Employees are the backbone of every organization, and recruiters must focus on hiring the right talent. Recruiters must ask relevant questions to the candidates in an interview to get a clear picture of the candidate’s skills. One bad hire can affect the business’s overall productivity and can even cost you a lot.

The best way to assess a candidate is to ask questions specific to the job role you’re hiring for. For example, asking web development questions to an Android developer won’t work, and you will end up wasting the candidate’s time.

However, it becomes challenging for new recruiters to find questions to ask job candidates. If you’re the one – struggling to find relevant questions to ask candidates, then we’ve got you covered. This article will discuss the top 15 questions which you can ask a candidate in an interview. These questions will help you get a deep insight into a candidate's skills and make informed hiring decisions.

Tell Me Something Which Is Not In Your CV.

This is one of the most challenging questions to ask job candidates, making them think about what to answer. Such questions allow the candidates to decide whether they want to share something related to their career or personal life.

The way the candidate answers this question will give you a deep insight into whether the candidate is the right fit for your work culture.

What Are Your Biggest Strengths And Weaknesses?

While such questions are common, it helps you quickly learn a lot about a candidate. According to Career Builder, more than 58% of candidates lie in their resumes. Therefore, hiring a candidate based on a wordy resume is a bad practice. No one will ever add their weakness to their resume, and it’s always better to ask them during a face-to-face interview. Such questions will help you assess whether the candidate’s weakness can hamper their ability to perform well in the job role.

On the other hand, ask candidates about their strengths to represent their confidence level and humility. These questions will help you get deeper into the candidate’s skills and determine whether the candidate is the right fit for the role.

Why Are You Leaving Your Current Organization?

Every candidate has their own story and reason to leave their current organization. As a recruiter, you must dive into the specific details and hear their perspective. These questions to ask job candidates will help you know the candidate better and what their priorities are.

If the candidates demand a higher package, ask why they’re ready to hit up the pay scale. Also, if a candidate speaks about management differences, it could mean they work for a horrible boss or maybe dealing with work overload.

Tell Me About At Least One Career Achievement.

The answer to this question will give you deep insight into the candidate’s hard and soft skills. A career achievement can be mastering a skill, exceeding company goals, helping other team members to grow, etc.

How Do You Manage Work Overload?

This is one of the best behavioral questions to ask job candidates as it shows the candidate’s time management and problem-solving skills. Look for the answers on how candidates deal with stress and work overload and how they get the job done.

Which Is Your Preferred Working Style?

Ask candidates whether they prefer to work independently or with a collaborative approach. This will give you a clear picture of how candidates work and determine whether they are the right fit for the position you’re hiring for.

What Made You Apply For The Job Role In Our Organization?

The way the candidate answers this question will show how carefully they have read the job description and allow them to speak about why they deserve this position.

What Excites You About This Job Role?

When candidates feel excited about a job role, it shows how passionate they are in their chosen field, which translates into excellent work and greater longevity with your company. The answer to this question will also give you an insight into what aspects of the job interest the candidates the most.

How Will You Contribute To The Accomplishment Of Our Company’s Desired Goals?

Today, candidates conduct thorough research on the company they want to work for. It will show how much initiative the candidate took to research a company before coming to the interview.

How Was Your Relationship With Your Co-workers In Your Previous Organization?

Apart from the candidate’s technical skills, communication skills also matter. How they interact with their co-workers will help you determine whether the candidate is the right fit for your culture or not. The answer to this question will determine whether the candidate has the potential to be a happy, productive member of your organization.

Which Is Your Ideal Workspace?

This is one of the most important questions to ask job candidates as they describe their ideal workspace, and you can analyze whether it suits your current office environment.

Where Do You See Yourself In The Next 6-7 Years?

An ideal candidate has some short-term and long-term goals. As the candidates grow in their professional careers, the company grows too.

What Kind Of Support Would Your Boss Provide?

The answer to this question will show how self-directed the candidate is. However, most candidates need a lot of handholding.

Name Any Four Attributes You’ll Bring To Our Company.

The attributes which candidates mention must be corresponding with those of your workplace. If they’re wildly different, then you must move on to other candidates.

Do You Have Any Questions?

Lastly, allow candidates to ask you some questions related to the job role or the company. If candidates ask about the outcome of the interview, then they are eager to join your company. However, if a candidate doesn’t have any questions, this is the interview’s end.

A job interview can be hectic for candidates and recruiters as well. On average, a discussion is of 30 minutes, and you have limited time to get the most valuable information of the candidates.

The above-mentioned questions to ask job candidates will help you get a deep insight into the candidate’s skills and assess whether the candidate is the right fit for your organization or not.