The Definitive Guide

101+ Most Effective

Interview Questions to Hire
Quality Candidates Faster
• 

Introduction
Screening for fit and competency is no easy task, especially when your manager is telling
you “this role needed to be filled yesterday”.

That’s why we scoured the web and consulted the experts to develop an
easy reference guide of the 101+ most effective interview questions.
Use it to know which questions are most critical to ask, the right interview approach to
take for your company, and how to assess candidates for quality and fit even faster.

IN THIS EBOOK

The Difference Between Behavioral, Competency,

03
and Situational Interview Questions

Interview Prep Checklist 04

Interview Questions by Category 05

Collaboration and Teamwork 06

Training and Onboarding 07

Creative Thinking and Problem Solving 08

Culture Add 09

Management and Leadership Skills 11

Communications Skills 13

Project Management 14

Motivation 15

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The Difference Between Behavioral,
Competency, and Situational
Interview Questions

Behavioral Interviews
The root of these interviews is to understand an applicant’s behavioral conduct within
the workplace. This technique is used to determine whether or not that behavior will be
suitable for the position.

Competency-Based Interviews
Competency-based interviews are designed to test one or more of the skills needed for
a particular role. This style of interviewing is more systemic and each question targets
a skill needed to do the role to the fullest.

Situational Interviews
A situational interview is used to ask a candidate how they’ve behaved or reacted in
past situations and circumstances in the workplace. The main benefit is that it allows
the interviewer to uncover how that candidate will react in workplace situations and
problems they may encounter on the job.

Are behavioral interview questions better than standard ones?

While behavioral interview questions should make up a large part of your interview
process, there are also some straightforward interview questions that you can ask that
don’t require as much in-depth information.

We recommend using a combination of interview question styles, which you’ll find

comprehensive lists for within this eBook.

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Interview Prep Checklist

Prior to the interview, you’ll want to make sure that you’re properly prepared for each and
every candidate.

Here’s an interview preparation checklist:

Pre-game.
Discuss with your team and all stakeholders the criteria that you’re looking for
and your ideal candidate.

Create an interview dossier.

Every interviewer should have all of the information they need on each candidate
prior to meeting and speaking with them.

Coach poor interviewers.

Meet with poor interviewers ahead of time to give them an idea of what
information you want them to gain from the interview. It’s best if you give poor
interviewers a goal to work toward, rather than letting them walk in without a plan.

Divide and conquer.

With so many questions to ask, it can help to divide the questions that matter
amongst your interviewing team, so that each member is responsible for gaining
insight into a particular area per candidate.

Schedule the interview.

Candidates are in high demand. Make sure that you and your team promptly schedule
an interview and do not postpone or reschedule unless absolutely necessary.

Lever Tip: Consider video interviewing to expedite the interview process with
candidates. Lever just became the first ATS to incorporate video conferencing
into its recruiting platform.
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Interview Questions
by Category

Our list of interview questions is split into several different categories to help assess various
qualities of candidates. Under each section, you’ll find several interview questions that you can
choose or customize, based on the roles you’re hiring for.

Collaboration and Teamwork Management and Leadership Skills

Training and Onboarding Communications Skills

Creative Thinking and Problem Solving Project Management

Culture Add Motivation

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Interview Questions for
Collaboration and Teamwork

The candidate you ultimately hire must be able to effectively work and collaborate with your
team. These interview questions help you understand their past experience, as well as
what they’re currently looking for in a new team.

1. Do you prefer to work as part of a team that is 8. How would you handle a member of your team
primarily autonomous? who is not performing well?

