Important Questions to Ask Job Candidates in Today’s Climate

As the workplace continues to evolve – sometimes in unpredictable ways, it’s a good idea to scrutinize how you approach prospective job candidates more. That means dumping that list of the usual job interview questions everyone recommends.

It doesn’t necessarily mean eliminating all of them — just those that don’t speak to today’s workplace’s realities. We wanted to do some digging to find some questions that resonated well with us and what we see out there with businesses.

Here are some ideas that we saw in Time and The Enterprisers Project. While both had some emphasis on IT roles, several of the questions could be great for any type of role.

Tell us about a leader you’ve worked for that’s inspired or motivated you.


This is particularly good to see what the candidate thinks is an excellent overall fit in the workplace. As they talk about the person who shaped their view of outstanding leadership, they may speak of their empathy, high-level skills, leadership strengths — all things that they feel are important for themselves to possess or at least shoot for.

How would you solve Problem X?
So with this idea, you want to pick something that often happens at your workplace as Problem X, and then see what the prospective employee says on the fly. Navigating real-world challenges is part of your insight here, but you also want to get a glimpse into their thought process and how that works when presented with a specific issue.

I’d like to ask a follow-up question.
This is really important. If you interview as if it’s a laundry list — just ticking off the questions one by one and not going back to ask for clarification or more information — then you may be missing something important about how they view work and behavior. Making the interview seem like a dialog, where you listen as closely as they are, speaks volumes about how they may approach others in the work environment.

How We Can Help You Find the Best Talent

Finding candidates through a variety of means is what we can guide you with as part of our work. By learning your own needs and objectives, searching with an eye toward current trends, and ensuring a smooth interview and hiring process, we can work together to make your team the best it can be.

To get more details on what we can offer you, visit our website.