Training & Outreach
Human Resource Management

Interview Questions

The following interview questions (presented in bold typeface) are designed to help reveal a job candidate's character and personality. The comments that follow provide additional follow-up questions and are intended to make you aware of the personality characteristics which are focused on in each question.

The answers the candidates provide and the manner in which they answer the questions, should give you increased insight into their compatibility with the position you are trying to fill. A few of the questions (such as the first one) are extraneous to the goal of finding a person who will be a good fit for your opening, but still provide valuable information for your planning purposes.

• How did you hear about the opening?
  • Agencies often use more than one method of advertising job openings. You want to identify which is the most successful.
  • Did the person applying for the job read about it in the newspaper...find out from Job Service...do they know one of your employees?
  • While this question does not reveal anything in particular about the person's behavior, over a period of time, it will help you know what source of advertising works best in your area.
• What are some of your favorite job related tasks?
  • Ask yourself, are any of these tasks similar to ones the candidate will be asked to perform in this position?
  • What tasks is the person not listing that might be related to this position?
  • Probe further, as needed.
• We all have things that we are willing to do, but are not our favorite things to do on the job. What are some of your least favorite tasks?
  • Again, how does this relate to the position you are trying to fill?
  • If the candidate is vague, probe further with more specific questions. Would you rather do _____ or _____ type questions forces the candidate to make choices and to be more specific.
  • If they like to do everything equally, you know that you are not getting an honest response to the question. Another good follow-up question is, "What have you found is the most demanding (or difficult) task you typically have faced in your current job?" and "What made it more challenging than other tasks you have had to perform?"
• What are some of your personal and professional strengths?
  • Once these are listed, ask them to give specific examples of how these strengths have benefited them in past positions.
• Not to make you say something you wish you had not said in an interview, but we all have things we would like to change about ourselves. Complete this sentence, "I wish that I were better at..."
  • Probe further. Why do they feel they need to improve in this area? What do they believe they could do to make an improvement? What have they been successful at changing about their previous behaviors?
  • This may not give you insight into particular job skills which relate to the opening. However, it gives you some valuable information regarding their ability to identify areas that need improving and to follow through with making the changes necessary to improve their performance.
• What are some of your hobbies and interests away from work?
  • This question allows your candidate to relax and also gives you an opportunity to connect with a common interest or identify a skill set which may also play a role in a work setting.
  • Be careful not to probe into religious or political affiliations.
• What kinds of things cause you stress?
  • Some follow-up questions could be "What do you find are the most effective ways for you to minimize stress?" and "How do you overcome stress?"
  • Try to gauge, is this a person who is easily stressed?
  • Are they able to modify their reaction to a situation to be able to minimize its impact on them?
  • Do they have a fall back plan of what they need to do to be able to cope with stress on and off the job?
• Give me an example of a stressful situation you have had in your previous employment. What made it stressful for you? What did you do to handle the stress/pressure? If you could change anything about that situation, what would it be?
  • What causes them to be stressed?
  • Are there any parallels between what they will need to do in this position vs. something that caused them stress on a previous job?
  • Were they effective in the past with coping with the situation that generated the stress?
  • What have they learned from that situation that may benefit them in their position in your company?
• I want you to think of a person who knows you very well. I am not going to ask you to identify the person in any way, so you can feel comfortable in picking anyone you'd like. If I were to meet that person and say, "What is _______ (fill in the blank with your job candidate's name) really like?" what adjectives or descriptive words would that person use to describe you?
  • Be patient in waiting for an answer.
  • Pause. Look like you are expecting more (if they give you just one or two words).
  • Let them work at finding ways to describe themselves through someone else's eyes.
  • Do not rush through this one. It can be very revealing, and it is one of the questions that will give you the most insight into their personality.
  • Ask probing questions if you need to in order to elicit a specific response.
• Tell me about a problem you have encountered at one of your previous jobs that you feel you handled effectively. How did you solve the problem? What created the problem in the first place? How could the problem have been avoided?
  • Try to determine, is this person a problem solver?
  • Can they identify a problem and generate effective solutions, or do they wait for someone else to fix it for them?
• Give me an example of a circumstance you were involved in while in a previous work environment where you did not handle the situation very well. In hindsight, what would you have done differently?
  • Is this person able to learn from previous mistakes?
  • Do they blame others, or do they take responsibility for their own role in the situation?
• What specific skills do you bring to this position and to our team?
  • What things does this person identify as skills/strong points?
  • How do those skills relate to the position for which the candidate is applying?
• What kinds of people do you enjoy working with? Give me an example of an excellent working relationship you have had in the past. Why do you think that relationship worked so well?
  • Try to get a feel for whether the person likes to work with others on projects or would prefer to work alone.
  • How does this relate to the position you have open?
• Name one or two accomplishments in your life (up to this point) which make you particularly proud. They do not need to be things for which you received recognition or an award (although they certainly can be), but they should be something that is particularly meaningful to you.
  • Again, be patient as you await their response. This is a thought-provoking question.
  • Make sure the person gives you specific answers, not vague generalizations.
  • Probe further...why did this make them feel proud? What led up to the accomplishment? What were the end results of having accomplished their goal? What does their answer tell you about what they value most?
  • Many candidates, women in particular, give as their first answer, their children. This is a wonderful and emotionally positive answer; however, you should follow up with questions related to their work accomplishments also.

The next question is fairly long. It is a question to help give you insight into how the candidate thinks and their ability to plan ahead and execute an assignment.

• I am going to present you with a work scenario which involves a list of three tasks. You will be asked to prioritize the tasks and to finish the three tasks by the end of the work day.

  When you arrived at work today, you were told that there were three items which needed to be accomplished by the end of your shift. You can do the tasks in any order. After giving you the list of tasks, I want you to tell me what order you would choose to do them in and why you chose that particular order. There is no right or wrong answer to whatever order you choose. You may do them in any order you prefer as long as by the end of the day all three items have been accomplished.

  One of the tasks is something you have done many times. It is fairly long and time intensive, but you know exactly how to do it. You have everything you need to accomplish the task.

  Another task is a short, easy task. Again, it is one that you have done many times. You have everything you need to accomplish the task, and you know exactly how to do it.

  The next task is a new one. You have never been asked to do it before, and the directions are fairly complicated. It is detailed, and it appears as though it will take quite a bit of time. You do not know everything that will be needed to accomplish the task.

  Tell me in what order you would do the tasks, and specifically why you chose to do them in that particular order.

  • There truly isn't a right or wrong answer, because all you care about as the employer is that by the end of the day, all of the tasks have been accomplished. You are interested in the thought process the candidate uses to determine the order.
  • Make sure they are specific in telling you their reasoning for why they did the projects in the order they chose. If they are very hesitant or unsure of what order they should take them in, it reveals that the person is not very independent and will need a lot of guidance. If their answer is quick, but not well thought out, that points out a separate set of concerns.
  • The third task is the only one that the person has been asked to do that they have never done before. They do not know if they will need additional resources to accomplish the task. One of the things you may want to pay particular attention to is if the job candidate recognizes the fact that they may need someone else's input or assistance with this particular task. If so, they may not want to leave that item for the end when they may need to depend on someone else's schedule in order to complete the process.

These questions are not meant to be all-inclusive for what you will want to ask in an interview. You will want to look at the candidate's work experience and ask questions that pair their past experience with duties relative to the position you are trying to fill. Taking a little extra time in the interview process and attempting to gain insight into the person's character will assist you in finding not only the best qualified candidate for the job, but a future employee who will be a good fit for your organization.