2. Can you describe one of your favorite teams that 9. How would you handle a member of your team
you’ve been a part of? What made this team your who is having communication issues with other
favorite? How would you replicate or improve this team members?
type of team at our company?
10. Can you give me an example of a time you
3. What was the worst functioning team that you’ve faced conflict while working on a team? How did
been a part of? What made it challenging to you handle and manage that situation and still
work as part of this team? What would you do fulfill your responsibilities?
differently to make this team function better
and/or be more enjoyable to work in? 11. Describe a time when you had to collaborate with
a team member in another department in your
4. What does your ideal team look like? Describe company. How did you overcome the differences
roles, collaboration tools, and communication in department goals?
practices used.
12. We all make mistakes in communication. Tell
5. What do you think is more important for a team: me about a time you wish you’d handled
technical skills or communication? Why? communicating with a member of your team
differently.
6. What type of employee development program
would you put in place to help your team 13. Tell me about a time when you had to collaborate
gain and improve skills? with a member of your team who was not
responsive. How did you handle that situation?
7. Would you rather give your team the opportunity Were you able to fulfill your responsibilities and
to gain new skills or hire a new employee for hit your goals?
those skills? 6
Interview Questions for
Training and Onboarding

A leading contributor for retention is onboarding, according to new

research from the Harvard Business Review. In fact, organizations with 62%
a standardized onboarding process experience 62% greater new hire GREATER
productivity and 50% better new hire retention.
NEW HIRE
PRODUCTIVITY

Therefore, it’s important that every member of your team will at some
point be required to help onboard and mentor new hires. If this is an
important part of your company culture, then we recommend using
50%
BETTER
the below questions to learn how your candidate helps to train and NEW HIRE
mentor new members of your team. RETENTION

14. Have you ever mentored a new hire, intern, or other 17. Have you ever had to onboard new hires to your
member of your team? If so, how did you ensure team? How did you ensure they were up to speed
they learned what you were teaching? as quickly as possible?

15. Tell me about a time when you had to train 18. Do you enjoy training new hires? Why or why not?
someone on your team. Why did you have to train
them? How did you balance the time requirements 19. Do you enjoy mentoring team members? Why or
of training with other work? why not?

16. Have you ever had to train someone from a different 20. What is your ideal process for hiring and
department on how to use or do something that you onboarding new team members?
were an expert in? What was your strategy for
training them? What was the outcome?

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Interview Questions for Creative
Thinking and Problem Solving

Creative thinking and problem solving are key indicators of overall competency. Use these
interview questions to understand how a candidate thinks through problems and uses their
creative thinking to overcome obstacles in the workplace.

21. Describe a situation in which you found a creative 28. Describe a time when you had to think
way to overcome an obstacle. “outside the box” and how did you go about it?

22. Tell me about a time that there was a problem at 29. Give me an example of when someone presented an
one of your past companies and you went above innovative new idea to you that was a bit unusual.
and beyond the call of duty to get things done. How did you react? What did you do?

23. Tell me about a time when you came up with 30. Describe a time when you had to quickly solve a
a new way to solve a problem. problem without managerial input. What was the
issue? How did you solve it and what was the result?
24. What’s the most innovative or “cool” new idea that
you have implemented? What was the outcome? 31. Describe a situation where you faced serious
challenges in doing your job efficiently. What were
25. What would you consider to be the best idea you those challenges, and how did you overcome them?
came up with at your last job?
32. How do you know when to solve a problem on your
26. Describe a time when you anticipated potential own or to ask for help?
problems and/or risks and developed preventive
measures.

27. Describe a time when you had to analyze

information and make a recommendation.

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Interview Questions to
Assess if the Candidate
is a Culture-Add

“
Culture has become an increasingly important criteria when hiring
new employees, as well as a key component to keeping businesses Company culture
thriving. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, says that in this day and is more
age, company culture is “more important than ever,” and Salesforce important
is doubling down. than ever."
When new hires are engaged with a company’s culture, they’re more
Marc Benioff
productive and stick with the company longer. Here are some interview CEO, Salesforce
questions that get to the heart of the type of work environment
that your candidates are looking to join.

33. What type of work environment do you prefer? 38. Have you ever had a manager or peer who created
a toxic workplace? What actions did you take to
34. What kind of direction or leadership do you prefer? motivate yourself and others, despite the toxicity?

35. How would your previous boss and co-workers 39. Describe the work environment that makes you
describe you? most productive and/or happy.

36. How do you handle stress and pressure? 40. What team bonding activities or out-of-work
experiences do you think are necessary to keep
37. How would you create a work environment that employees motivated and excited?
employees find motivating?

