How to Write Interview Questions

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: View your interviewee as an intelligent person.

   Whatever type of job you are hiring someone for, you should formulate questions that a smart and capable person could answer.
   
   You don’t want to hire someone who isn’t cut out for the job because you assumed your candidate couldn’t answer difficult questions.
   
   When writing your questions before an interview, treat yourself as both interviewer and interviewee.
   
   Putting yourself in the candidate’s shoes will help you create questions that you could answer.
   
   You should be able to provide answers to your own questions.
   
   It’s a good idea to even write these answers down so you can compare.
   
   By treating your interviewees as intelligent individuals, you can come up with challenging questions that will allow you to not only see who may be right for the job, but who is the best fit.
2. 2

   Step 2: Start with an open-ended question.

   An open-ended question cannot be answered by “yes" or "no" and it usually does not have right or wrong answers.
   
   An open ended question is a good way to put the candidate at ease.
   
   You want your candidates to feel comfortable.
   
   And if a candidate feels comfortable that person is more likely to engage.
   
   Open-ended questions are also a good way for you to find out some basic qualifications of the candidate, and to get some cues as to what to ask next.
   
   Try for questions like: “Tell me about the relationships you’ve had with the people you’ve worked with.
   
   How would you describe the best ones? The worst?” This question will immediately give you a good idea of well the candidate might fit on a team in your workplace.
   
   Candidates typically don’t like to speak badly about coworkers or bosses, especially in an interview.
   
   This question lets you see how this person navigates those waters. , You want to make sure that your interviewee did homework and learned about your company.
   
   And you should want to find out if this person just learned facts, or really understands you.
   
   Questions that ask the candidate to visualize being in the role of an existing employee will quickly show you how well this person knows your company.
   
   You might ask “Pitch to me as if I were buying your product or service.” This question will immediately show you how well this candidate knows what you do and if this person has the ability to speak with the company’s voice.
   
   Depending on the position you’re hiring for, be lenient on how well the candidate pitches your company.
   
   If you’re hiring for an internal, non sales position, all you want to know is if your candidate did the homework.
   
   You could also ask “If we were to sit down a year from now, reflecting on your year with the company, what would you like to have achieved?” A question like this will allow you to gauge how well the candidate sees the bigger picture of the work you do, and that this person has not only done the homework, but is committed to being a part of the company.
   
   A question like this will help weed out candidates who just read the job description. , Repeating what the candidate just said will give you a second to digest the information and can allow you to press this person with your next question.
   
   You want to find out of the interviewee is actually knowledgable on the subject at hand.
   
   For instance, if a candidate said “I managed a large system implementation project when I was with my last company.” You could repeat the answer and move on to your next question which will both follow up and get more information about how this candidate would perform in your company.
   
   After you repeat the answer (you shouldn’t just repeat it word for word, paraphrase it) you could as ask “Could you tell me some of the key activities you were engaged in when you managed that project? And how do you think that experience would relate to this job?” , During your interview, you’ll want to gauge how well a person’s resume translates to real life.
   
   Have a list of questions that will give you an idea of the candidate’s basic skill level for the job.
   
   Ask the candidate to describe some basic responsibilities and functions of the job.
   
   Ask what the candidate might find challenging about the job.
   
   You want to have a list of basic questions that have a correct answer.
   
   For example, if your candidate listed Adobe Photoshop as a skill, you may ask how long this person has been using Photoshop.
   
   Or, if you know Photoshop and know that using it is part of the job, you may ask a specific question related to using the program.
   
   You might ask “If I needed to create a banner and wanted to place a picture of someone’s body from another photo onto the banner, how would I do that?” If the candidate can clearly explain the process and use the right terms, you know this person possess a certain skill level. , You want to formulate questions that will allow you to see how the candidate performs under pressure and give you information on this person’s ability in the role.
   
   You may want to ask something simple yet potentially challenging at first like “Is it better to be perfect and late, or good and on time?” The candidate’s answer will show you what kind of employee this person is.
   
   It will also show you how well the candidate knows your company, depending on your answer to the question.
   
   Ask the candidate about a time this person screwed up, and how the candidate fixed the problem.
   
   This is an old and good interview question.
   
   You’ll get to see how self-aware the candidate is and this person's problem-solving skills. , Test soft skills.
   
   You’ll want to know about a candidate’s personality, dedication, loyalty, communication skills, etc.
   
   These are the so called “soft skills” for the job.
   
   When writing interview questions, you’ll want to create your questions so that there’s an ebb and flow to the interview.
   
   Your first questions are meant to ease the candidate into the interview and allow you to gain knowledge on this person’s history.
   
   Then you want to have questions that tell you about a candidate’s actual skill level for the job.
   
   Now you’ll want to ease back up. write down a few questions to pick from during the interview that allows you to see this person’s personality.
   
   Feel free to have a list of questions to pick from that don’t even have much to do with the actual job.
   
   You could ask “Who is the smartest person you know personally? Why?” A question like this will test the candidate’s values and aspirations.
   
   Having the candidate explain why the person is so smart will give you an idea of how this person perceives others.
   
   Ask the candidate “What is something you’d be happy doing every day for the rest of your career?” This will let you find out what makes this person happy at work.
   
   If the answer is boilerplate you know that this person isn’t going to be very happy.
   
   If the answer is thought out and applies to the job, you know you could have someone who would be loyal to you.
   
   Consider asking “If you worked with us, were paid the salary you wanted, and loved everything about your job, what kind of offer from another company would you consider?” This question will give you insight into what the candidate values.
   
   Depending on the answer you’ll know if the candidate can be bought.
   
   Or if this person values loving the work and the company. , Depending on the answers to previous questions, you may have good knowledge of the candidate’s past experiences.
   
   But it’s a good idea to write a few questions you can throw in to find out a little more.
   
   You may ask the candidate to “Discuss a specific accomplishment you’ve achieved in a previous position that indicates you’ll thrive in this position.” Someone’s past performance will be a good indicator of future success with you.
   
   Ask the candidate about a time when this person succeeded professionally but didn’t like the experience and wouldn’t want to do it again.
   
   This kind of question will let you know how the candidate will act when getting the job done isn’t always fun.
   
   And it will let you see if this person understands the value of certain roles or functions. , When writing interview questions, plan to leave time at the end to let the interviewee ask questions.
   
   The questions a candidate asks will be very valuable.
   
   These questions will show you how much this person has prepared and how this person views the role of the job.
   
   During the actual interview always make sure to thank the interviewee.
   
   Then explain your next steps and when you’ll be in touch.
3. 3

   Step 3: Formulate questions that force your interviewee to express a knowledge of your company.

4. 4

   Step 4: Prepare to summarize a candidate’s answers and transition to the next question.

5. 5

   Step 5: Write questions that allow you to obtain basic qualifications.

6. 6

   Step 6: Write questions that challenge your candidates.

7. 7

   Step 7: Ask conversational and open ended questions.

8. 8

   Step 8: Prepare a few experience-based questions.

9. 9

   Step 9: Conclude the interview.

Detailed Guide

About the Author