Conducting a job interview? Here are the questions that work – and the ones candidates most want to be asked

“One of my favourite general questions is ‘What skills and strengths do you bring to this position?’” he said. “And then you can kind of tweak it from there and ask something a little more pointed — and that’s ‘What makes you different?’ and ‘Why is that important to us.’”

The whole point of the conversation is to find out if they can do the job and what they bring to the table, he said. If the opening is something related to payroll or finance, the questions almost write themselves.

“The beauty of those professions is that their work is done either on a monthly, quarterly, or annual cycle,” said Jungwirth. “A great way to ask that question is ‘Walk me through what you do in your current role’ during those time periods.”

Behavioural questions

For any role, behavioural-type questions should be on the table, he said. These are questions like: “Tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with one of your colleagues and how you handled that situation.”

That helps evaluate how the candidate communicates and how well they can articulate themselves, he said.

“I’m less concerned about the exact example they use and more about their comfort level and understanding of how they communicate with others, because that gets back to the fit of the organization,” said Jungwirth.

A job candidate might have the perfect skills on paper, but if they can’t communicate with the rest of the team — it won’t work, he said.

“I always say, at the end of the day, you can teach skills. But you can’t teach fit,” he said.

Another question he likes to ask is why that person is leaving their current role. “That might identify some issues that they have that you could then suss out,” said Jungwirth.

He also tends to ask what their current, or past, employer could do to be more successful.

“That gives you a sense of whether the candidate can see the big picture, and it’ll flush out a little bit just how they think about their organization and, potentially, the impact they can have on your organization,” said Jungwirth.

Questions that job candidates want to be asked

Yoh, an international talent and outsourcing company with offices in the United States and the United Kingdom, recently conducted a survey of jobseekers that flipped the tables on interviews. It asked them to provide the list of questions they most wanted to be asked in an interview.

At the top of that list was “What do you think makes you a good candidate for this job?”

Jungwirth gave that question a solid thumbs up, because it allows the individual to talk about what they bring to table. “It’s pretty open-ended and it allows the individual to go big picture if they wish,” he said.

Next up on the candidates’ wish list was: “What soft skills (e.g., adaptability, conflict resolution, problem-solving) do you possess that would make you a good candidate for this job?”

That question is very effective because it’s the type of thing you can’t discover by reading a resumé, he said.

“It’s imperative you talk about soft skills in an interview,” said Jungwirth.

Emmett McGrath, president of Yoh, said the decisions around what questions hiring managers should ask in an interview should “not be taken lightly.”

“This is especially true considering ongoing talent shortage and the need to optimize all recruitment touchpoints to source candidates and fill open positions,” he said.

His advice was to keep questions relevant to the role — and don’t overcomplicate things.

“Sometimes, the simpler the question, the easier it is for candidates to demonstrate their ability to succeed within a role,” said McGrath. “And with the talent market the way it is, getting there in the easiest way possible can help expedite the process.”

The top questions

Here are the top questions candidates want to be asked, according to the Yoh survey:

• What do you think makes you a good candidate for this job? (54%)

• What soft skills (e.g., adaptability, conflict resolution, problem-solving) do you possess that would make you a good candidate for this job? (46%)

• What did you like most about your last job? (45%)

• What is an accomplishment (personal or professional) you are proud of and why? (44%)

• How do you handle high-stress situations at work? (43%)

• What would success in this position mean to you? (41%)

• What is a quality of a manager you like best? (38%)

• If money was no object, what would you choose to do as a career? (28%)

• What did you dislike about your last job? (27%)

• What resources do you need to have available in your next job? (27%)

• What are your non-negotiables in a job? (24%)

• What management style do you dislike the most? (20%)

• What is a quality of a manager you dislike? (19%)

The survey was conducted online by the Harris Poll on behalf of Yoh among 2,084 adults in the U.S. They were asked to select the interview questions they would most like to answer.  

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