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Interview Questions to Assess if a Culture Add

41. What’s one idea you think we could implement 47. Have you thought about leaving your present
today that would make employees more excited position before? If yes, what held you back?
to come to work tomorrow?
48. What makes you think you’re a good addition to the
42. Think back to the worst work environment you’ve team at our company? Why are you interested in
been a part of. What about it made it a terrible joining our company?
place to work? How would you make it a better
place to work? 49. Describe a time you had to confront an employee
who was producing inadequate results. How did
43. What is your vision for our company? What has you do this? What was the outcome?
attracted you to taking this position?
50. How do you prefer to communicate with your peers
44. Describe the biggest organizational change you’ve and team?
ever dealt with. How did you adapt?
51. What was your strategy for building relationships
45. Which three aspects of your last role gave you the with your team members and peers at your last
most satisfaction? company?

46. What factors make you most effective at work?

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Interview Questions for
Management and Leadership Skills

If you’re interviewing anyone from mid-level managers to directors and VPs, you’ll want to
understand their management style and how they motivate the rest of their team. Because
statistics don’t lie: employees today are likely to leave people, not places.

92% of employees said they would be more likely to stay with

their job, if their bosses would show more empathy.1

52. Tell me about a leader or manager that you’ve 58. Tell me about a time when you had a project run
looked up to and has inspired you. into problems because of communication. What
would you have done differently if given the chance?
53. What have you done in past roles to
inspire or motivate your direct reports? 59. We let employees work remotely X number of
days/week/month. What do you think is necessary
54. What do you think is most important when it comes to ensure everyone is operating at a high-level? How
to leading a team? do you help monitor progress or goal setting within
your team?
55. How do you determine what goals and milestones
you set with your team? 60. Describe a time when your team had a “fire-drill”
emergency situation occur. How did you manage
56. What does your ideal culture and work environment the team effectively through that situation? Is there
look like? How do you contribute to building that anything you would have done differently if given
ideal environment? the chance?

57. What are your preferred tools for communication?

How have you used these successfully in the past?

1. Businesssolver, 2018 State of Workplace Empathy

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Interview Questions for Management and Leadership Skills

61. Tell me about a project or situation that involved 66. If a member of your team is not hitting their
input from multiple departments or stakeholders. performance marks, then what do you do? How do
What did you do and say to manage the situation? you communicate with them and help them improve?
What was the outcome?
67. What do you think are the most important metrics
62. Describe a time that you had to deal with an to measure in your department and team?
employee that was toxic to the team or work
environment. How did you communicate with the 68. Do you collaborate with your team to set their
employee that his/her attitude or behavior was individual and team goals?
not ok? What was the outcome?
69. How do you motivate your team to ensure they meet
63. Tell me about a time when a senior member of their goals?
your team had an issue with the work of one of
your direct reports. How did you react or resolve 70. Think back to the best manager you’ve ever had.
this situation? Would you do anything differently What was great about their management style?

if given the chance? How have you modeled yourself or learned from
their example?
64. If hired, how would you evaluate past performance
and set goals for the next 30, 60, 90 days? 71. Explain a time when you had to promote an idea
or project to a group. How did you go about
65. What do you think is most important when it comes persuading them?
to setting goals and performance standards for
your team?

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Interview Questions for
Communication Skills

Strong communication is critical in a great hire. It’s also an important skill to spot quickly when
trying to make a hire. When communication breaks down, so does transparency and company
culture. Not many think to screen for communication during the interview process, but it
will pay dividends in the long run.

72. Tell me about a time when you were the expert 76. Give me an example of a successful presentation
in your field and needed to describe a project, you gave. How did you prepare and explain
situation, or challenge. How did you handle this everything to ensure it was successful?
and ensure all stakeholders understood your
perspective and what you were describing? 77. Tell me about a time you had to make a good
impression on a client. How did you ensure you
73. Describe a time when you had to rely on written made a significant, positive impression?
communication to initiate a project. How did you
communicate to ensure your ideas came across to 78. Give me an example of when you had to interact
your team and they understood all deliverables? with a difficult client or customer. Were you able to
change the experience from negative to positive?
74. Describe a time when you worked as part of a
team spanning multiple departments. What forms 79. Tell me about a time you had to persuade a
of communication did you use to ensure the project co-worker or manager. What did you do to persuade
ran smoothly? them to see things your way?

