4 Types of Interview Questions to Help You Dig Deeper

Meeting and interviewing candidates can be an exciting job, but hiring the best talent can be a bit tricky!

Recruiters are responsible for screening, interviewing, hiring, and placing employees. By interviewing candidates, recruiters are trying to build a strong pool of candidates for hiring managers to choose from.

Interviewing is the first and the most important step of the process. You can ask different types of questions to find out more about your candidates.

Learn more about the 4 types of interview questions to help you dig deeper!   

4 Types of Interview Questions to Help You Dig Deeper 

Job interviews help recruiters decide whether the job position is suited to candidates’ skills, values, interests, and goals.

Asking the right questions during the interview is crucial for choosing the best candidates and reviewing their skills and experience.

Check out these 4 types of questions that will help you learn more about your candidates:

Closed-ended interview questions

Closed-ended interview questions call for straightforward responses. You can learn specific information about your candidates by asking these questions. This guarantees you won’t waste much time and that you’ll get right to the point.

Here are some examples of these questions:

1. Do you prefer working with a team or independently?
2. Are you comfortable working remotely or in a hybrid environment?
3. How many years did you work for your last employer?

Open-ended interview questions

Open-ended questions allow your candidates more room to provide a thorough response. These questions cannot be simply answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Instead, they require your candidates to elaborate on their points.

Learn more about your candidates’ attitudes and opinions by asking open-ended questions. You can ask about the candidates’ productivity, organizational skills, prior experiences and challenges, and perceptions of their ideal job. They respond by drawing on their experience, feeling, and understanding.

There are 3 types of open-ended interview questions:

• behavioral,
• situational,
• anecdotal,
• and competency-based.

Behavioral questions are designed to elicit information about past behaviors in specific work situations. Recruiters frequently inquire about a candidate’s work history.

Situational questions are meant to identify a candidate’s skills and talent for overcoming challenges at work. Usually, these are hypothetical situations.  

Anecdotal questions aim to discover whether candidates’ experience qualifies them for a position they applied for. Usually, these questions are statements such as ‘Tell me something about yourself.’.

Competency-based questions require real-life examples to demonstrate skills and knowledge. For instance, recruiters usually ask candidates to describe a difficult situation they resolved at work.  

Hypothetical interview questions

Use hypothetical interview questions, to start an interesting conversation.

Hypothetical questions provide a safe space for your candidates to express their thoughts and emotions. As a result, it fosters trust and loyalty among candidates and recruiters.

Hypothetical interview questions typically involve imagining hypothetical situations to explore future possibilities and creativity. You could ask your candidates what they would do if their project failed or if they would change their career paths.

When you ask these questions, try not to influence or impose your opinions on your candidates. Allow them to think and express themselves because this will help you determine if they’re the right fit for the position.

Outside-the-box interview questions

Finally, you can use outside-the-box questions to challenge candidates and discover interesting information.

Use these questions to help you decide if your candidate is the right fit for the position your client offers. Be careful not to come across as unprofessional when asking these questions.

You’ve probably heard about the unconventional „Sell me this pen“ question. It’s one of the most common interview questions. Your quick wit and creativity are assessed by this question. Typically, recruiters ask this question to fill positions in sales and marketing.

Conclusion

Interviews are never easy, and before any interview, you need to prepare yourself.

Here are four types of interview questions you can ask to determine which candidate is the most suitable for the position you’re hiring for. It’s not an easy task, but we are happy if we’ve helped you just a little bit!

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