20+ Interview Questions Hiring Managers Should Ask

Interview questions are the backbone of a useful interview. The right ones reveal how someone actually works; the wrong ones produce rehearsed answers or, worse, legal exposure.

Understanding different types of interview questions

Behavioral questions

These probe past experience, on the premise that past behaviour is the best available predictor of future performance. "Tell me about a time you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle it?"

Situational questions

Hypothetical scenarios that assess problem-solving and judgement. "How would you handle a tight deadline and a sudden increase in workload?"

Technical questions

Industry-specific questions assessing functional knowledge — writing a piece of code, or explaining how a system works.

Cultural fit questions

Questions that surface how someone prefers to work. "What's your ideal work environment?"

Interview question examples

1. Can you describe a situation where you had to deal with a difficult team member, and how you handled it?
2. Tell me about a time you had to adapt to a significant change at work.
3. How would you approach a project on an unfamiliar topic or technology?
4. Describe a time when you spotted a potential problem and resolved it before it became one.
5. Can you give an example of how you motivated a team during a difficult project?
6. How do you delegate tasks and make sure they get done?
7. Describe explaining a complex idea to a non-expert. How did you check they had understood?
8. Give an example of handling a communication breakdown in your team.
9. Walk me through a recent project and the tools you used.
10. What are the biggest challenges you have had working with a particular system or technology?
11. What type of work environment do you do your best work in?
12. How do you think about aligning your own values with a company's?
13. Describe a time you had to reprioritise because project demands changed.
14. How do you stay productive when there is genuine uncertainty about direction?
15. Tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a customer.
16. How do you handle a dissatisfied client?
17. Describe a project where you collaborated with a diverse group and how you ensured effective teamwork.
18. How do you approach conflict within a team? Give an example of resolving one.
19. What are your longer-term career goals, and how do you plan to get there?
20. Share a learning experience that significantly changed your professional development.

Crafting effective interview questions

Open-ended questions

Open questions encourage detailed responses and get past the rehearsed answer. "What motivates you at work?" cannot be answered with a yes.

Specificity

Specific questions produce informative answers. Instead of "Are you a team player?", ask "Can you describe a project where you worked closely with a team?"

Avoiding leading questions

Do not signal the answer you want. Instead of "You're proficient in software X, right?", ask "Which tools are you proficient in?"

Off-limits questions in interviews

Certain questions are legally hazardous regardless of intent. The EEOC's guidance on prohibited employment policies and practices explains that pre-offer disability inquiries are barred outright, and that questions which disproportionately screen out members of a protected group can be used as evidence of discriminatory intent unless justified by a business purpose. Its guidance on pre-employment inquiries is worth reading alongside it.

Avoid:

• Age. Including indirect proxies such as "What year did you graduate from high school?"
• Marital and family status. Including children and pregnancy plans.
• Religious affiliation or practice. Including which holidays someone observes.
• Nationality or ethnic background. Language fluency only where genuinely job-related.
• Disabilities or medical conditions. You may ask whether someone can perform specific job functions; you may not ask about a disability before an offer.
• Gender identity or sexual orientation.
• Criminal record. Heavily regulated and varies by state — many jurisdictions restrict when it can be asked at all.
• Financial information, unless directly relevant to the role.
• Political affiliation.
• Lifestyle choices, unless they genuinely affect job performance.

Keep questions tied to qualifications and the ability to do the job.

The role of active listening

Listen closely enough to ask a real follow-up. That is usually where the useful information is.

Common mistakes

Irrelevant questions waste time. Overloading the candidate with too many questions is counterproductive — prioritise. Cliché questions like "Where do you see yourself in five years?" mostly retrieve prepared answers.

Role-specific questions

Restaurant

Waitstaff: dealing with a difficult customer; collaborating with kitchen staff; managing tasks during peak hours; what makes someone good at the job.

Chef or cook: process for preparing a specific dish; approach to creating something new; maintaining quality and consistency under time pressure; working with front of house to resolve an issue.

Host: handling guests waiting longer than expected; managing seating, waitlist and greeting at once; dealing with a booking error; the qualities the role needs.

Bartender: staying current with drinks and technique; managing a customer who has had too much; organising the workspace during a rush; an example of successfully upselling.

Manager: management style and how it has changed; resolving a conflict within the team; managing inventory, scheduling and staffing; using customer complaints to improve service.

Retail

Sales associate: going above and beyond for a customer; approaching an undecided browser; staying informed about products; handling a difficult customer.

Cashier: accuracy during busy periods; handling a price dispute; multitasking at the register; what to do when the register fails mid-transaction.

Stock associate: organising inventory at pace; a time attention to detail prevented a problem; safety when lifting and moving; coordinating with the sales floor.

Retail manager: motivating a team; a challenging situation with an employee or customer; managing inventory, scheduling and budget; a strategy that improved sales or experience.

Visual merchandiser: staying current with retail design; a display you designed and how you executed it; working with associates and managers; how you measure effectiveness.

Healthcare

Medical secretary: prioritising in a busy setting; handling sensitive patient information; managing an upset patient on the phone; accuracy with medical terminology.

Healthcare assistant: experience with basic patient care; monitoring and reporting changes in condition; providing emotional support; working alongside nurses.

Laboratory technician: experience with specific tests and equipment; precision under time constraints; safety protocols; specimen handling.

Radiologic technologist: equipment experience; patient positioning and comfort; radiation safety; communicating results to clinicians.

Medical biller or coder: staying current with coding changes; ensuring accuracy; handling a billing dispute; confidentiality.

Adjusting for experience level

Questions for a recent graduate should focus on potential and learning ability; for an experienced candidate, on specific past decisions and results.

Using interviews as a two-way street

Interviews are also how a candidate evaluates you. Encouraging their questions reveals their priorities — and the quality of your answers determines whether the good ones accept.

Continuous improvement in the interview process

Collect feedback from candidates after the interview, anonymously where possible, on clarity of questions and the overall experience. Look for common themes: if several candidates found a question unclear, rewrite it. Structured interviews with the same questions for every candidate are also the single most effective way to reduce bias, which is worth doing on both fairness and accuracy grounds — HBR's guidance on making evaluation fairer applies as much to hiring as to reviews.