Good questions to ask at an interviewer: 38 Smart Questions to Ask in a Job Interview

Опубликовано: March 28, 2023 в 5:13 pm

Автор: alexxlab

Категории: Miscellaneous

The Top 15 Interview Questions to Ask Job Candidates

Robert Half

on December 9, 2022 at 6:12pm

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It’s time to fill that vacancy on your team, and the pressure is on to find a job candidate with all the skills and professional experience you need. But can you determine that — and more — from just an interview? It’s possible if you pose smart queries.

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Whether you’re meeting virtually or in person, you need to prepare thoroughly as an interviewer. You should ask questions that will help you gauge an applicant’s interest in the job and company, enlighten you about their work history and career plans, shed light on their values and work habits, and reveal their strengths, weaknesses, knowledge and skills.

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Of course, you’ll also want to ask questions specific to the role you’re looking to fill. There are also other types of interview questions that help you dig deeper, such as close-ended and open-ended interview questions.

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But with these questions for an interview, you should be able to get a good sense of whether this potential employee could be a successful member of your team. So, let’s jump in with 15 of the best questions to ask an interviewee, and why.

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1. What do you know about our company, and why do you want to work here?

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You’d think with the easy access to information online today, most candidates would do their homework, but that’s not always the case. Some applicants may not even know what type of business the company engages in. Ask this interview question, and you’ll quickly discover who is sincerely interested in working for you — and who isn’t.

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2. What skills and strengths can you bring to this position?

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Did the interviewee blindly apply to your opening, or did they consider how they match your needs? This question can help you find out. Applicants should be able to think critically about how their abilities will benefit your unique team.

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3. Can you tell me about your current job?

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This is a great open-ended question to ask a potential employee that can help you evaluate communication skills while gaining insights into an individual’s background that goes beyond the resume.

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4. What could your current company do to be more successful?

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This inquiry can give you a sense of whether interviewees see the big picture at their organizations. It may also reveal why they really want to leave their current jobs.

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5. Can you tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with a boss or colleague and how you handled the situation?

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This is one of the best questions to ask an interviewee because you’ll get a sense of their conflict resolution abilities. What tone does the person use when talking about the other people involved? Were they able to handle the situation described appropriately? Did they find common ground? Emotional intelligence is keenly needed in almost every job.

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6. Do you work best alone or on a team?

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What kind of work will the candidate perform if selected for the position? This question helps determine if they’re suited to the types of assignments they’ll receive. Regardless of whether they’ll work remotely or in the office, someone who enjoys solitary work and long stretches of uninterrupted time may not thrive in a position requiring collaboration or multitasking.

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7. Why are you leaving your current job?

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Does your job opportunity provide an alternative to the factors (lack of professional development, management problems, etc.) that made them unhappy in their current role? If so, showcase those benefits. But keep an eye out for candidates with unrealistic expectations.

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8. How would your coworkers describe you?

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This top question to ask an interviewee can help shed light on the candidate’s soft skills and how they might work with the other members of your team. Understand the strengths of your current staff members and be on the lookout for a candidate who will complement those.

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9. How would your boss describe you?

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This may give you a sense of the candidate’s relationship with previous managers. Reliable? Prompt? Efficient? Keep in mind, though, who you’re asking. The answer will be simply their opinion of what the boss might have said. That’s why it’s still critical to check references. Request a list of contacts and give former employers a call to hear how their impressions align with the candidate’s.

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10. Where do you see yourself in five years?

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A job candidate with professional drive can be a valuable asset to your organization. Look for someone engaged in their career with clear goals, and consider mentioning how your organization can help them achieve those objectives. Finding a prospect who is interested in career advancement and sees opportunity with your company increases the chances that they’ll be happy in the long run.

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11. How do you manage deadline pressure?

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Technology projects often have very tight deadlines. So, asking your potential hire how well they perform under pressure can be worthwhile. Try to dig a little deeper by encouraging the candidate to offer an example of what they have done in the past to ensure a project stayed on deadline when it looked like it might miss the mark. Or, if the candidate could not meet a critical deadline despite their best efforts, how did they handle it?

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12. In your most recent role, was there a time when you had to overcome a significant challenge?

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Use this question to get a sense of an interviewee’s critical thinking and analytical skills. You should also pay attention to how the candidate describes their behavior when faced with a challenge. Did they struggle, or did they devise an action plan and see it through?

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13. What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on in a past position?

