Different types of Interview Questions
The purpose of a job interview is for the technical recruiter or hiring manager to evaluate skills, knowledge, experience, personality traits and cultural fit. Understanding various questions and their uses can help you better gather the information you need from candidates. As a job seeker, you’ll be able to prepare thoughtful and meaningful responses to impress employers.
6 Types of Interview Questions
- Behavioural
- Communication
- Opinion
- Performance-based
- Situational
- Brain teasers
Behavioural Interview Questions
This is a broad category of questions, so much so that it overlaps with many other question types. Behavioural questions particularly ask candidates to recall how they reacted to past situations or challenges faced in professional settings such as work or schooling.
Responses to these questions can give insight into what behaviours candidates view as acceptable in the workplace.
Examples:
- Tell me about a time you worked effectively under pressure
- Give us an example of a time you failed to reach a goal and how did you deal with it
- Tell us a problem you solved at work
- Share a time when you had to work with someone you didn’t get along with
- Describe a time you achieved a challenging goal
Communication Interview Questions
Verbal, non-verbal and written communication skills are vital to any workplace. This question looks to spot candidates who can effectively communicate with different people in various situations. Strong skills in this area can boost employee morale, productivity and job satisfaction. When employees effectively communicate, both individuals and the organization see an increase in positive results and a decline in mistakes and errors.
Examples:
- Tell me a time you gave a colleague negative feedback
- Have you ever worked with someone who you felt was a poor communicator? How did you deal with this?
- What is your preferred communication method?
- What would you do if you misunderstood something about a task?
- Do you believe it’s more important to be a good listener or a good communicator?
Opinion Interview Questions
Candidates are often left a bit stunned after hearing these questions. Opinion questions focus on two things:
- To determine if a candidate is a good match for the company’s work culture.
- To understand a candidate’s thought process when approaching different situations or concepts.
Examples:
- What do you see as your most significant accomplishment to date?
- How do you prefer to be managed?
- Why should we hire you?
- How do you evaluate success?
Performance-based Interview Questions
Unlike many already discussed, performance-based interview questions aim to understand how a person will perform in the role and less about behaviour. This category looks at competency and explains how their skills can effectively be applied in the position.
Examples:
- How do you juggle multiple projects or tasks?
- How do you set goals? And how do you keep yourself accountable?
Situational Interview Questions
Candidates often get stumped on these questions since they force them to think on the spot. Situational questions typically ask the candidate to explain their approach to handling a particular scenario. These hypothetical situations could likely happen on the job. Unlike behavioural questions that ask to reflect on past lived experiences, situational are just possible scenarios.
Examples:
- You know a colleague has made a mistake at work. You believe you’re the only one who’s noticed. What would you do?
- You have a couple of projects on your plate, and a client bumps the deadline. How do you handle this?
- What would you do if assigned a task you’ve never done before?
- How would you approach a disagreement with your boss over X reason?
Brain Teasers Interview Questions
Brainteasers are puzzle-like questions that provoke out-of-the-box thinking and test problem-solving skills. Asking these questions can catch candidates off guard, build rapport, and assess a candidate’s personality. Starting the interview with these questions is a great way to break the ice and help the candidate loosen up and shake any interview jitters.
There’s no right or wrong answer to this kind of questioning. Brainteaser questions require lateral thinking; these answers and solutions can’t be found through more traditional means.
Examples:
- If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
- If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
- What has a bed but never sleeps?
Type of interview questions to avoid
After going through the types of interview questions, you should ask, it’s worth mentioning the ones you should avoid altogether.
Leading questions are best to be left off the interview agenda. Interview questions in this category imply that there’s a correct answer. If you’re looking for honest responses, you won’t get them from leading questions. When pressured to get the job, candidates will say what they think the recruiter wants to hear.
Examples:
- Do you agree that attention to detail is a desirable quality at work?
- Is our company your top choice?
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