When interviewing a candidate, you must obtain as much information as possible in a short amount of time. It can be challenging to learn enough about a candidate to determine whether they are the best fit for a position — but by asking good interview questions, you can gain a better understanding of not only their skills and experience but also their conversational skills, problem-solving abilities, and ability to think quickly.

Asking questions that are unique to the company or function and broader ones that allow the applicant to demonstrate their personality and ability to think critically under pressure is the most excellent method to assess a candidate for skill fit and culture fit fully.

Best interview questions for candidates

1. What is your proudest professional achievement: While it’s critical to choose someone who can execute the job properly, you also want someone proud of their work. By asking the candidate to share their favorite career accomplishment, you will allow them to share a highlight of their career. Still, you will also gain a better understanding of the type of work that makes them happy and whether it aligns with the role’s responsibilities.
2. Tell me about yourself that I don’t know about from your resume: Jobseekers meticulously write their resumes to present the most excellent summary of their professional history, but you can’t understand everything just by looking at their resume. This question is purposely vague to give the interviewee the option of sharing something work-related or not. They may choose to tell you about their world-traveling sabbatical, charity work, or another life-changing experience. The way they reply to this question and the story they tell might reveal a lot about the kind of employee they will be.
3. What prompted you to apply for this job: Because it dives into specifics of the job role, this is one of the most important interview questions to ask. It demonstrates how thoroughly the candidate read the job description and explains why they believe they would be a good fit. A well-crafted response will touch applicant’s existing talents and those they desire to develop or enhance.
4. What are your most serious flaws: This is one of the most used interview questions for a reason: it allows you to discover a lot about a candidate in a short amount of time. This question will enable you to determine three things: whether the candidate’s weaknesses conflict with job requirements or hinder their ability to excel in the role; whether the candidate is self-aware enough to recognize their shortcomings without having to think too hard; and whether the candidate is self-aware enough to acknowledge their weaknesses without having to think too hard. What steps a candidate takes to address their flaws.
5. Which of the following are your greatest assets: When a candidate discusses their strengths, it demonstrates their self-awareness and humility, just as it does when talking about their faults. This interview question also allows the applicant to highlight how their best abilities match the requirements of the position and demonstrate how they will use their talents to assist the organization in achieving its objectives.
6. Tell me about a challenging work situation you faced and how you dealt with it: Everyone has faced difficult situations at work. It is frequently that professionals learn the most in these situations. This is one of the best interview questions to ask because it allows the candidate to describe how they function under pressure and highlight their problem-solving and stress management abilities.
7. Tell me about a period when you had a hefty workload to manage. How did you deal with it: This is one of the essential questions interviewers should ask. It indicates a candidate’s organizational and time management skills and handling difficult situations, such as a workload rise. Examine how the candidate prioritizes duties, adjusts to new challenges, and collaborates with others for the job completion.

Conclusion

A job interview allows you to determine whether or not a candidate is qualified and whether or not other employees would enjoy working with them. You may better assess skill level and personality attributes by asking these questions, which are the most important things to consider when hiring a new employee.