Simple Interview Questions To Ask

What Is Your Teaching Philosophy

This isnt a question solely for those applying to teaching positions. Employers may ask this of anyone who might be leading or teaching others. Your response will allow employers to gauge your personal skills and if you would be a good culture add. A good answer will concisely identify what you think teaching should achieve and include concrete examples to illustrate your ideas.

Example answer: When it comes to managing people, my teaching philosophy is to start by asking questions that hopefully get the person to come to a new conclusion on their own. This way, they feel ownership over the learning rather than feeling micromanaged. For example, in my last role, I was editing an article written by a copywriter I managed. The story didnt have a clear focus or hook.

In a one-on-one meeting, I asked her what she thought was the main point of the article if she had to sum it up in a sentence. From there, I asked if she thought the focus was clear in the article. She didnt think it was clear and instead thought she should rework her introduction and conclusion. As a result, the article improved and my direct report learned a valuable writing lesson that she carried into her future work.

Read more: Interview Question: What is Your Teaching Philosophy?

Whats Your Current Salary

Its now illegal for some or all employers to ask you about your salary history in several cities and states, including New York City Louisville, North Carolina California and Massachusetts. But no matter where you live, it can be stressful to hear this question. Dont panicthere are several possible strategies you can turn to. For example, you can deflect the question, Muse career coach Emily Liou says, with a response like: Before discussing any salary, Id really like to learn more about what this role entails. Ive done a lot of research on and I am certain if its the right fit, well be able to agree on a number thats fair and competitive to both parties. You can also reframe the question around your salary expectations or requirements or choose to share the number if you think it will work in your favor.

Do You Want To Tell Us Anything Else About Yourself

As you reach the end of the job interview, the employer may ask, do you want to tell us anything else?

When you hear this, you have two choices.

First, if you feel the interview went well and you dont have anything else to add, its completely fine to say:

No, I think we covered the important topics here. Im satisfied if you are. Im looking forward to hearing your feedback, though, and the role sounds exciting to me.

This is normal/acceptable and you shouldnt feel pressure to say more if youre satisfied that the interview went well. This is not a trick interview question.

However, if there is a topic you wish they had asked about but didnt, or something unique that sets you apart from other candidates that you didnt explain yet, then feel free to share it. Theyre giving you the opportunity because they genuinely want to know.

You can also give yourself the opportunity to share a final point even if they dont ask.

Just say, Is it alright if I share one more detail? Something came to mind and I think its relevant.

99% of interviewers will say, Yes, sure!

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Youve Been Given An Elephant You Cant Give It Away Or Sell It What Would You Do With The Elephant

This ConnectWise question helps you get a better sense for your candidate’s reasoning skills. Of course, there’s no “right” answer to this funny question, but it allows you to get insight into how your candidate thinks, prioritizes, and problem-solves. Additionally, it can loosen the candidate up and allow her to show you a more authentic side.

Your candidate might say, “Since I don’t have a place to put an elephant, I’d probably send it on vacation”, or “I would feed it, and then ride it to work.”

It’s important to note, you aren’t looking for a specific answer here — you’re determining how your candidate thinks on her feet, and how she handles herself in unexpected situations.

How To Make The Best Impression

The first impression you make at a job interview, is going to be the most important one. Hiring managers can decide whether youre a good candidate, or not, within a few minutes of meeting you. These tips will help you make a terrific first impression.

Dress for success. What you wear to the interview is important because you dont want to be underdressed or overdressed. A three-piece suit can be as out of place as shorts and a t-shirt. Carefully choose appropriate attire, and dont be afraid to ask the person who scheduled the interview if youre not sure what to wear.

Be on time or a little early. You definitely dont want to keep your interviewer waiting, so be on time or a few minutes early for your appointment. If youre not sure where youre going, do a trial run ahead of time so you know how long it will take you to get there.

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Common Behavioral Interview Questions

1. What makes an ideal coworker in your eyes?

2. How do you prioritize projects under pressure?

3. How would handle your schedule when its interrupted?

4. Have you ever bent company policy to satisfy a client?

5. How have you handled setbacks at work?

6. How do you handle job training if its going poorly?

7. Have you ever calmed down an angry client? How?

8. Tell me about some regrets in your previous job?

Why Did You Decide To Apply For This Position

Through this question, the interviewers want to assess how passionate you are for the position. And no, the answer isnt:

Well, Im very passionate about not starving to death.

