Let's be honest – most interview questions are terrible. You know the ones: "What's your greatest weakness?" or "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" Candidates rehearse canned answers, interviewers nod along, and nobody learns anything real. I've sat through hundreds of interviews (on both sides of the table), and trust me, finding truly good interview questions is like discovering gold.
Why Most Interview Questions Fail (And Why Good Ones Matter)
Early in my career, I used generic questions from HR handouts. Big mistake. Hired a marketing candidate who gave textbook answers about "teamwork" and "growth opportunities." Two months in, we discovered she couldn't write a basic press release. Costly? Absolutely. That's when I realized good interview questions aren't about ticking boxes – they're X-ray vision for candidate skills.
What makes interview questions effective? Three things: They reveal actual abilities (not rehearsed lines), expose real problem-solving approaches, and uncover cultural fit. Anything less is just small talk with paperwork.
Crafting Good Interview Questions: A Practical Blueprint
Forget theory – here's what works based on hiring developers for my startup last year:
Question Types That Actually Work
| Question Type | What It Reveals | Sample Good Interview Questions | When to Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Behavioral | Past performance patterns | "Tell me about a project deadline you missed. What happened?" | Mid-interview (after warming up) |
| Situational | Problem-solving approach | "If three stakeholders demanded urgent changes to your project, how would you prioritize?" | Early to assess thinking style |
| Role-Specific | Technical competence | "Walk me through how you'd debug this code snippet" (show actual code) | After screening rounds |
| Culture Fit | Values alignment | "Describe a work environment where you did your best work" | Final stages |
Pro tip: Always follow up behavioral questions with "What specifically did YOU do?" Prevents candidates from hiding behind "we" statements.
The Top 15 Good Interview Questions I Actually Use
- "What's one skill you wish you used more in your last role? Why?" (Reveals growth desires vs reality)
- "Show me a piece of work you're proud of. Walk me through your decisions." (Forces concrete examples)
- "What feedback did you disagree with from your last manager?" (Uncovers accountability)
- "Describe a time you had to say no to a request. How did you handle it?" (Tests boundaries/communication)
- "If I called your best coworker right now, what would they say is your superpower?" (Third-party perspective)
Notice what these good interview questions have in common? Zero yes/no answers. All require storytelling with specifics. That's intentional.
The Anatomy of a Truly Good Interview Question
Bad questions create awkward pauses. Good ones create lightbulb moments. Here's what separates them:
- Open-ended but focused: "Tell me about a conflict" is too vague. "Describe a work conflict you resolved within 48 hours" has guardrails
- Role-relevant: Asking a designer about agile sprints is pointless unless they'll manage projects
- Unpredictable: Avoid questions with 10,000 sample answers online
- Answerable: Candidates shouldn't need mind-reading skills
Personal pet peeve: Questions like "How many golf balls fit in a school bus?" Unless you're hiring astrophysicists, this tests nothing but anxiety. I banned these after a brilliant engineer bombed one and withdrew her application.
Industry-Specific Interview Questions That Deliver
| Role | Good Interview Questions | What to Listen For |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | "Walk me through how you'd redesign our login page after 5 user complaints about error messages" | Systems thinking + user empathy |
| Sales Rep | "Role-play: I'm a skeptical prospect who said 'Your competitor is 20% cheaper.' Go." | Objection handling under pressure |
| Project Manager | "Your team missed 3 deadlines. What data would you gather before reporting to execs?" | Diagnostic approach + stakeholder mgmt |
Asking Good Interview Questions: The Execution Phase
You can have perfect questions and still fail. Here's how to actually run the interview:
- Sequence matters: Start with easy situational questions to reduce nerves before diving into behavioral ones
- Silence is golden: Wait 7 seconds after answers – candidates reveal more under slight pressure
- Anchor answers: When they say "I improved productivity," ask "By what metric? How much?"
I learned this the hard way with a candidate who claimed he "led" a major project. Only through persistent digging did we discover he'd simply attended meetings. That's why good interview questions need follow-up tactics.
Red Flags in Responses You Shouldn't Ignore
- Constant "we" instead of "I" (can signal credit-taking)
- Vague timelines ("sometime last year")
- Overly polished answers with no imperfections
- Blaming others for failures
After the Interview: Evaluating Responses Effectively
Scoring systems prevent "gut feeling" bias. Here's my simple rubric:
| Criteria | 1 (Poor) | 3 (Average) | 5 (Excellent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specificity | Vague generalities | Some details | Concrete names/dates/metrics |
| Self-awareness | Blames others | Shares partial responsibility | Owns mistakes + lessons |
| Relevance | Unrelated stories | Partially applicable | Direct role parallels |
Rate candidates immediately after interviews while memories are fresh. Waiting causes halo effects.
Good Interview Questions FAQ
How many interview questions should I prepare?
For a 45-minute interview: 5-7 main questions max. You'll need time for follow-ups and candidate questions. Overstuffing creates rushed, shallow answers.
Should I ask creative or weird interview questions?
Only if relevant to the work. Asking "What kind of dinosaur would you be?" for an accountant role wastes time. But asking a graphic designer "How would you visually represent our brand values?" could reveal creativity. Context is everything.
Can good interview questions be reused?
Absolutely – but standardize them across candidates for fair comparisons. Modify slightly per role level though. Asking junior and senior candidates identical technical questions gives false signals.
How do I handle non-responsive answers?
First, rephrase. If they still avoid: "Just to clarify, I'm asking about [specific thing]. Could you share an example?" Persistent evasion? That's data too.
What if candidates ask if these are good interview questions?
Transparency wins. Say: "We design questions to understand how you solve real work challenges." Shows you respect their time.
Bad Interview Questions That Poison the Process
Some questions aren't just ineffective – they're dangerous. Avoid these like expired milk:
- Illegal questions: Anything about age, religion, family plans, or health (yes, even casual "Do you have kids?" chats)
- Trick questions: "How would you get an elephant in a refrigerator?" measures nothing but tolerance for nonsense
- Overly personal questions: "What's your biggest regret in life?" belongs in therapy, not interviews
Once had a manager ask candidates "Star Wars or Star Trek?" claiming it assessed culture fit. Spoiler: It didn't. Just made geeks nervous about picking "wrong."
Putting It All Together: Your Action Plan
Creating good interview questions isn't rocket science. Here's your cheat sheet:
- Prep work: List 3 must-have skills for the role. Craft 2 questions per skill
- Question testing: Ask a colleague to answer them. Can they bluff? Revise
- Scoring system: Define what "good" looks like for each question beforehand
- Flexibility: Ditch questions that consistently get canned answers
The magic happens when you treat interviews as discovery sessions – not interrogations. When I switched to this approach, our retention rates jumped 40% in 18 months. Why? Because good interview questions don't just assess candidates – they show candidates what working with you is really like. And that’s how you attract keepers.
Final Reality Check
No interview process is perfect. I once asked what I thought was a brilliant situational question, only to realize later it had twelve possible "right" answers. Wasted weeks. Lesson learned: Test your good interview questions on current high performers first. If they can't nail it, scrap it.
At the end of the day, the best interview questions are like flashlights – they should illuminate what someone actually does in the dark, not just what they say in the light.
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