ELEVATING THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

APPROACH TO INTERVIEWING
Creating a remarkable candidate experience is critical during the interview process. This is an opportunity for
the interviewer (on behalf of the company) to showcase the culture and brand, promote the team, and sell the
role you’re looking to fill.

You are seeking to impress and to be impressed. The interview process should be conducted as a two-way
conversation, with both parties thoughtfully asking questions, listening, and learning. Coming prepared with
intentional and thought-provoking questions will make this a well-rounded and invaluable experience for all.

T O P I C S T O AVO I D D U R I N G A N I N T E R V I E W

• Age • Living arrangements/home ownership

• Marital status: engaged, divorced, single, wid- • Any physical or mental health-related prob-
owed, etc. lems or disabilities
• Children, childbearing plans, childcare • Salary history (where applicable)
• Religion/holidays observed

GENERAL QUESTIONS
When interviewing, it’s important to understand why the candidate wants to work for your company. A can-
didate should be able to articulate why this position, with your specific company, aligns with their goals. Use
these discovery questions:

• Why are you interested in this position?

• What do you bring that would add value to our company? Why our company versus any other company?
• Why will this position get you excited to come to work?
• How will this position get you closer to achieving your goals?

The following pages outline a series of mindset, behavioral, and personable questions and/or prompts that
can be used during the interview process. These questions are designed to extract the most information about
the candidate and how their experience and interests align with the role, your team, and your company.

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MINDSET QUESTIONS
These questions focus on the candidate’s overall mindset and outlook on life to provide the best sense of his or
her work ethic and how they view success. They are designed to help you decide if he or she will fit your culture
and drive the overall mission and vision of your company.

• What’s most important to you about your next position? How do you define success?
• What does a company owe its employees?
• What’s most important to you about your relationship with your boss/manager and what type of man-
agement style works best for you?
• Describe the perfect company culture for you and why? What are you most proud of in your work career?
• What career accolades or accomplishments are you most proud of? What are your short and long-term
career goals?
• What is your dream job? What would you do if you didn’t need money? Are you in control of your career,
or has your career controlled you?
• How do you plan to paint the next chapter of your life?
• What would your boss/peers/direct reports/clients say about you?
• What are three things your former manager would say you can improve on? Who is someone you look
up to?
• If you could change one work related decision in the past two years, what would it be and why?

B E H AV I O R I A L P R O M P T S
These questions allow you to explore previous behavior as an indicator for future behavior. The positioning of
these questions is important, as the intention is to avoid leading a candidate to respond the way they believe
you want them to, and instead provide them the opportunity to share real-life examples that provide insight
into their personality and work ethic.

• Share a time when you overcame a significant challenge in your career. Describe a time when you were
recognized by your peers for your hard work.
• Share a time when you and a coworker had to work together towards a common goal but had differing
opinions on how to accomplish it.
• Share a time when you didn’t accomplish what you set out to but learned an invaluable lesson.
• Tell me about a time when you helped someone win and did not get the credit. Tell me about a time when
you worked hard and missed your goals.
• Share a time when you went above and beyond to accomplish a goal. Tell me about a time when you dis-
agreed with your manager.
• Describe a situation when you had to perform a project/task while under severe time constraints or
stress. Share how persistence played a part here.
• Describe a situation where you had to resolve a conflict with a co-worker. Tell me about the most inter-
esting work project you have ever completed.
• Describe an instance when your personal integrity was challenged and how you handled the situation.
• Share an example of a time when you took a risk to achieve a critical company goal. What was the out-
come?

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PERSONABLE QUESTIONS
These questions are more unique and conversational, and serve as an opportunity to get to know your candi-
date’s personality. Select a few of your favorites to ask throughout the interview to build rapport and make the
candidate feel at ease.

• What is your work superpower?

• What do you like to do for fun outside of work?
• Tell me about your routines and rituals that make a day successful for you.
• What advice would you give your younger self?
• If you had 2,000 unread emails and could only answer 100 of them, how would you choose which ones
to answer?
• What song best describes you when you’re focused?
• If you could be any animal in the world, what would you be and why?
• If there was one thing you could change about your last job that would have kept you there, what would
it be?
• What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
• In three minutes or less, teach me something I don’t know.
• What is the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume?
• If there was one thing you could change about your last job that would have kept you there, what would
• On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate me as an interviewer and why?

CLOSING THE INTERVIEW

To tie up any loose ends, ask the candidate if they have any reservations in moving forward with this oppor-
tunity. At the end of the interview, thank the candidate for their time and establish a time frame for when they
can expect to hear next steps or a decision one way or another.

Want to elevate the end of an interview? Consider providing on-the-spot feedback. This will provide an op-
portunity to observe how the candidate responds to unsolicited input.

Happy interviewing!

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