A job interview is an opportunity for an employer to get to know a candidate better and will play a large role in their decision on whether to offer somebody a job. Key things they want to find out about a person is their interpersonal skill level such as communication and leadership, their understanding of the company and how they can contribute, their key strengths and examples of when they have demonstrated skills that are relevant to the role.

Well designed interview questions will give a candidate the opportunity to share the relevant information without being too constrained so that they can share beyond what is being asked. Some categories of questions include;

• General questions

• Behavioural questions

• Situational questions

• Opinion questions

Types of Questions

Behavioural questions ask candidates to reflect on experiences and describe how they have dealt with a particular situation in the past. This allows recruiters to assess the candidate’s proficiency in the skills the recruiters are looking for and make predictions of how they will handle future situations likely to come up in the job role. Examples of behavioural questions include;

• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with conflict with a colleague.

• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer.

• Tell me about a time when you had to take on a leadership role.

• Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work.

• Tell me about a time when you had to handle a large amount of pressure.

• Tell me about a time when you made an unpopular decision.

• Tell me about a time when you had to go along with a decision that you did not agree with.

• Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond your job role.

General questions are designed to give the candidate an opportunity to share general information about themselves. These questions give the interviewer an opportunity to get to know the candidate better as a person and consider how they would be as a potential employee. They are usually open ended in order to give the candidate the opportunity to share as much as possible. It is also a opportunity for the candidate to communicate key aspects of their personality, work history and career aspirations. Due to their introductory nature, a good position for these questions is the start of the interview. Examples of general questions include;

• Tell me about yourself.

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

• What are your long-term career goals?

• Why do you want to work at this organisation?

• What do you think you can bring to the role?

• How would your colleagues describe you?

Situational questions ask candidates about what they would do in a hypothetical situation that may occur in their role. This allows candidates to explore scenarios they have not had the opportunity to experience before. It also gives the recruiter an insight into the candidate’s decision making skills by asking them to think quickly about a new situation. Examples of situational questions include;

• How would you deal with an angry customer who was complaining about a faulty product?

• How would you deal with a colleague who was not making a fair contribution to a team project?

• What would you do if you realised you had made a mistake on a report that was already issued to a client?

• What would you do if you were asked to perform a task you had no experience of?

• What would you do if your manager made a decision that you felt was unethical?

• What would you do if you were already struggling with your workload and your manager gave you another project?

Opinion questions ask a candidate their thoughts on a particular topic. This gives recruiters an opportunity to see how well the candidate stays up to date with information relevant to the business industry and how well they can articulate their points. This in turn helps envision how they will contribute to future discussion where critical thinking and collaboration are required to make important decisions. Example of opinion questions include;

• What do you think is the biggest challenge facing our company?

• How do you see AI changing our industry over the next 5 years?

• What has been the most significant development in our industry in the past 10 years?

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