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Ask this interview question to determine if the applicant would likely enjoy the work available at your company. Do the types of tasks they find fulfilling align with the job description for your position? Making sure employees find their work professionally satisfying is one of the most important factors in retention.

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14. What’s one fact that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?

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Here’s another open-ended question to ask an interviewee that can help you uncover some interesting insights. It could spark some conversation about a hobby outside of the candidate’s 9-to-5 life or even a compelling story that reveals more about their strengths and motivations. This question can help you understand not just what a job candidate has done, but why.

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15. Do you have any questions for me?

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This question typically wraps up the interview. The most serious candidates will likely have a few relevant questions prepared to ask a hiring manager. However, the candidate may have already asked their questions if the discussion was long and detailed. In a case like this, it’s OK if a candidate doesn’t have a list of questions at the end of the interview.

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1. What do you know about our company, and why do you want to work here?

2. What skills and strengths can you bring to this position?

3. Can you tell me about your current job?

This is a great open-ended question to ask a potential employee that can help you evaluate communication skills while gaining insights into an individual’s background that goes beyond the resume.

Having trouble finding skilled job candidates? We can help:

GET HIRING HELP

4. What could your current company do to be more successful?

This inquiry can give you a sense of whether interviewees see the big picture at their organizations. It may also reveal why they really want to leave their current jobs.

5. Can you tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with a boss or colleague and how you handled the situation?

6. Do you work best alone or on a team?

7. Why are you leaving your current job?

8. How would your coworkers describe you?

9. How would your boss describe you?

10. Where do you see yourself in five years?

11. How do you manage deadline pressure?

12. In your most recent role, was there a time when you had to overcome a significant challenge?

13. What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on in a past position?

14. What’s one fact that’s not on your LinkedIn profile?

15. Do you have any questions for me?

25 Top Questions To Ask An Interviewee (2022)

When conducting interviews to fill critical job vacancies it’s important to ask the right questions of the interviewee and reveal the best answers ensuring a more informed hiring decision.

These 25 interview questions for interviewees will help the interviewer get to know a candidate better before making a decision to bring them aboard their company.

1. What attracted you to apply for this position?

By asking this question you, as the interviewer, should be able to gauge if job seeker has an enthusiasm for the job opening or if they just applied blindly to the position.

You could also review the experience in their resume with the job opening and ask them how they would react to specific situations.

2. What steps do you take when making decisions?

This question will give you insight into the interviewee’s critical thinking skills and organizational processes they apply to decision-making situations.

Is their process well thought out and organized or is it merely done on the fly?

3. What has your typical role on a team been?

This question will give you insight into how previous employers viewed the interviewee as well as how the candidate may interact with fellow employees.

Were they ever given charge of projects, or were they all ways in more of a supportive role?

4. How would your colleagues describe you?

Asking this will give you a better idea of how they view themselves in the eyes of others and should reveal clues on their ability to work within a team environment.

Are they known as the quiet one, the goofball, the communicator, the workaholic, or something else?

Make sure to develop and refer to your ideal candidate personas to see if the answer aligns with the favorable personality traits you are looking for.

5. What motivates you to work?

It is a simple question but requires the interviewee to exhibit a great amount of thought and often unlocks valuable discussions from a candidate looking internally for what truly motivates them.

If they only answer at the surface level with something like “I relish a challenge”, this can convey that they are a less-than exceptional candidate.

You may need to probe further do extract a deeper understanding of their motivations.

6. Name a work accomplishment that makes you proud?

With this line of interview questioning, you will learn about the job seeker in more depth and get a better idea of the types of work they have achieved from their previous and current company.

This also gives the interviewee an opportunity to showcase some of their strongest qualities and any leadership skills they may have.

7. Why are you a fit for this opportunity?

This interview question will help you get a feel on if the applicants have done serious preparation in getting to know your company.

You don’t want your organization to be a random job they applied for to get a paycheck, only to leave your company for a different opportunity in a few months.

8. Speak about some of your coworker relationships

Personalities on teams are different. This line of interview questioning sheds light on how they interact with others and will help you determine if the interviewee has the potential to be a happy productive member of your business.

9. How do you define hard work in the workplace?

Organizations move at different speeds from one another.

If an interviewee is comfortable working in a laidback environment where hard deadlines are rare then they may not be a good fit for a position in which they have to constantly produce work in a fast-paced deadline-driven environment.

