How to Come Up With the Right Questions to Ask Candidates in an Interview

Crafting interview questions tailored to specific positions can vastly improve the quality of your hiring process. To understand how to interview candidates effectively, you should ask targeted questions to uncover their skills and experience and assess how well they’ll fit the role. Focusing on each position’s specific requirements provides a more efficient interview process and leads to better hiring decisions. 

Let’s explore some strategies and tips to develop effective interview questions that align with your hiring goals and help you find the perfect candidate.

Understanding the Role Requirements

Creating interview questions to ask candidates requires you to grasp the specifics of the position. Start by thoroughly reviewing the job description to identify the core responsibilities and key skills the position requires. Take note of the technical abilities and soft skills the ideal candidate should possess. With this detailed understanding, you’ll be better equipped to craft questions that target the specific attributes and qualifications necessary for success in the role.

You should also consider consulting with current employees who work in – or closely with – the role you’re hiring for. Their insights can reveal nuances about the position that might not be apparent from the job description alone. These insights can help you compose questions to uncover whether a candidate has the practical experience and problem-solving abilities the job requires. A little preparation will make your interview process more focused and effective and give your candidates a positive experience.

Types of Effective Interview Questions

Crafting good questions to ask candidates in an interview allows you to uncover the most relevant information. Different types of questions serve different purposes, and each provides particular insights into a candidate’s suitability for the role. Combining these types of questions enables you to reveal each candidate’s abilities and compatibility with your team.

Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions focus on past experiences and actions. By asking candidates to describe how they handled specific situations in previous jobs, you can gauge their problem-solving skills and how they might perform in similar scenarios at your company. Examples of behavioral questions include “Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict at work” and “Describe a situation where you had to meet a tight deadline.”

Situational Questions

Situational questions present hypothetical scenarios. These questions assess how candidates might approach potential challenges in the new role. For instance, you could ask, “What would you do if your supervisor gave you a project with unclear instructions?” or “How would you handle an underperforming team member?”

Technical Questions

For roles requiring specific expertise, technical questions are essential. They test a candidate’s knowledge and skills directly related to the job. Examples include “Can you walk me through your process for debugging code?” and “What strategies do you use for optimizing database performance?”

Culture Fit/Add Questions

To help determine if a candidate will thrive in your company’s environment – whether the job is remote or in-person – ask culture fit and add questions. These explore the candidate’s values and work style and how those align with and enhance your organization’s culture. You might ask, “What type of work environment do you perform best in?” or “Tell me about a time when understanding someone else’s viewpoint helped you overcome or resolve an issue.”

Crafting Targeted Questions

Thoughtfully designed questions can reveal a candidate’s skills and experience and how well they’ll integrate into your company culture. Here are some tips for interviewing candidates to help you design the most effective questions.

Aligning Questions With Specific Job Requirements

Tailor your interview questions to the position-specific criteria. Look closely at the job description to pinpoint the essential skills and qualifications needed. If the role demands strong project management skills, ask about their experience managing timelines and coordinating team efforts. For positions requiring technical expertise, inquire into their hands-on experience with relevant tools and technologies. Tailoring your questions to the specific needs of the role enables you to gather the most pertinent information.

Examples of Effective Questions for Different Roles

Here are a few examples of questions created for various positions.

1. Software Engineer

• Technical: Can you describe a complex coding problem you faced and how you approached solving it?
• Behavioral: Tell me about a time when you had to refactor a significant piece of code to improve its performance. What challenges did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?
• Situational: If you were assigned to integrate a new technology into our existing system, how would you mitigate disruption to ongoing projects?
• Culture fit/add: How do you prefer to collaborate with teammates? Can you give an example of a successful collaboration experience?

2. Marketing Manager

• Behavioral: Describe a campaign you led that successfully increased brand awareness. What strategies did you use? What were the outcomes?
• Situational: With a limited budget for a new product launch, how would you prioritize marketing channels and measure success?
• Culture fit/add: Our team thrives on creativity. Can you tell me how you’ve contributed to a creative project in your previous role?

3. Customer Service Representative

• Behavioral: Tell me about a time when you handled a difficult customer. How did you manage the situation? What was the result?
• Situational: If you encountered a technical issue you couldn’t resolve immediately, how would you communicate this to a customer?
• Culture fit/add: Our support team values empathy and quick resolution. How do you confirm that customers feel heard and satisfied with your customer service?

These examples illustrate how tailored questions best probe candidates’ experiences, skills, and fit for specific jobs. With tailored questions, the interview process is more insightful and productive.

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Avoiding Common Pitfalls

When writing interview questions, avoid potential mistakes that could hinder your hiring process.​ Make certain all questions focus on job-related criteria, avoiding inquiries based on personal and/or protected characteristics like age, marital status, race, or disability. Make it clear your company supports diversity and inclusion.

Effective Questions Make the Interview

Asking effective, probing interview questions customized for specific job roles can improve your ability to identify the right candidates. Remember, the goal is to uncover candidates’ skills, experiences, and culture fit/add so you can make informed hiring decisions that benefit both the company and the candidates involved.

For more tips on hiring and conducting interviews, explore iHire’s Employer Resource Center.