the third once I'd rebuilt it by hand. The real problem was that I didn't check my inputs early. Now I run a dry run of the report on the last business day of the month, so any missing data shows up with a day to spare. I haven't missed the report since, and I've used the same habit on two other reports.
I'd talk to them first, privately, and keep it about the work. Something like, 'The last two weeks the intake list came over after noon and I couldn't get through screens the same day. What's going on?' Often there's a reason I don't know about, like they've been pulled onto another project. If it's a workload problem, we might agree on a different handoff time or I could take a piece of it. If it keeps happening after we've agreed on something, I'd go to our manager, but I'd tell my teammate I'm doing that, and I'd bring dates and the impact, not complaints. What I wouldn't do is quietly absorb their work forever, because then nobody fixes the real problem.
Interview scorecard
| Competency | Weight | Strong (4–5) | Weak (1–2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Job-specific skill | 30% | Demonstrates the core task competently, explains choices and checks quality. | Cannot walk through core tasks or relies on tool names alone. |
| Problem solving and judgment | 20% | Clarifies the problem, weighs options and makes sensible trade-offs. | Jumps to answers or cannot reason through a realistic case. |
| Ownership and integrity | 20% | Owns mistakes, raises issues early, follows through. | Blames others, hides errors or avoids hard conversations. |
| Communication and teamwork | 15% | Clear, concise, handles conflict directly and respectfully. | Rambling, defensive or conflict-avoidant. |
| Motivation and fit with the role | 15% | Realistic expectations and genuine interest in the actual work. | Mismatch between what they want and what the job offers. |
Score each competency from 1 to 5 straight after the interview, before discussing the candidate with anyone else, then multiply by the weight.
How to choose the right questions for a role
Start with the job, not a list. Ask the hiring manager two questions: what do your best people in this role do that average people do not, and what has made people fail in it? The answers become your four to six competencies. A collections agent might need persistence, composure and accuracy. A warehouse supervisor might need safety judgment, coaching and planning.
Then choose a mix of question types for each competency:
- Behavioral questions ask what the candidate did in the past. They work best for people with relevant experience. Our behavioral interview questions cover the main competencies in depth.
- Situational questions ask what the candidate would do in a realistic scenario. They work well for entry-level hiring and for testing judgment in situations the person has not faced yet. See our situational interview questions for scenario design.
- Skill checks and work samples ask the candidate to show the skill. For many roles, a 10-minute task tells you more than three interview questions.
- Motivation and logistics questions catch mismatches early. Most of these belong in the phone screen questions, not the main interview.
Write down the follow-up probes too: What exactly did you do? What was the result? What would you do differently? The follow-ups are where you learn whether the story is real.
How to run and score the interview
A structured interview is consistent in three places: the questions, the scoring and the decision.
- Same core questions for every candidate for the role. You can probe differently, but the main questions should not change between candidates.
- Anchored rating scale. For each competency, write what a 1, 3 and 5 answer sounds like. 'Strong' and 'weak' in the scorecard above are a starting point.
- Score right after each interview, independently. Do not discuss the candidate with other interviewers until everyone has submitted scores. Early discussion lets the most senior or loudest opinion take over.
- Take notes on what was said, not how you felt. 'Described reworking the shift schedule and cutting overtime by about 10 hours a week' is evidence. 'Seemed sharp' is not.
- Debrief on evidence. Compare scores competency by competency. Large gaps between interviewers usually mean someone probed more deeply, which is worth hearing.
In high-volume hiring, the same principles apply at scale. Use one question set and scorecard across locations, run structured async or AI-assisted first interviews so every applicant gets the same questions, and keep a human for the final decision. Recalibrate interviewers every quarter by scoring the same recorded answers and comparing.
Questions you should not ask
In the US, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibit employment decisions based on protected characteristics. Asking about them is not automatically illegal under federal law, but it creates evidence of discriminatory intent, and many state laws go further. Avoid questions about:
- Age or graduation year, unless confirming a legal minimum age
- Pregnancy, children or plans for a family
- Religion or religious holidays (ask instead whether they can work the required schedule)
- Disability, health or medications (ask whether they can perform the essential functions, with or without reasonable accommodation)
- National origin, citizenship or accent (ask whether they are authorized to work in the US)
- Marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity
- Arrest records, and in many states and cities, criminal history before a conditional offer
- Salary history, which is banned in a growing number of states and cities
Our list of illegal interview questions gives safer alternatives for each. Rules vary by state, city and country, so check local requirements before you finalize a question set.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best interview questions to ask candidates?
The best questions are tied to the job's real demands. In most roles that means a mix of behavioral questions about past actions, situational questions about realistic scenarios, a short skill check and a few motivation questions. Ask the same core set to every candidate and score each answer.
What are the most common interview questions?
Tell me about yourself, why do you want this job, what are your strengths and weaknesses, tell me about a challenge you overcame, why are you leaving your current job, and where do you see yourself in five years. They are common but weak unless you probe for specific examples.
How many questions should I ask in an interview?
In a 45-minute interview, plan for about six to eight main questions with follow-ups, plus time for the candidate's questions. Fewer questions with deeper probing give better evidence than many shallow ones.
What are good interview questions to ask as an interviewer for entry-level roles?
Use situational questions and examples from school, volunteering or part-time work. Ask how they would handle a frustrated customer, what they would do if they made a mistake, and what they know about the schedule and daily work.
Should I give candidates the interview questions in advance?
Some teams share the competencies or topics in advance to reduce anxiety and get better examples. Sharing exact situational questions makes them less useful, so most interviewers share themes rather than wording.
What are the top interview questions to identify a great hire?
Questions that reveal ownership and learning predict well across roles: tell me about a time you missed a target and what you changed, describe feedback that was hard to hear, and walk me through how you would do a core task in this job.