75. Tell me about a time when you were a team leader 80. Describe a time when you had to deal with a
for a project or task. What did you do to ensure conflict with another person in your department
everyone understood the deliverables and met the or reporting directly to you. How did you handle
deadlines? it and what was the outcome?

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Interview Questions for
Project Management

Project management and planning are critical in understanding your candidates’ work ethic.
Use these interview questions if planning and organization are important responsibilities
for any open role. Cross-functional collaboration also relies on individuals to have strong project
management skills to keep projects on track.

81. Describe a time when you had to be very organized 85. It’s not always possible to get everything on your
and strategic with your responsibilities to meet all task list complete in a single day. Describe a time
of your top priorities. How did you organize? when your responsibilities became overwhelming.
What did you do? How did you prioritize?
82. Give me an example of a long-term project that you
managed. What did you do to maintain progress 86. Describe a time when you had multiple projects
and meet the timeframe of the project without with conflicting deadlines. Were you able to juggle
wasting time? these projects to meet their deadlines? What
sacrifices did you make to ensure you were
83. Give me an example of a long-term project you successful?
managed that had multiple stakeholders. How did
you manage everyone’s time and tasks to ensure 87. Tell me about a time when you had to get a project
deliverables were consistently met? completed with very little resources and team
support. How did you plan around this?
84. Tell me about a time when you had to create a
plan for a long-term project. What was your process
for creating this strategy? What did and didn’t go
as planned?

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Interview Questions
for Motivation

How motivated and committed a candidate is will impact your ability to retain them as an
employee. These questions will uncover how much your company resonates with your
candidate, as well as their key motivators.

88. What other jobs are you looking at? 99. What could your current company change about
your job, your team or their culture to keep you on
89. What motivates you to come to work everyday? their team?

90. What about this position interests you the most? 100. Would you take a job with a toxic work culture but
a higher salary, or a lower salary with an ideal
91. What are your salary expectations? work culture? Why?

92. What’s most important to you when considering
a new company?
93. What about our company resonates most with you?
94. How would this position get you closer to where you
want to be in 5-10 years?
101. How would you define a healthy work/life
balance? At what point do you think it’s necessary
to blur the lines?
102. What would motivate you to stay at our company
for the next 5 years?

103. When you’re able to make extra time in your role,

95. What do you hope to learn or gain by taking this
do you ever do anything to make your job more
position?
efficient or easier?

96. What did you like and dislike about the culture
104. Tell me about a time when you went above and
at your last company?
beyond your role and expectations. Why did you
do this? What exactly did you do?
97. What type of work environments do you prefer?

98. What makes you want to leave your current role?

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Final Thoughts

When interviewing candidates, it’s important to be prepared. Coming to the interview with
your questions ready is just the first step, though. You need to incorporate smart interview
questions with a streamlined and standardized process. With interview kits, self-scheduling,
and structured feedback forms, teams use Lever’s Talent Acquisition Suite to create a seamless,
optimized interview experience for candidates and interviewers alike. Use these interview
questions in conjunction with Lever to take you interviewing to the next level.

To learn more, request a demo and speed up your hiring!

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Lever’s mission is to help the world hire
with more predictability.
Recruiting today is more about numbers than ever before. But having the
right numbers at your fingertips can help you uncover hidden sources of
talent, create greater efficiency in your processes, and align everyone on
your team with what’s needed to hire the right people. Lever offers the
ability to streamline your process and keep track of the numbers, so that
you can have greater success in bringing the right people on, at a lower cost.

Lever is transforming the way companies hire through an approach that

allows talent leaders to attract candidates like a marketing leader, forecast
like a sales leader, and have the insights of a finance leader.

Lever was founded in 2012 and supports the hiring needs of over 2,500
leading companies around the globe, including the teams at Netflix, KPMG
NZ, Hot Topic, and Cirque du Soleil. With an overall gender ratio of 50:50,
Lever is also fiercely committed to building a team culture that celebrates
diversity and inclusion.

For more information, visit lever.co

LeverApp Lever @lever

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