61% of HR professionals find talent shortage as their biggest hiring hurdle. It's clear that hiring the best candidate requires more than reviewing documents and asking traditional interview questions. You need impactful insights into the candidates.

Asking strategic questions in an interview can reveal how the candidate thinks, decides, and solves problems. They also indicate if company and personal values match. So, where do you start? Which questions should you ask?

We thoroughly analysed multiple interview questions to ask candidates and shortlisted 20+ most important ones that recruiters must ask. These questions will help you understand your candidates in-depth and make better hiring decisions.

20+ Best Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

To help you with a clear understanding, we’ve organized all questions into five distinct categories. It ranges from technical proficiency and problem-solving to cultural fit and leadership potential.

After reviewing hundreds of interview prompts from industry-leading sources, we filtered the list down to the 25 great interview questions to ask candidates that consistently reveal a candidate’s true capabilities.

Situational Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

Great interview questions examine how candidates handle actual or imagined issues. These situational questions give recruiters a perspective on candidates' judgments, logical thinking, and projected performance under pressure.

Moreover, Strategic interview questions help determine how a candidate would fair in a team environment. This can assist you in further forecasting their contribution to the company's success.

Questions:

1. Can you share a time when you identified a potential issue at your workplace before it became a problem? How did you address it, and what was the outcome?

Expected answer:

Consider proactive candidate responses. An excellent answer should demonstrate that the candidate can identify issues before they escalate, act without being told, and come up with creative solutions before they escalate.

2. How do you manage multiple tasks, and what would you do if you're running behind schedule on some of them?

Expected answer:

The candidate should describe their organization and work priorities. An excellent answer will illustrate how they handle stress and high-pressure circumstances. This can be unexpected delays or issues while communicating with others.

3. Can you share an example where you took ownership of a project? How did you plan, carry out, and tell the team about your strategy?

Expected answer:

The answer should demonstrate leadership. The best answer describes how the candidate planned the project, established targets, and informed the team. They should also discuss how they kept things on schedule and managed development.

4. Share an experience where you collaborated with someone you found challenging. How did you handle it?

Expected answer:

This should demonstrate the candidate's conflict resolution skills. Find instances of how they kept professional, communicated the situation effectively, and solved it without interfering with their job or the team's goals.

5. How would you approach learning a new skill for a critical project?

Expected answer:

An excellent candidate will demonstrate an eagerness to learn and swift skill acquisition. They should be adaptable, open to new ideas, and focused on applying what they learn at work.

Top Behavioral Questions to Ask an Interviewee

Behavioral interview questions focus on applicants' prior experiences and communication. It is frequently considered the most significant predictor of future performance and workplace success.

Further, real-life questions can help reveal a candidate's attitude, problem-solving, adaptability, and conduct. Since they are based on genuine experience, the questions also demonstrate how a candidate solves issues, collaborates, and improves.

Questions:

1. Tell me about a complicated problem you had to solve.

Expected answer: 

The candidate should detail the problem, how they identified it, and their solution. Focus on how they broke down the problem, how they solved it, and how they stayed cool and focused under pressure.

2. Tell me about when you worked on a project under a tight deadline.

Expected answer: 

Strong candidates would describe a project they had to do quickly. It should concentrate on how they structured their time, set priorities, and met deadlines. Find instances of how they communicated with team members, assigned responsibilities, and resolved project issues.

3. Tell me how you work in a team environment with various priorities and opinions.

Expected answer: 

Find examples of the candidate's teamwork and communication. An excellent answer will demonstrate their ability to establish priorities, handle conflict, and achieve team goals. The candidate should discuss their views while respecting others.

4. Tell me about when you had to learn a new skill at work.

Expected answer: 

The question defines how eager and able to learn and adjust is the candidate? An excellent answer shows the candidate is willing to learn and try new things. They should also discuss how they used what they acquired at work and how it helped them succeed.

5. Tell me a time when you disagreed with feedback from your manager. How did you handle it?

Expected answer:

The candidate should demonstrate maturity and professionalism when differences exist, especially when someone makes disagreeing statements. How effectively they listened and expressed their position.

Career-Based Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

Career-based questions to ask during an interview highlight a candidate's work objectives, motivations, and how they relate to the job. These questions to ask interviewees help recruiters understand how candidates view their careers, stay up to date with industry developments, and how their talents and ambitions match corporate needs. 

Questions:

1. Can you share three reasons why this role aligns perfectly with your skills and career aspirations?

Expected answer: 

The candidate should demonstrate their comprehension of the job requirements. They should describe how the position matches their career goals and how their abilities and experience make them suitable. A good candidate will also be interested in the company's mission and culture.

2. What are your short-term, medium-term, and long-term career goals?

Expected answer: 

Look for responses that show the candidate's career path. They will break their goals into short, medium, and long-term measures if they have a solid response. This demonstrates they can plan and create achievable goals. The top candidate should explain how this position fits their plans and will help them achieve their long-term goals.

3. How are you informed of the latest trends and technology?

Expected answer: 

A candidate will research the newest technologies and trends in their industry if they wish to improve personally and professionally. To keep learning, they may recommend trade periodicals, webinars, workshops, professional networks, online programs, or AI-powered platforms.