Well, I needed the money, and you guys tend to pay a lot.

What the interviewer is looking for here is to see how passionate you are about the job or the company. After all, job performance is directly linked to job satisfaction. The happier you are about your position at the company, the more productive youll be.

And heres the kicker – your passion will be very evident during the interview.

When youre talking to a person thats passionate about something, you can pretty much feel them glow as they talk. And if youre an HR manager whos interviewed hundreds of people, this is a very good sign to hire the candidate.

So, use this knowledge to your advantage.

When asked this question, your answer should include 2 things:

Im very passionate about sustainability and renewable energy. In fact, I minored in Environmental Science at .

Ive always wanted to put my engineering degree to a good cause – and the position as a Sustainability Coordinator at is just the right thing.

Ive been following your company for the past few years, and I love how youre changing the renewable energy landscape in America.

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What Are Some Things Outside Of Work That Youre Irrationally Passionate About

While this question may seem like a standard getting-to-know-you inquiry, Laura Behrens Wu uses it as an opportunity to delve deeper into a candidates motivations.

Im looking for people who are intrinsically motivated, and hobbies are often an outlet for that, says the co-founder and CEO of Shippo. Over the years, Ive found that intrinsically driven individuals typically have other passions outside of work that they pursue in an obsessive-like way. For example, if a candidate tells me they run 10 miles a day as a hobby, thats a signal of a strong internal drive.

If You Were To Take Over As Ceo Of Your Current Company Tomorrow And Had To Increase Your Company’s Current Rate Of Growth What Three Areas You Would Invest In

Jeanne DeWitt heads up Revenue & Growth for North America at Stripe, so naturally her favorite question has a growth bent to it. But by asking candidates to play CEO, shes uncovered a sharp way to assess them on a few different variables.

Ive found it gives candidates an opportunity to highlight their strengths and strategic thinking, she says. But it also provides a chance for them to exercise empathy. If they get into how their hypothetical actions as CEO will affect the team, that signals a certain thoughtfulness about how their own working style impacts their peers or reports.

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Tell Me About The Toughest Decision You Had To Make In The Past Six Months

The goal of this question is to evaluate the candidate’s reasoning ability, problem-solving skills, judgment, and possibly even willingness to take intelligent risks.

Having no answer is a definite warning sign. Everyone makes tough decisions, regardless of their position. My daughter worked part-time as a server at a local restaurant and made difficult decisions all the time — like the best way to deal with a regular customer whose behavior constituted borderline harassment.

A good answer proves you can make a difficult analytical or reasoning-based decision — for example, wading through reams of data to determine the best solution to a problem.

A great answer proves you can make a difficult interpersonal decision, or better yet a difficult data-driven decision that includes interpersonal considerations and ramifications.

Making decisions based on data is important, but almost every decision has an impact on people as well. The best candidates naturally weigh all sides of an issue, not just the business or human side exclusively.

Final Thoughts: Unique And Weird Interview Questions

Diversity makes strong teams and strong companies, and using unique and weird interview questions will help reveal the uniqueness of candidates you interview.

Just be sure that the questions youre asking are truly reflective of your companys culture or otherwise have a specific purpose, even if thats getting a candidate to relax before you get to tough questions.

To help you get great candidates into the interview chair who will love your unique questions, Lever Nurture helps you engage candidates at scale with automated and personalized email campaigns.

Once youve nurtured their interest in your company, you can secure the interest of these unique candidates with the help of these weird and unique interview questions, or use some of our other interview question samples.

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Looking Back On The Last Five Years Of Your Career Whats The Highlight

According to Michael Vaughan, this question is more powerful than it seems. It tells me what type of person they are, what matters to them and how they think, says the former COO of Venmo and current EIR at Oak HC/FT.

For example, if they tell me about a personal accomplishment, then I know personal career development is a huge area of focus. If they tell me about the accomplishment of a direct report or the team, then I know they care about developing people, says Vaughan. If they tell me about a company feat, then I know that they tie their own success to the company’s success which is a great mentality for weathering the early stages of a startup.

Is There Anything Else Youd Like Us To Know

Just when you thought you were done, your interviewer asks you this open-ended doozy. Dont panicits not a trick question! You can use this as an opportunity to close out the meeting on a high note in one of two ways, Zhang says. First, if there really is something relevant that you havent had a chance to mention, do it now. Otherwise, you can briefly summarize your qualifications. For example, Zhang says, you could say: I think weve covered most of it, but just to summarize, it sounds like youre looking for someone who can really hit the ground running. And with my previous experience , I think Id be a great fit.

