Over the last 3 years, we've seen The Great Resignation, quiet-quitting, and now we're going into a recession reminiscent of The Great Recession, in 2008. With the recent layoffs in tech, hiring managers and recruiting teams are scrambling to fill the millions of open roles in traditional industries. But these roles often look very different from the lavish benefits of software companies. This means that interviewers need to get creative and ask the right questions to get a better sense of who is well suited for those roles.

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We've all been in interviews with boring questions. Let's face it, it can be really tough to come up with the best interview questions to ask your prospective candidate. The classic, "tell me about your strengths and weaknesses" really misses the mark where you're hiring in 2022 and 2023. This is a great question to get a sense of how self aware the candidate is, but it doesn't provide any useful data outside of that.

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We think the top 3 questions to ask in an interview, especially a first interview are:

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1. "When you think back to your last manager, what were their greatest strengths? What areas do you think they could've improved?"

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This is a great question to understand how the candidate processes feedback and how they think critically about their past working relationships. This question will also tell you a lot about how someone likes to be led if you're listening closely.

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2. "If hired, tell me how your previous role prepared you for this one."

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We like question 2 instead of asking, "What do you think makes you the best candidate for this position?" because it focuses on the actual role itself instead of putting the candidate in a position to brag. It also shows that you like to understand how your candidates think and problem solve because it requires them to tie their current experiences back to the job at hand.

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3. "Tell me about the biggest mistake you've ever made at work that would have gone unnoticed if you hadn't owned up to it?"

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This is easily the toughest question to answer, but it actually tells you a lot about the candidate's integrity. It shows that they have a high level of accountability and understand their mistakes instead of pretending like nothing happened. Not only will this tell you how the candidate handles difficult situations, but it can also show if they're humble when faced with failure.

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These questions are intended to give you a glimpse into how the candidate sees their work environment and what makes them stand out. You can also dig deeper by asking specific questions about their previous experiences that relate to the job at hand.

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At the end of the day, it's all about getting to know your potential candidate and making sure they're the best fit for your team. So don't be afraid to get creative in your questioning!

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Interview Intelligence software can also be a great source of questions to ask during interviews. Pillar has a library of over 1,000 pre-built interview questions, you can make sure you're asking the best questions for your role and to get a better sense of who is best suited for that particular job.

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Strategic Interview Questions To Ask Candidates

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As you build an effective interview process, one of the key factors to consider are the strategic interview questions to ask candidates. These questions should be tailored to the position you’re hiring for, and more importantly, they should help you identify whether candidates have the skills and experience needed for success.

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For example, if you’re looking for a software engineer, asking about their past coding experiences is one way to get insight into their abilities. You could also ask questions that help you understand how the candidate works in a team, their ability to manage their time and resources efficiently, or how they handle difficult problems.

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Questions such as; “How would your previous colleagues describe you in one word?" This question is a challenge to answer and will give you a window into how a candidate believes their team perceives them. When you verify references, run this word by their reference to see how accurate their perception is.

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"Tell me about the biggest challenge you've faced in your career and how you overcame it." is another great question. This will give you an understanding of how the candidate analyzes problems and makes a game plan to overcome them. You can add a modifier to the previous question and ask, "who helped you overcome your biggest career challenge?" This will also help you understand how well the candidate works with a team and if they're willing to give credit to others.

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Ultimately, the best questions are those that give you an accurate and vivid reflection of what the candidate is like in a professional setting. With strategic questioning, you have to think outside of the box and come up with probing questions that will not only challenge your candidates but also provide valuable insights into their skills and experiences.

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Strategic interview questions to ask candidates, and the answers they provoke will tell you a lot about the candidate and their potential to succeed in your organization. Remember, these questions should be tailored to the job you’re hiring for so don’t be afraid to get creative when it comes to crafting them!

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Best Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

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Giving the candidate an opportunity to showcase how they view themselves is a powerful indicator of how they'll perform on the job. Are they driven by the pay, by the people, by a passion for the product, a desire for progress, or something else?

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To get a better idea of "who" they are, ask questions such as:

• "What is your proudest professional accomplishment? What did it take for you to achieve it?"
• "How do you handle difficult conversations?
• "Tell me about the last difficult conversation you had with a boss, teammate, or customer."
• "How do you stay motivated and organized during challenging tasks in a remote environment?"

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The best interview questions to ask candidates evoke a response that will give you better insight into who the candidate is and their ability to lead themselves and others in challenging circumstances.

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All in all, it’s important to keep in mind that hard interview questions to ask candidates should be tailored to the role you are hiring for, the company culture that you're building, as well as help reveal their potential for success in your organization. With the right questions, you can find the perfect candidate to join your team!

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Best Interview Questions To Ask Candidates in 2022

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2022 has been an unpredictable year, and the way businesses have adjusted to globalization, remote work and social media has had a profound effect on hiring. As such, interviewers must come up with innovative questions that will give them insight into the candidate's potential for success in their organization.

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Questions such as: “How would you leverage digital tools to reach customers in emerging markets?” or “What do you think are the biggest challenges we face when it comes to hybrid work?” have become some of the best interview questions to ask candidates in 2022 because they address the candidate's views on current changes in the market and how to address them as a business.

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Additionally, behavioral interview questions to ask candidates such as “How do you stay motivated and organized in a remote environment?” or “What strategies have you used to build meaningful connections while working remotely?” are also great questions to ask because they demonstrate the candidate's capability of adapting to our new normal.

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After a candidate has completed initial and panel interviews, great final round interview questions to ask candidates are:

• “How do you showcase your work in an engaging way?”
• “What processes do you set up to ensure the highest level of customer experience?”
• “How do you stay up-to-date on industry trends and best practices?”
• "How would you hire, engage, and encourage a diverse team?"

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These questions will help you identify whether or not the candidate can meet the needs of your organization and foster success in their role. Overall, candidate interviews are critical when it comes to finding the right fit for your team. The hard interview questions to ask candidates are probably the ones that will give you the most insight into their fit for the role.

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Ultimately, crafting effective interview questions to ask candidates should be tailored to help you gain a better understanding of their aptitude for success. Pillar's video interview platform can help you take all of these questions and turn them into prompts in live interviews. Our platform then records, transcribes, and indexes interviews so they're searchable and easy to review. This way, you can get the insights you need quickly and accurately so you can make better hiring decisions!

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If you're interested in learning more, schedule a demo to chat with someone on our team!