4. What are your compensation expectations?

Expected answer: 

This question helps determine if the candidate's compensation aspirations match the job budget and industry standards. The finest answer will demonstrate a candidate’s knowledge of the job's obligations and market worth.

5. What tools or software have you used in your previous roles, and what are your efficiency levels with the tools?

Expected answer: 

The candidate should list tools or software they have used in the past, while making sure they are relevant to the current job role. They should discuss how successfully they used them and improved their work.

Cultural Fit / Soft Skills Interview Questions

Cultural fit and soft skills questions determine if a candidate fits your company's goals, work style, and teamwork. These questions reflect how effectively the candidate fits the company's culture, gets along with coworkers, and handles professional and personal issues.

You can use scenario-based and behavioral inquiries to evaluate communication, adaptability, problem-solving, and values alignment. This helps build stronger team cohesion and performance outcomes.

Questions:

1. Can you describe your ideal work environment and team dynamic?

Expected answer: 

The candidate should state if they thrive in a fast-paced, organized, collaborative, or independent environment. They should discuss how their team structure suits the company's culture. This demonstrates that they understand corporate values and can fit your team's structure.

2. How do you handle conflicts with colleagues or team members?

Expected answer: 

The candidate should present a well-thought-out example of how they have resolved differences peacefully and focused on communication, common ground, and professionalism.

3. How do you prioritize tasks when you have multiple deadlines?

Expected answer: 

The candidate should demonstrate clear and structured multitasking. To-do lists, project management software, and calendars help people keep organized and achieve goals.

4. How do you approach learning new skills or technologies?

Expected answer: 

Find a candidate who is always learning. An excellent answer shows enthusiasm and a development attitude by showing how the person has gone above and beyond to learn new tools or abilities through classes, events, or learn while working.

5. Tell me about a time you worked with a team to achieve a goal. What was your role, and how did you contribute?

Expected answer: 

The candidate should provide an example of functioning as a team, which includes the objective, their role, and how they contributed to the team's success. The answer should demonstrate their ability to collaborate, contribute, and accept responsibility for team success.

Additional Questions For Better Candidate Engagement

Asking key candidate engagement questions during a job interview encourages active participation. It also ensures a deeper understanding of experiences and skills.

Engaging candidates with thoughtful questions prompts them to share motivations, strengths, challenges, and career goals, which enhances interview rapport and authenticity.

Questions:

1. What values are most important to you in the workplace?

Expected answer: 

This uncovers a candidate's core principles, and how they align with your company culture. Understanding their values ensures the employee-employer rapport creates an environment that motivates and retains exceptional talent.

2. Can you describe a project where you collaborate across departments?

Expected answer:

This highlights the interviewee’s teamwork, communication, and adaptability in cross-functional settings. It demonstrates their ability to navigate varied perspectives and drive results alongside diverse colleagues.

3. Tell me about your job search up to now, and what motivates you to pursue a new opportunity?

Expected answer:

This is one of the best interview questions to ask applicants that reveals a candidate's priorities, motivations, and criteria for selecting the right next step in their career. It helps recruiters understand what drives the interviewee and whether the role is right for them.

How to Prepare for Candidate Interviews?

A well-prepared interviewer can be incremental in establishing better rapport with the candidate and gain better insights. It also allows fairness and helps decide the best candidate fit.

• Review the job description and candidate resume to validate required skills and experiences. 
• Develop standardized technical and cultural questions aligned with the role and company values. 
• Structure the interview by planning the opening, core questions, and time for candidate questions. 
• Research the company’s mission, values, and workplace to assess cultural and strategic fit. 
• Create a welcoming, professional setting so candidates feel relaxed and can answer confidently.

End Note: Pick the Right Interview Questions 

To discover high-potential employees, you need to identify the correct questions to ask an interviewee. Ask them thoughtful questions about their talents, experiences, motives, and fit with your company's culture.

Moreover, to fully assess a candidate's ability, ask academic and behavioral questions. You should also consider the work and company performance. Make sure questions don’t overlap and gauge a different faculty of the candidate's persona.

Talking about candidate persona, Skima AI is an effective AI-powered hiring tool that helps you zero in on the most effective candidates for a job role. It uses AI-candidate matching and machine learning capabilities to rank candidates by creating job-specific candidate personas.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What to ask an interviewee?

Best interview questions to ask candidates are open-ended questions. For example – "Can you walk me through your résumé?" to learn about someone's talents and motivation. & "What excites you about this role?" Situational questions, such as "Tell me about a tough situation you overcame," measure problem-solving skills.

2. What are the best interview questions to ask a candidate?

Good interview questions to ask candidates like "Tell me about a project that showed off your skills" and "How do you handle team conflicts" assess technical, social, and problem-solving skills.

3. How to interview candidates?

You can prepare interview candidates with resume reviews, create structured behavioral and technical questions and develop a welcoming atmosphere. You must also actively listen and probe for examples, assess skills and cultural fit, then explain next hiring steps.