Interview Questions to Ask Candidates: 50 Questions by Goal, With What to Listen For

The questions you ask decide what you learn in an interview. Ask "What are your strengths?" and you get a rehearsed answer. Ask "Tell me about the last time you had to win back an unhappy customer" and you get evidence you can compare across candidates.

Below are 50 interview questions to ask candidates, grouped by what you need to learn, with a note on what a strong answer sounds like. Pick from them to build your interview plan. At the end is a short list of questions you should not ask.

Start with what you need to learn

Before you pick questions, write down four to seven criteria for the role: the things that separate people who do this job well from those who struggle. Then pick one or two questions per criterion. A question that does not collect evidence for a criterion takes time from one that does.

Three rules make any question work better:

1. Ask about the past. "Tell me about a time when..." gets real examples. "What would you do if..." gets a plan.
2. Follow up. "What exactly did you do?" and "What was the result?" turn a general answer into evidence.
3. Ask every candidate the same main questions, so you can compare them. This is the core of a structured interview.

Experience and track record

1. Walk me through what you do in a normal week in your current role.
2. Which part of your job takes most of your time?
3. Tell me about the project on your CV you are most proud of. What was your part?
4. What result from the last year are you proudest of, and how did you measure it?
5. Your CV mentions [skill]. When did you last use it, and for what?
6. Tell me about something that went wrong in a project. What did you do next?
7. What would your current manager say you do better than anyone on the team?

What to listen for: tasks, tools, numbers and the candidate's own actions. A weak answer repeats the job title or describes what the team did.

Skills and problem solving

8. Tell me about a problem at work that had no obvious solution. How did you approach it?
9. Describe a decision you made without all the information you wanted.
10. Tell me about a mistake you made. How did you find it, and what did you change?
11. Walk me through how you would approach [a real task from this role] in your first week.
12. Tell me about a time you found the root cause of a recurring problem.
13. What is something you taught yourself recently for work?

What to listen for: a clear method, honest trade-offs and a result. For questions 9 to 13, the STAR method gives you a checklist: situation, task, action, result.

Motivation and fit with the role

14. What made you apply for this role?
15. What would make your next job better than your current one?
16. Why are you looking to leave your current job?
17. Where do you want to be in two or three years?
18. What kind of work gives you energy, and what drains it?
19. What do you know about what we do, and what questions do you have about it?

What to listen for: a specific reason that matches what the role offers. Frustration with a past job is normal; a pattern of blaming everyone is a signal.

Ways of working and collaboration

20. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague. What did you do?
21. Describe the best team you have worked in. What made it work?
22. Tell me about a time you needed help from someone who did not report to you.
23. How do you organize your work when everything is urgent?
24. Tell me about feedback you received that changed how you work.
25. Describe a time you had to explain something complex to someone outside your field.
26. How do you prefer to get feedback, and how do you give it?

What to listen for: respect for others, ownership and the ability to disagree without making it personal.

Leadership interview questions

For roles that manage people, add questions about developing others and making hard calls:

27. Tell me about someone you helped develop. What did you do, and what changed for them?
28. Describe a time you had to deal with a performance problem in your team.
29. Tell me about a decision you made that was unpopular with your team.
30. Describe how you delegated something important and how you followed up.
31. Tell me about a time you had to motivate a team through a difficult period.
32. How do you decide what your team should stop doing?
33. Tell me about a hire you made that did not work out. What did you learn?

What to listen for: specific people and outcomes, not leadership philosophy. A strong answer names what the candidate did and what changed for the team.

Customer service interview questions

For support, sales and other customer-facing roles:

34. Tell me about the last difficult customer you handled. What did they want, and what did you do?
35. Describe a time you had to say no to a customer.
36. Tell me about a time you turned an unhappy customer into a satisfied one.
37. How do you handle a customer who is angry about something that was not your fault?
38. Describe a time you found out what a customer really needed, beyond what they asked for.
39. Tell me about a time you had to follow a policy you disagreed with in front of a customer.
40. How many customer contacts did you handle in a normal day, and how did you keep quality up?

What to listen for: listening before solving, staying calm, and solving within their authority. In live interviews, also notice how clearly and patiently the candidate explains things to you.

Situational questions for early-career candidates

When candidates have little work experience, ask about realistic scenarios or about school, volunteer and part-time work:

41. Imagine two managers give you urgent tasks at the same time. What do you do?
42. Imagine a customer is angry about a mistake that was not yours. What do you say first?
43. Tell me about a group project where someone did not do their part.
44. Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly.
45. Describe a goal you set for yourself and how you reached it.

Closing questions

46. Is there anything on your CV you would like to explain or add?
47. What would you want to achieve in your first 90 days here?
48. What questions do you have about the role, the team or how we work?
49. Is there anything that would stop you from accepting an offer?
50. What is your timeline, and are you in other processes?

Questions you should not ask

Some questions create legal risk in the US, the UK and the EU, even when asked with good intentions. Do not ask about:

• Age or date of birth, unless you only need to confirm a legal minimum age
• Marital status, children, pregnancy or plans to have a family
• Religion, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation
• Health conditions or disabilities. You can ask whether the candidate can do the essential tasks of the role.
• Salary history, in the many US states and cities that ban the question

Turn the answers into a decision

Good questions only help if every interviewer scores the answers the same way. Use a short scorecard with a written definition for each score, and write one line of evidence per criterion right after the interview. Our interview scorecard template has a version you can copy.

Firstview helps at both ends. The AI Interviewer asks your questions in a live, structured first round with every candidate and follows up when an answer falls short. The Notetaker fills your scorecard from your team's own interviews on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams. In both cases, a person reads the evidence and makes the decision.