8 of My Favorite Interview Questions to Ask

I knew after the interview I wanted to hire her. She confidently spoke about her experiences, acknowledged what she wanted to learn and hadn’t yet been exposed to, and she seemed ready to take on new challenges. During the time we worked together, she exceeded expectations and transformed the role.

This is a scenario I have been privileged to play out many, many times in my career—to hire amazing people who have meaningfully contributed to the organization and made our team stronger. It’s powerful to be responsible for making hiring decisions, and even more so to be responsible for leading a team day-to-day.

The people on your team determine how successful you are in achieving your vision and how much people enjoy working together in pursuit of their goals. After all, a team exists to accomplish something bigger than any individual could. This makes the interview process especially important, so you can determine whether a candidate should join your team. As a leader, I took pride in being an active part of interviewing candidates who would be a part of my team, whether they reported directly to me or not. I wanted them to know that I was in it with them from the beginning, and I wanted to ensure they would be committed to building this team together with us.

Determining all of this in a 45-minute conversation requires developing strong recruiting and hiring skills, and it means going beyond the usual questions.

Here are eight of my favorite interview questions to ask:

Tell me about yourself and what’s leading us to have this conversation today.

Though most interviews start with “Tell me about yourself,” I add on the second part, because I want to understand why they’re interviewing and how they talk about wanting to be a part of the organization.

What career accomplishment are you proudest of?

I want to see how people talk about what’s important to them, how others were involved in their work, and how they can contribute to the organization.

What is your superpower (innate strength)?

I’m looking for people to understand what their strengths are and listening for how they describe them to others.

What are you still learning about yourself?

I believe everyone is a work-in-progress. It’s important for team members to be committed to growing as a leader and person. I’m especially interested to see their self-awareness.

What is a new initiative you started at work?

Starting a new initiative is different than working on something that’s been asked of you. I look for team members who demonstrate interest and ability in improving on processes and programs, as well as creating new ideas.

What happens on a great day at work? What happens on a day at work when you text your best friend and say it was a hard day?

This question gives me a sense of what brings energy to someone—and what depletes that energy. Sometimes team members tell me what happened on their hard days are things that will be expected of them in the new role they’re interviewing for, and it’s better to address that up front.

Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager about something you were working on. How did you handle it?

Learning how to handle conflict in the workplace is a valuable skill. This answer shows me how the person approaches challenging situations, including how they communicate and manage up. I also appreciate hearing what they choose to disagree on, as it gives me insights into what they value in the workplace.

What’s something I should know about you that’s not on your resume?

This is one of my favorite questions, as it teaches me about the candidate as a person. I’ve had people tell me about hobbies, values, and personal experiences.

An interview process won’t reveal everything about a candidate, but it can tell you exactly what you need to know to make a great hiring decision. Hiring candidates is about what they can contribute to your organization, not how they fit in. By asking thoughtful questions during the interview, you can get a sense of who they are and how you can teach them—and learn from them—as a future member of your team.