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Tell Me About A Time You Made A Mistake Or Failed At Something What Did You Learn From This Experience Can You Give Me Two Other Examples

As an alum of Glossier, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Product Hunt, Corley Hughes has serious team-building chops. When hiring, she likes to focus on how a candidate has learned from failure but shes found that asking about it just once isnt enough.

Asking for three examples gives me a better sense of someone’s actions and natural way of working. Everyone whos adequately prepared for an interview has one rehearsed answer on learning from failure in their pocket, she says.

The folks who can point to three different times theyve messed up show that they have a well-honed habit of looking objectively at a situation and talking openly about what theyd do differently. Ive found that these people tend to naturally self-course-correct, are constantly learning, and are willing to share bad news quickly, which are must-haves on my team.

When listening to the answers, shes specifically looking to see whether the candidate can:

Speak comfortably and openly about mistakes.

Reflect and apply what they learned.

Demonstrate that they dont take themselves too seriously.

Every candidate has one canned answer on learning from failure in their pocket. The people who can point to three different examples are the true constant-learners and the folks you need on your team.

Possible Answer To What Do You Consider To Be Your Weaknesses

It can be difficult for me to gauge when the people Im working with are overwhelmed or dissatisfied with their workloads. To ensure that Im not asking too much or too little from my team, we have weekly check-ins. I like to ask if they feel like theyre on top of their workload, how I could better support them, whether theres anything theyd like to take on or get rid of, and if theyre engaged by what theyre doing. Even if the answer is all good, these meetings really lay the groundwork for a good and trusting relationship.

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Questions To Ask About The Culture

This is an opportunity for you to learn if the company culture aligns with the type of culture youre seeking from a job. To make the most of any questions regarding company culture, you might consider researching beforehand the type of company culture youre most interested in.

Interviewers will often speak to what they like most about the culture, so its great to ask multiple people about this throughout the interview process to get a holistic view of the culture. Asking questions also, again, expresses your interest in the company, and that youve done your research. Here are some example questions you could ask:

Whats Your Work Style

When an interviewer asks you about your work style, theyre probably trying to imagine you in the role. How will you approach your work? What will it be like to work with you? Will you mesh well with the existing team? You can help them along by choosing to focus on something thats important to you and aligns with everything youve learned about the role, team, and company so far. The question is broad, which means you have a lot of flexibility in how you answer: You might talk about how you communicate and collaborate on cross-functional projects, what kind of remote work setup allows you to be most productive, or how you approach leading a team and managing direct reports. Just try to keep it positive. And remember, telling a story will almost always make your answer more memorable.

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Among The People You’ve Worked With Who Do You Admire And Why

On its face, this question might not seem to be designed to uncover motivations. But thats exactly what is digging for when he asks it in interviews.

As an angel investor, product lead for Slacks growth and monetization team and co-founder of CodePath.org, Walter stays busy pursuing the causes he cares about and hes interested in learning more about the values that drive folks who want to join his team.

I want to uncover a candidates values, but Ive found that asking about that directly isnt as effective, he says. This question pulls out those drivers in a more subtle, yet honest way. What they admire in others tells you a lot about what they find important.

Youll learn a lot more about a candidates values by asking her who she admires. Its a telling glimpse into the qualities shes striving to cultivate herself.

How Would Your Colleagues Describe You

Asking this will give you a better idea of how they view themselves in the eyes of others and should reveal clues on their ability to work within a team environment.

Are they known as the quiet one, the goofball, the communicator, the workaholic, or something else?

Make sure to develop and refer to your ideal candidate personas to see if the answer aligns with the favorable personality traits you are looking for.

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What Did You Like Least About Your Last Position

This question can tell employers about types of work you enjoy, your experience level with certain workplace scenarios and whether or not you would be a good culture add. Avoid saying anything negative about your former employer, managers or colleagues.

Dont mention any aspects of your last role that youre aware would be part of this role. Make your answer about your career growth and enthusiasm for joining their organization.

Example answer: While I enjoyed my time learning and growing in my last job, there was a lack of opportunity in the way I wanted to progress in my career. I deeply enjoy being challenged and getting better at what I do, which I understand is a top priority for managers at your organization. Thats why Im excited to continue having conversations about this opportunity.

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