What makes a good interview question?

You've reviewed a stack of resumes and are ready to start interviewing candidates.

How can you determine who is the right fit for the job?

Interviewing isn't an exact science, but choosing the right interview questions can give you insight to make the best hiring decision possible.

Do you have experience with JavaScript?

This is an example of a closed question. It's easy to answer with a "yes" or "no" but it doesn't reveal much about a candidate that you can't find in their resume or LinkedIn profile.

Instead, ask open-ended questions like this:

Describe a workplace culture you'd struggle in.

• This nudges the candidate to share more information and tell a story.

• There really isn't a right answer. The real insight is in how the candidate formulates their response.

Consider this example:

Tell me about a project you were working on that was overdue. How did you fix it and what did you learn from the experience?

Look for two things in the answer:

• Is a candidate focused on something they need to get better at?

• Do they have a plan for improvement?

Watch out for self-serving responses like this:

I'm too organized.

This response turns a strength into a weakness.

Look for your candidate to admit an actual weakness, like this:

I need to work on building consensus in a team.

To find out if your candidate is a good fit for your workplace, ask them:

What did you like least about your last job?

This will give you insight into their past behavior in the workplace.

Watch out for negativity!

Look for a constructive response where the candidate outlines:

• what they want in a role

• why the last role didn't satisfy them

It's time for the interviews! Before you call in your candidates: