Interview questions to ask candidates - and what their answers mean

The standard competency question These are the most common type of questions to ask when interviewing, and will usually start with the phrase along the lines of &ldquo;Can you give me an example of when you&hellip;&rdquo;. They can be adjusted to suit whichever skills you&rsquo;d like the candidate to tell you about, for example, delivering excellent customer service, resolving a conflict or influencing a senior stakeholder.

Competency style questions are good for when you want to find out about specific competencies or skills the candidate has, and how they have used them to resolve previous situations. Good candidates will often plan responses to these and should give clear, thought-through examples.

Look for evidence in their answers that they can give you a clear situation, the task at hand, the action they personally took, and the (positive) result of that action - the STAR method.

The follow-up question Follow-up questions allow you to get more detail, and look beyond the glossy prepared answer, which, although sounding impressive, may cover up a lack of detail or personal involvement. Asking good follow-up questions allows the candidate to engage on a higher level, and have to think on the spot a bit more, as they might not be as prepared for one of these.

The curveball question If you really want to test a candidate&rsquo;s ability to think on their feet, throw in a curveball or two. These can be completely unrelated to the job but may be an extension of something on their resume or relate to current affairs that you&rsquo;d like them to comment on or explain to you. It will test their decision-making under pressure, and the ability to articulate an unprepared response, which can be very important in some jobs.

The hypothetical situation question Some love and some hate these, but they can be seen as a very good example of testing rational thought and logical reasoning quite quickly. Such questions are normally along the lines of asking the candidate to imagine they are in a certain situation, and then asking them to decide, based on information and parameters provided.

The &ldquo;describe yourself&rdquo; question These can come in many forms, and you can ask candidates to imagine what their previous boss or co-workers would say about them, or just to sum themselves up in a few words. This will show whether a candidate can empathize with another person&rsquo;s point of view and express it, or their ability to give a succinct answer when only a few words are required.