The document provides an introduction to a guide containing 101+ effective interview questions to help hiring managers hire quality candidates faster. It discusses different types of interview questions, including behavioral, competency-based, and situational questions. The guide then provides sample questions organized by category, such as collaboration and teamwork, training and onboarding, creative thinking and problem solving, assessing cultural fit, management and leadership skills, and communication skills.

1. The Definitive Guide
101+ Most Effective
Interview Questions to Hire
Quality Candidates Faster

2. •
2
Introduction
Screening for fit and competency is no easy task, especially when your manager is telling
you “this role needed to be filled yesterday”.
That’s why we scoured the web and consulted the experts to develop an
easy reference guide of the 101+ most effective interview questions.
Use it to know which questions are most critical to ask, the right interview approach to
take for your company, and how to assess candidates for quality and fit even faster.
IN THIS EBOOK
The Difference Between Behavioral, Competency,
and Situational Interview Questions
Interview Prep Checklist
Interview Questions by Category
Collaboration and Teamwork
Training and Onboarding
Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
Culture Add
Management and Leadership Skills
Communications Skills
Project Management
Motivation
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
11
13
14
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3. 3
Behavioral Interviews
The root of these interviews is to understand an applicant’s behavioral conduct within
the workplace. This technique is used to determine whether or not that behavior will be
suitable for the position.
Competency-Based Interviews
Competency-based interviews are designed to test one or more of the skills needed for
a particular role. This style of interviewing is more systemic and each question targets
a skill needed to do the role to the fullest.
Situational Interviews
A situational interview is used to ask a candidate how they’ve behaved or reacted in
past situations and circumstances in the workplace. The main benefit is that it allows
the interviewer to uncover how that candidate will react in workplace situations and
problems they may encounter on the job.
Are behavioral interview questions better than standard ones?
While behavioral interview questions should make up a large part of your interview
process, there are also some straightforward interview questions that you can ask that
don’t require as much in-depth information.
We recommend using a combination of interview question styles, which you’ll find
comprehensive lists for within this eBook.
The Difference Between Behavioral,
Competency, and Situational
Interview Questions

4. 4
Prior to the interview, you’ll want to make sure that you’re properly prepared for each and
every candidate.
Here’s an interview preparation checklist:
Pre-game.
Discuss with your team and all stakeholders the criteria that you’re looking for
and your ideal candidate.
Create an interview dossier.
Every interviewer should have all of the information they need on each candidate
prior to meeting and speaking with them.
Coach poor interviewers.
Meet with poor interviewers ahead of time to give them an idea of what
information you want them to gain from the interview. It’s best if you give poor
interviewers a goal to work toward, rather than letting them walk in without a plan.
Divide and conquer.
With so many questions to ask, it can help to divide the questions that matter
amongst your interviewing team, so that each member is responsible for gaining
insight into a particular area per candidate.
Schedule the interview.
Candidates are in high demand. Make sure that you and your team promptly schedule
an interview and do not postpone or reschedule unless absolutely necessary.
Lever Tip: Consider video interviewing to expedite the interview process with
candidates. Lever just became the first ATS to incorporate video conferencing
into its recruiting platform.
Interview Prep Checklist

5. 5
Our list of interview questions is split into several different categories to help assess various
qualities of candidates. Under each section, you’ll find several interview questions that you can
choose or customize, based on the roles you’re hiring for.
Interview Questions
by Category
Collaboration and Teamwork
Training and Onboarding
Creative Thinking and Problem Solving
Culture Add
Management and Leadership Skills
Communications Skills
Project Management
Motivation

6. 6
The candidate you ultimately hire must be able to effectively work and collaborate with your
team. These interview questions help you understand their past experience, as well as
what they’re currently looking for in a new team.
1. Do you prefer to work as part of a team that is
primarily autonomous?
2. Can you describe one of your favorite teams that
you’ve been a part of? What made this team your
favorite? How would you replicate or improve this
type of team at our company?
3. What was the worst functioning team that you’ve
been a part of? What made it challenging to
work as part of this team? What would you do
differently to make this team function better
and/or be more enjoyable to work in?
4. What does your ideal team look like? Describe
roles, collaboration tools, and communication
practices used.
5. What do you think is more important for a team:
technical skills or communication? Why?
6. What type of employee development program
would you put in place to help your team
gain and improve skills?
7. Would you rather give your team the opportunity
to gain new skills or hire a new employee for
those skills?
8. How would you handle a member of your team
who is not performing well?
9. How would you handle a member of your team
who is having communication issues with other
team members?
10. Can you give me an example of a time you
faced conflict while working on a team? How did
you handle and manage that situation and still
fulfill your responsibilities?
11. Describe a time when you had to collaborate with
a team member in another department in your
company. How did you overcome the differences
in department goals?
12. We all make mistakes in communication. Tell
me about a time you wish you’d handled
communicating with a member of your team
differently.
13. Tell me about a time when you had to collaborate
with a member of your team who was not
responsive. How did you handle that situation?
Were you able to fulfill your responsibilities and
hit your goals?
Interview Questions for
Collaboration and Teamwork

