1. What can you tell us about yourself?

This is a common interview question for a reason. Usually asked at the beginning of an interview, it gives your candidate the opportunity to reveal more about their personality and work ethic. You'll also get a sense of how well they can think on their feet by asking them to describe what they've accomplished.

2. What are your strengths?

Here, you are looking not just for the candidate’s actual strengths, but signs about how confident they feel about their answer. Be wary of answers that over-sell the candidate, as well as answers that don’t do the candidate justice. The candidate should be prepared to talk about what sets them apart from others and having to think about their own strengths might be a red flag.

3. What are your weaknesses?

Like the question about strengths, candidates should be able to demonstrate good awareness of what they might find as more of a challenge. As well as this, the question should give hiring managers a better sense of how the candidate is working towards addressing their weaknesses.

4. What attracted you to this position?

Interviewers should be able to tell if the candidate is ready for the job, but they also wants more information about how well they fit with the company and its culture. Answering this question will help identify candidates who are looking at the position as a steppingstone instead of a career choice, or those who lack motivation and drive toward professional success.

5. What do you want to accomplish in the first ‘xx’ days of your new job?

Employers want to be able to assess how well their new employee can hit the ground running. This question gives candidates an opportunity not only tell an interviewer what skills they have, but also show that they've researched their potential employer. If a candidate has a clear statement about what they want to achieve that aligns with the company culture and systems, it shows that the applicant has done their research and that they should be ready for success from day one!

6. What are your long-term career goals/where do you see yourself…?

This question gives your candidate the chance to be open about their ambitions and aspirations and, potentially, indicate if their plans don’t ultimately align with what you’re looking for in an ideal candidate. It can also help to reveal if your candidate is focused, organised, and has a clear route in mind to achieving their professional goals – this will likely mean that their application to your open position is decisive and purposeful.

7. Tell me about a project that required a great deal of initiative on your part.

This question is a good one to ask because it will give you a sense of what kind of work has been done and what kind of results have been achieved. The candidate should be able to give specific examples, and they should also be recent enough that you can still see if there is an impact on their current job or on the company.

8. Tell me about a challenging work situation and how you overcame it.

Challenges at work are common. Being able to discuss and explain a challenge with clarity and indicate where and how a solution was reached is a sign that your candidate not only knows this, but is poised to face similar challenges again.

9. How do you define success?

This question helps with the understanding of what drives someone, what motivates them, and how they define achievement for themselves. It can also help you understand whether this person has long-term goals or if they are just focused on short-term projects (which may not be ideal).

10. Do you have any questions for me/us?

Regardless of whether you are a small employer looking for a single hire or a large multinational company onboarding 50 people, this question is crucial. Giving your candidate the opportunity to ask more about the company, their potential role within it, or the direction the business is taking, not only ensures your candidate is making the right decision, but also give you as the interviewer an even greater insight into their motivations and goals.

Conclusion

Each of these questions is a chance to learn more about the candidate behind the CV. It’s important to remember that interview questions should never be thought of as a way to expose or confront candidates. The right questions should bring out the best of your candidates, enabling them to give you the fullest impression of their ability to work and excel in the role.

For more tips and advice on interview questions, Indeed.com and Monster.com have several articles around interviewing candidates –

• Best interview questions
• 36 questions to ask a candidate
• 100 interview questions