My top interview questions
After hundreds of job interviews, these are the questions that gave me the best insights into a candidate’s mind
Interviewing is hard. Or, more accurately, screwing up an interview is really, really easy.
The first interviews I led left me with the sensation of having learned nothing about the candidate, and not being able to judge their performances — or, worse, basing my evaluation on the candidate’s charisma instead of their responses.
With time, I’ve built better interviewing practices and listed some questions that reveal a lot about the candidate. My list is below, but first let’s talk about what makes an interview good.
How (not) to interview
To know what makes a good interview, it’s good to think about what makes for bad interviews. Bad interviews are those where the interviewer does most of the talking ; the candidate only has to agree to what the interviewer says. At the end, as a hiring manager, you either know you have learned something, or, if you are the sycophant-seeking narcissistic kind, you will put all of your words in the candidate’s mouth and think you have just found someone who is a hundred percent aligned with you.
With that in mind, what you want to do is get the candidate to talk. To do that, you should, first and foremost, talk as little as possible yourself. Many people start with in-depth explanations about the position, the company, the challenges and so on. But that just gives the interviewee a blueprint to woo you, by repackaging everything you just said to convince you that they are the best possible recruit. Leave in-depth explanations to late stages of the interview process, when you have already assessed skills and attitude.
To get the candidate to talk, you should use behavioral interview questions: ask people to describe previous experiences or to tell what they would do in a hypothetical situation. That will force the candidate to show who they really are.
For instance, if you want someone who is creative, the worst you could do is say “we need someone who is creative. Are you creative?” The candidate will answer yes. And then, what do you do?
A slightly less bad way of asking that would be to ask a leading question, like “why would you say creativity is important?” The candidate already knows what you want to hear, anyone with some wits can invent something.
Behavioral interview takes a different route, by asking the candidate to tell about one of their experiences. For creativity, you could ask “tell me about a case where you found a solution no one else saw.” Notice how the word “creativity” isn’t even in the question? That’s the goal. But if the candidate gives a good answer, you will know that they really are creative — and you will also learn a thing or two about how they work, in general.
Instead of asking “are you hard working”, ask “tell me about a goal that you didn’t meet and how you handled it”. Instead of asking “are you a good team player”, ask “we’re a week from a major deadline and you realize that the work of one of your colleagues sucks. What do you do?”
All of the questions below are behavioral interview questions.
A word on brainteasers
Google was at a time infamous for their usage of extremely complex brainteasers during interviews. One candidate was apparently asked the perfect resistor grid question and was expected to solve it live. So how does that work out? In the words of their (at the time) SVP of people operations:
Brainteasers are a complete waste of time. How many golf balls can you fit into an airplane? How many gas stations in Manhattan? A complete waste of time. They don’t predict anything. They serve primarily to make the interviewer feel smart. — Laszlo Bock, SVP of people operations at Google, interviewed in the New York Times
I’ve been guilty of that. Telling that brainteaser whose answer you already know is a great boost for your ego. Don’t do that.
So here are the top questions to check that your candidate is…
1. Determined
I hire you, you’re 3 months into the job and you haven’t attained your objectives. What do you do?
Tell me about an assignment that was too difficult. How did you handle the situation?
Give an example of a goal you didn’t meet and how you handled it.
Tell me about one of the biggest mistakes you made in a professional context. How did you handle it? What did you change afterwards?
2. Self-aware
What do you procrastinate on?
Your mom brags about you to her friends. What does she say?
Your SO complains about you to their friends. What does he/she say?
What advice would you give to your younger self?
What did you lie about in your resume?
3. Capable of thinking
Teach me something
What’s the last thing you learned that blew your mind?
What historic figure is a role model? Why? What fictional character?
“What important truth do very few people agree with you on?” (The Thiel question)
4. A good team player
How would your colleagues on the team describe you as a team member?
We’re one week before the delivery of a project, and you realize that the work of one of your colleagues sucks. What do you do?
Tell me about a time when you had to work with someone very different from you. How did it go?
Tell me about one of your projects done in collaboration with someone with similar skills to you, how did it go? How did you split the work?
5. Leadable
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with your supervisor and what you did about it.
Your manager decides on a course of action you disagree with. How do you handle it?
6. A good leader of people
What qualities in a manager do you look for? What type of person do you thrive under?
How would your subordinates on the team describe you as a team leader?
One of your team members has been underperforming for a couple of weeks. What do you do about it?
Tell me about a time when you had to convince someone to work on a project they weren’t thrilled about. How did you do it?
You are convinced that a certain solution needs to be implemented, but your entire team disagrees. How do you handle it?
A company policy hinders the work of your team. What do you do about it?
7. An overachiever
Describe a situation where you made an impact by doing something that was beyond what was asked.
Tell me about a time when you didn’t have enough work to do. How did you handle the situation?
Tell me about a habit you’re proud of
What are you passionate about?
8. An expert in their field
What’s the most interesting development in your field in the last 5 years? Why? How will it change the world?
What’s the biggest advancement you’re hoping for in the next 5 years?
What will come in your field in the next 10 years that I don’t see coming?
Teach me something about your field.
Who in the industry do you follow?
9. Hungry
What does success mean for you?
What position would you have in 5 years that would feel like a success? What about 10?
How are you going to spend your retirement?
How does this position fit into your vision of your career? Of your life?
A couple of disclaimers
Most of these questions work best for people who have at least a couple of years of experience. Behavioral interview questions may not work with juniors since they may simply be lacking the experience required to come up with convincing answers.
In addition, not everyone will know how to answer all questions, since not everyone will have experienced every hypothetical situation. That’s fine. However, in my experience smart people are able to come up with at least a tangentially related answer that still provides valuable information.
And of course, I never ask all questions nor do I line them up as they are here. I will identify a couple of areas about which I need more information and ask several different questions about it, to get different perspectives.
