I’ve interviewed… I don’t know. Lots of people. Hundreds anyway. Here are my very best interview questions. The first five I ask almost every time, and then I ask a mix of the others depending on the person and the role. For an entry-level role, 1-6 may be enough. For more senior roles, dig deeper.
Hiring decisions are the most important ones you make, and the toughest ones to fix when you get them wrong. So, take your time and make the most informed decision possible.
Take the best, leave the rest.
The Best Interview Questions Ever
- What are you really good at doing and want to do more of? Examples?
- What are you NOT good at and should do less of? Examples (dig here, they never want to say anything real)
- What are your career goals?
- How will your last 3-5 bosses rate your performance out of 10 WHEN I contact them (if we go further in this process?)
- Why us? (Implied is also, ‘what do you know about us?’)
- What are you looking for in your next job?
- What is your ideal position and what makes it ideal?
- What are the toughest decisions you’ve made in the last couple of years?
- What makes a great boss for you, and what makes a poor one?
- Are you more visionary, or are you more of an implementer?
- Talk about your level of computer literacy (or financial, depending on the role)
- What do you do to up your own game? Reading podcasts, seminars etc.?
- Reflecting on your career, what have been your most and least successful jobs and why?
- What regrets/things you’d do differently do you have about your current position?
- If you were to join us, what would you do in the first 3-6 months?
- When were you pressured to compromise your integrity in your career? What did you do?
- What sort of things do you procrastinate over?
- What sort of supervision do you prefer?
- Do you like to see consensus before you act, or do you ask for forgiveness instead of permission?
- Tell us about your moods and mood swings. What triggers your moods?
- What has made you really mad in the last couple of years?
- What are the criticisms that you’ve found toughest to receive?
- What regularly shows up on job performance reviews, both good and bad?
- Who has been a very difficult person for you to work with?
- Why are you leaving your current role?
- Have you fired anyone? Tell us about how you handled it.
- How do you give negative feedback to others?
- What do you like to do outside of work?
- What other opportunities are you looking at, and how do we stack up?
You should also take a look at our course on hiring. We cover all the basics: Sourcing, interviewing, reference checking, and onboarding to name a few. Check out a free preview here:
https://professionalleadershipinstitute.com/course/how-to-hire-a-players/
You’ll never be able to use all of the questions, but try a few and see how they work for you.
Hire slow, fire fast!
