The 25 best questions to ask a candidate in a job interview

As a recruiter, finding the perfect candidate for a vacancy is your main mission. You've already sorted through resumes and scheduled interviews, but a well-asked question can be the key to effectively assessing the skills, personality, and motivation of applicants.

How can you make sure you don't miss someone who will bring real added value to your business? As an employer, this last piece of advice is crucial for succeed in your recruitment.

This article offers you a selection of 25 crucial questions to ask during a job interview. They will help you to deepen your understanding of the profile of candidates, their expectations and ambitions, while verifying their adequacy with the culture and values of your company.

This will allow you to make an informed choice and hire the candidate who is most likely to succeed in the position to be filled.

1 - Evaluate experience and skills

Once Motivation of the confirmed candidate, it is crucial to examine his experience and skills in connection with the proposed position. This step ensures that he has the knowledge, skills and know-how necessary to carry out the tasks that will be assigned to him.

It is also important to check your ability to adapt to new or complex situations, as well as your sense of initiative and responsibility. To assess these aspects, these relevant questions could be asked:

1.1 - Tell me about your professional career so far.

This interview makes it possible to explore the candidate's career path, choices, successes, challenges and developments. It helps to assess the coherence of his career, the relevance of his experiences with the position, and his commitment to his previous functions. It is also useful to discuss certain aspects of your resume to further explore certain points.

1.2 - What was your main success in your previous position?

This question helps to understand the concrete achievements of the candidate, the results achieved and the impacts generated. It allows you to assess your ability to achieve goals, exceed expectations, innovate and stand out.

Asking the candidate to describe how they approached the situation, the difficulties encountered, and how they overcame them is also instructive.

1.3 - How does your experience prepare you for this new role?

This question is essential to check if the candidate has a good understanding of the challenges and requirements of the position. It allows you to assess your ability to value your assets, identify areas for improvement and plan for the future. Asking for concrete examples of situations where they used the skills required for the job is also beneficial.

1.4 - Faced with a complex problem, what approach do you use to solve it?

This question allows you to examine the candidate's reasoning and methodology. It offers insight into his ability to analyze, synthesize, propose solutions, argue and make decisions.

It is also appropriate to ask him to give an example of a complex problem he solved in the past, describing the steps taken.

1.5 - Give an example of a project that you carried out from A to Z.

This question is essential to assess the experience and skills of the project management candidate. It allows you to understand your ability to plan, organize, coordinate, coordinate, communicate, control and evaluate a project effectively.

It is also useful to ask for details about the context, objectives, resources used, constraints encountered, results achieved, and lessons learned at the end of the project.

2 - Understand personality and corporate culture

Assessing a candidate's experience and skills is crucial, but taking an interest in who is behind the resume, how they present themselves, and the corporate culture that it could incorporate is just as important. This means making sure he has the character traits and values that align with those of your organization and your team.

It is also essential to ensure that he knows how to work in a team, manage conflicts and be fully involved in his work.

To assess these aspects, you can ask the following questions:

2.1 - How would you describe your work style?

This question helps to understand how the candidate works, preferences, and habits. It allows you to assess your ability to organize yourself, to manage your time, to respect deadlines, to be autonomous, rigorous and creative, among others.

Asking for concrete examples of where they have implemented their work style can provide valuable insights.

2.2 - Do you work better alone or in a team? Why?

This question makes it possible to measure the candidate's level of collaboration, team spirit and sense of teamwork. It helps assess one's ability to communicate, share, listen, listen, adapt, cooperate, and negotiate.

Asking for examples of projects completed alone or in a team, as well as the pros and cons of each way of working, provides a complete perspective on how you work.

2.3 - Can you give me an example of a conflict you had at work and how you resolved it?

This question tests the candidate's stress and emotional management, relational intelligence and assertiveness. It allows you to assess your ability to express your point of view, to listen to others, to find compromises and to maintain a good working climate.

It is helpful to ask the candidate to describe the context, causes, consequences, and solutions of the conflict to gain insight into their ability to solve problems.

2.4 - What motivates you the most at work?

