14 Interview Questions You Should Always Ask Candidates

Hiring the right employees is critical for setting your business up for success, so it’s important to ensure that you take the hiring process seriously. Unfortunately, for many people who are conducting a candidate interview, there is sometimes a tendency to simply wing it (we get it, you have a billion other things to do.)

However, if you really want to be sure that you’re recruiting the best candidate possible, you should take time to prepare to host an effective interview process interview process. To do this, you must come to the interview with a list of questions in mind.

How do I host an effective interview?

The primary goal of your questions should be to assess whether the potential employee has the right experience, skills, and attitude needed to be successful in your business. If the position requires a motivated go-getter (for example, if you hope that the candidate will eventually grow to take on more responsibility), you should ask questions that reveal their level of overall drive and personal goals. If the role relies heavily upon problem solving (say, managing the shifting schedules of other teams and employees), ensure you ask questions that give you a clear picture of how the person handles binds.

What interview questions should I ask?

Although the type of interview questions will undoubtedly vary from position to position, this list of interview questions is cited by many HR managers as particularly helpful in assessing the quality of new candidates:

How would you make a meaningful contribution to this business?
What motivates you?
In what types of work environments do you thrive the most?
What types of work environments hamper you down?
Who was the best manager you ever had? Why?
If I were to contact your references, what do you think they’d say about you?
If you could start from scratch, what would you have done differently in your career?
What’s the toughest work situation you’ve ever been in? How did you resolve it?
What’s your work style? How do you collaborate with others?
What interested you about this position and this company?
Why did you leave your last job?
What are the three most important skills or traits you’d bring to this job?
How would your past coworkers describe you and their interactions with you?
Where do you see yourself a year from now? Three? Five?

Ask these questions, and you will come away with a stronger understanding of what the potential team member is all about. Of course she or he also needs the hard skills to do the job — but asking “softer” questions like these is just as important.

Once you’ve made the successful hire, Square’s Employee Management features can help make managing your growing team a lot easier. Learn more about Square Employee Management.