10. Do you like working with a team or working alone?

This really depends on what opening the job seekers are applying for. Is it a desk job that only requires them to be by themselves self or is it work that demands coordination and communication with others?

If you analyze that the applicants are people who are flexible, willing to do multi-tasking, and wouldn’t be bothered if at times they work alone or with a team, these could be the best professionals to hire.

This question has more importance at this time due to the current remote working environment.

11. What are some weak points you can work on?

All job applicants have weaknesses in their character or qualifications, and immediately admitting them during the interview can actually be a sign of strength.

12. What are your greatest strengths to a company?

The ability of a candidate to talk about their strengths and still maintain their humility is a strong indicator of a winning personality.

This also gives the interviewee a chance to explain and align their strengths with the position they are interviewing for demonstrating attributes that will contribute to the company’s goals.

13. Talk about a critical work situation you solved

It is often in the pressure-filled and stressful situations where professionals and real leaders emerge victoriously and experience their greatest growth gains.

14. When conflict arises at work how do you handle it?

By asking questions related to conflict you will get a better understanding of the interviewee’s interpersonal skills and personality.

The interviewee’s response may also give you a sense of their ability to resolve and deal with conflict at work.

15. Why do you plan on leaving your current employer?

Listen closely to how the candidates show their respect for their current boss and company.

Having this type of scrutiny will give you a better idea of how these candidates will treat their supervisors and colleagues if they are hired into your organization.

16. Reveal something about yourself not on your resume

Sometimes there are quirks about prospective employees that you simply can’t see on a resume.

They may be a good fit on paper, but when you interview them, you may get a sense from their answers that hint at possible trouble for the organization down the road.

17. How do you deal with tight deadlines?

For interviewees, their most ideal answer should be a version of this: “I review a list of tasks and analyze what are the most urgent and critical matters. I put the most urgent ones on top of the list.

Next, I focus on each task with complete concentration until I finish it before moving on to the next urgent task.

18. Describe your ideal workspace

Since this is an open-ended question and not answerable with yes or no, let the applicants take their time to describe to you how their ideal work environment would be and see if it matches your current office environment.

19. How would your current boss describe you?

This question will hopefully give you a better idea of how the interviewee interacts with their current and past managers.

20. Outline the process on how you set goals

Your best employees are generally driven and goal-oriented. This question will help ensure they have the ability to not only reach goals you would set for them but set their own goals to achieve as well.

The top candidates will be able to explain their goal-setting process in detail, how they set up their goals, break goals into smaller tasks, and measure their success once completing them.

21. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

An ambitious professional with a clear set of goals for the short, medium, and long term, is an invaluable asset to the company. This is true especially if they parallel their career growth with the company they are interviewing at.

As they grow professionally and financially, the company grows and expands too.

During the interview, confident job seekers will discuss that they seek a company with upward mobility as they help the company prosper.

22. What do you want to do differently at a new job?

The type of answer here will let you know their line of thinking.

Do they launch into a negative conversation about their current or former boss? Or do they look towards the future excited about the potential in your company?

23. Have you applied for any other positions?

If the interviewee has been applying for other positions, is a good idea to see what types of positions they have applied for. Are the positions similar to your opening or totally different?

If you speak to a candidate who is applying for many different types of positions in many different fields it may give you an indication that the candidate does not really know what kind of job they want and are just seeing what’s out there.

24. Have you had any other interviews recently?

A great question if the interview has been going great and you want to know the type of competition your up against.

By probing for where the candidate has interviewed recently. You can establish better timeline on if you should act quickly and extend a job offer.

25. Do you have any questions for me?

If you pose this question to interviewees, the more interesting and more passionate ones will most likely have a wide variety of questions they wish to ask.

The ones who are more thoughtful and are interested in the job will be the most likely ones to ask intelligent, informative questions which will enrich the interview process.

Interested in additional interview questions? Check our post link for a list of behavioral interview questions.

If you are about to have a second interview with a candidate, we list some significant questions you can ask during a second interview here

Strategic interview questions are also important when speaking with potential candidates.

As one of the leading engineering staffing agencies, we help employers recruit engineering, design, and IT Talent. Contact us about our Engineering recruiting services or IT staffing services

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how to turn an interview into a full-fledged dialogue – Career on vc.

We are used to the fact that some interviews can look like an interrogation. But it shouldn’t be. Glassdoor’s latest December article explains how to avoid this. In this translation, the editors of Make it in Ukraine analyze 8 key questions that a candidate can safely pose to an interviewer. Of course, these are quite obvious things, but in stressful conditions, you can forget something. Therefore, keep a cheat sheet so that after the question: “What would you like to know about our company?” there was no awkward pause. In addition – a small bonus in the text. nine0003

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1. What will be my daily duties in this position?