This question aims to understand what motivates the candidate to be committed and to find satisfaction in their work. It allows you to assess your ability to set goals, to surpass yourself, to learn and to innovate.

Asking for examples of situations where he has been motivated or unmotivated at work and the reasons for these states offers valuable insight into his sources of motivation.

2.5 - What qualities do you think are essential to succeed in our business?

This question is crucial to measure how well the candidate knows and is interested in your company's policies and culture. She can demonstrate her ability to identify with the company, to integrate into it in a balanced manner, to align with its objectives, to be fully involved and to contribute effectively to your talent search process. In addition, you can ask him to name qualities that he already has or that he wants to develop in order to excel within your organization.

3 - Identify aspirations and motivation

Understanding a candidate's aspirations and motivation is crucial after analyzing their personality and company culture. The objective is to ensure that the candidate has a clear and coherent professional project, that he is motivated by the opportunities offered by the position and the company, and that he is eager to progress and train.

Here are some relevant questions to ask:

3.1 - Why did you apply for this particular position?

This question helps to determine if the candidate understands the role and its challenges, if it corresponds to their skills and interests, and if they meet their professional expectations. This allows you to assess your ability to argue, sell yourself, and stand out from other candidates. It is also useful to ask him what he is most and least attracted to the job, advice that can reveal his knowledge of the type of work he is looking for.

3.2 - Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Asking this question allows you to discover the candidate's development prospects, ambitions and projects. This helps to assess one's ability to project oneself, to set goals, to adapt to changes. Also ask him how he plans to achieve his goals, what obstacles he expects, and what means he plans to use.

3.3 - What are your long-term career goals?

This question aims to understand the candidate's vision of his career, values and motivations. It allows you to assess your self-knowledge, your ability to express yourself and to engage. It's also relevant to ask them what career examples inspire them, what areas of interest they're interested in, and what success models they're attracted to.

3.4 - What do you like the most about our company?

By asking this question, you measure the candidate's interest in your business, vision, mission, values, culture, products, services, customers, customers, competitors, and challenges. This assesses their ability to learn, document, and stay informed. Also ask him what differentiates your business from others in his eyes, what he is passionate about and what would make him loyal.

3.5 - What skills do you want to develop in this position?

This interview aims to identify the candidate's training aspirations and needs, as well as his areas for improvement and his development goals. It allows you to assess your motivation for learning, your ability to train and improve continuously.

It is also a good idea to ask him to specify the methods he uses to train, the resources he consults, and the training he has taken or plans to take.

4 - The limits of the questions

Asking questions during an interview is a crucial part of the hiring process. However, it is important to know the limitations of this exercise. Questions, while powerful, can't always capture all of a candidate's skills and qualities.

First of all, some questions may lead to overprepared answers, not allowing the candidate's spontaneity and creativity to be accurately judged. Plus, candidates can give ideal answers that match what the recruiter is looking to hear, rather than their true personality or experience.

Second, traditional questions, while often useful, may lack the depth to assess specific skills or soft skills such as the ability to manage stress or to work in a team. Aspects such as cultural compatibility or management style can also be difficult to assess through questions alone.

It is therefore essential to use a diversified approach: combining questions with other assessment methods such as structured interviews, The STAR method or the scenarios. This allows for a more global and precise vision of skills and Candidate potential.

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To remember

You now have a series of 25 key questions to ask a candidate during a job interview. These interviews are designed to assess various essential aspects such as the candidate's professional experience, skills, personality, cultural fit, ambitions, and motivation.

However, keep in mind that these questions alone are not enough. It is crucial to carefully prepare your interview beforehand, by precisely defining the ideal profile, the evaluation criteria, as well as the process flow. It is also important to adjust your questions taking into account the specificity of the position, the sector of activity, company policy and the candidate's profile.

Pay particular attention to how the candidate responds, their body and verbal language, their reactions, and what questions they may ask. These items can provide you with valuable clues as to whether it's a good fit for the job before hiring.

After the interview, take the time to take stock, by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate, by comparing him to other applicants, by soliciting the opinion of your colleagues, by checking his references, etc. Do not delay any longer and start organizing and asking interviews now that will allow you to put your power of selection into practice!