Interviewing potential employees is an essential function of any business. One of the most important things you can do to prepare for a job interview is to pick and choose questions that help you to understand the mindset of the person being interviewed. However, this can be somewhat tricky. You have to read between the lines of some answers or ask questions that are very pointed. Your business attorney can help you to find questions that will expose the answers you are looking for without crossing any boundaries. Included below are some helpful questions for interviewing potential employees to guide your next candidate interview.

Questions for Getting to Know the Candidate

In this section, the questions are meant to give you a glimpse of the candidate’s personality and how well they would fit with the culture of your business. These may also demonstrate the candidate’s creativity and ability to think on their feet as some of these questions are not commonly asked in interviews.

  1. What is something about yourself that others may be surprised to learn?
  2. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
  3. Describe yourself in 3 words.
  4. Tell me something about yourself that is not on your resume or on social media.
  5. Who do you admire?

Questions that Demonstrate Character

For this section, we are looking at questions that can expose a candidate’s character and work ethic. These questions are a bit more direct, but they will allow the candidate to speak to their past work experience and show you what they have learned from various situations.

  1. Tell me about a time that your work was criticized by a superior and how you handled the feedback.
  2. Give an example of a time that you had to explain something to a difficult customer and how you handled the situation. What, if anything, would you do differently now?
  3. Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with someone at work and how you handled it.
  4. Tell me about a time when you did not have the skills to complete an assignment and what you did to overcome that.
  5. If you could go back in time and change one thing in your previous job, what would it be and why?

Questions Related to Skills

In this section, the questions help show what skills a person has and how they use or develop them. These questions will show how willing a person is to adapt and grow and learn about their chosen field. These questions will also give you more insight into who the person is outside of an office setting.

  1. What are the 2 (or 3) most satisfying accomplishments you have made in your career?
  2. Biggest failure related to [skill]?
  3. Biggest success related to [skill]?
  4. What interests you most about [skill or job position]?
  5. What hobbies, skills, or interests would you most like to expand or develop in the near future?