Writer Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” Success and comfort at work come down to whether we are satisfied with what we do.

2. What are the company’s values? What qualities should employees have to live up to these values?

Explore the company’s culture, try to find what is most important to the company, what it values in employees. nine0003

Editor’s note: Ideally, you should get an answer about what personal qualities and Soft Skills the company values in general and separately for your role. Even if you do not find the manifesto and the official position of the company in advance, then at least go to its website in the “About Us” section. Usually, there you will find answers to many questions about the company’s values. In addition, do not neglect the search for news about the company, reviews on specialized resources and review aggregators.

3. What do you personally like about working for this company? nine0003

It is important to understand the opinion and reaction of your interviewer about working for the company. If a recruiter or future leader responds with enthusiasm, this is not a bad sign. If not, pay attention.

4. What counts as success for my future role and how is it measured?

It is important to have a deep understanding of how a company measures success. What key metrics, performance indicators (KPIs) are set for your future role? How and with what frequency are they measured? What are the control values and is it realistic to fulfill them? nine0003

5. Are there opportunities for professional development? How do they look?

It is important to know if the company has a training and development program for employees, opportunities for career growth or moving to other areas within the company.

Editor’s note: Go2HR notes that 40% of employees who were poorly trained and given no opportunities for development and improvement left such companies within the first year. nine0003

6. With whom will I work closely?

The sooner you know who you’ll be working with, the better. Write down the names, specify the titles of their positions. It is also important to assess the extent to which cross-functional relationships and communications are developed in the company.

Editor’s Note: The is perfect for when you get a “test drive”. This is a fairly common practice in the world: you can be guided around the company right at the interview, introduced to employees. You will feel the atmosphere in the company, understand whether it is comfortable for you to communicate with these people. Of course, in Remote mode, this is somewhat more difficult to do. However, there are many practices of remote dating and even onboarding. nine0003

7. What, in your opinion, is the most difficult in my future work?

You must understand the scale of the issues and challenges you will be dealing with.

8. Is there anything about my experience or resume that makes you doubt that I am the right fit for the role?

This question shows that you are interested in the job and want to understand your perspective. In addition, it will provide an opportunity to answer potential awkward questions. This question is best asked at the end of the interview. nine0003

Editor’s note: the question is rather unusual and should be asked in the most correct way. After all, if you put it wrong, it will look either strange or arrogant. Therefore, tact and politeness are our everything.

Promised bonus: If you’re willing to ask a lot of questions and want to prepare for all the major job topics, here’s the original supplemental article with 45 questions you can ask at every job interview.

Summary of revision

Most importantly, feel free to ask questions. We repeat: this is not an interrogation, but a conversation between two equal parties. In a quality interview, you will definitely be given the opportunity to ask questions. If you see that they don’t give, then this may be a “bell” about the culture of attitude towards employees (but it can only concern a specific personnel manager). Therefore, in this case, you definitely need to seize the initiative and politely ask a few important questions.

Good luck with your interviews and your favorite work, friends! nine0003

10 questions to ask the interviewer – Work.

Tips for job seekers

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Tips for Job Seekers

Interview
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For many applicants, the interview is like an inquisition. As a rule, this happens because everyone is used to answering questions, but not asking counter ones.

During the interview, any applicant has a chance to determine if the job is suitable for him personally and to impress the interviewer. Work.ua has already raised the topic of what to ask the interviewer, now we will consider this in more detail.

Be sure to take the opportunity to ask questions of the interviewer. This will allow you to learn more about the company and show your interest. nine0003

HR experts identify five main types of questions that will show you in a good light and allow you to take control of the interview.

Identify the problem areas of the company

“What is the main problem that the company has to face and can I take part in solving it?”
“If I started work tomorrow, what would be my highest priority task?”

Determine in which direction the company is moving

“What are the possible prospects for the department/company in the next 5 years?”
“What are the department/company’s long-term and short-term plans?”

Find out if a team is right for you

“How would you describe your company culture?”
“What tangible and intangible virtues would you single out in the organization?”

Show that you are genuinely interested

“What additional information about my position could you provide?” nine0088
“What are the next steps in the selection for the position?”

Ask follow-up questions

“Can you tell me more about .