7. 7
A leading contributor for retention is onboarding, according to new
research from the Harvard Business Review. In fact, organizations with
a standardized onboarding process experience 62% greater new hire
productivity and 50% better new hire retention.
Therefore, it’s important that every member of your team will at some
point be required to help onboard and mentor new hires. If this is an
important part of your company culture, then we recommend using
the below questions to learn how your candidate helps to train and
mentor new members of your team.
14. Have you ever mentored a new hire, intern, or other
member of your team? If so, how did you ensure
they learned what you were teaching?
15. Tell me about a time when you had to train
someone on your team. Why did you have to train
them? How did you balance the time requirements
of training with other work?
16. Have you ever had to train someone from a different
department on how to use or do something that you
were an expert in? What was your strategy for
training them? What was the outcome?
17. Have you ever had to onboard new hires to your
team? How did you ensure they were up to speed
as quickly as possible?
18. Do you enjoy training new hires? Why or why not?
19. Do you enjoy mentoring team members? Why or
why not?
20. What is your ideal process for hiring and
onboarding new team members?
Interview Questions for
Training and Onboarding
62%
GREATER
NEW HIRE
PRODUCTIVITY
50%
BETTER
NEW HIRE
RETENTION

8. 8
Creative thinking and problem solving are key indicators of overall competency. Use these
interview questions to understand how a candidate thinks through problems and uses their
creative thinking to overcome obstacles in the workplace.
21. Describe a situation in which you found a creative
way to overcome an obstacle.
22. Tell me about a time that there was a problem at
one of your past companies and you went above
and beyond the call of duty to get things done.
23. Tell me about a time when you came up with
a new way to solve a problem.
24. What’s the most innovative or “cool” new idea that
you have implemented? What was the outcome?
25. What would you consider to be the best idea you
came up with at your last job?
26. Describe a time when you anticipated potential
problems and/or risks and developed preventive
measures.
27. Describe a time when you had to analyze
information and make a recommendation.
28. Describe a time when you had to think
“outside the box” and how did you go about it?
29. Give me an example of when someone presented an
innovative new idea to you that was a bit unusual.
How did you react? What did you do?
30. Describe a time when you had to quickly solve a
problem without managerial input. What was the
issue? How did you solve it and what was the result?
31. Describe a situation where you faced serious
challenges in doing your job efficiently. What were
those challenges, and how did you overcome them?
32. How do you know when to solve a problem on your
own or to ask for help?
Interview Questions for Creative
Thinking and Problem Solving

9. 9
“
Culture has become an increasingly important criteria when hiring
new employees, as well as a key component to keeping businesses
thriving. Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, says that in this day and
age, company culture is “more important than ever,” and Salesforce
is doubling down.
When new hires are engaged with a company’s culture, they’re more
productive and stick with the company longer. Here are some interview
questions that get to the heart of the type of work environment
that your candidates are looking to join.
33. What type of work environment do you prefer?
34. What kind of direction or leadership do you prefer?
35. How would your previous boss and co-workers
describe you?
36. How do you handle stress and pressure?
37. How would you create a work environment that
employees find motivating?
38. Have you ever had a manager or peer who created
a toxic workplace? What actions did you take to
motivate yourself and others, despite the toxicity?
39. Describe the work environment that makes you
most productive and/or happy.
40. What team bonding activities or out-of-work
experiences do you think are necessary to keep
employees motivated and excited?
Interview Questions to
Assess if the Candidate
is a Culture-Add
Company culture
is more
important
than ever."
Marc Benioff
CEO, Salesforce

10. 10
41. What’s one idea you think we could implement
today that would make employees more excited
to come to work tomorrow?
42. Think back to the worst work environment you’ve
been a part of. What about it made it a terrible
place to work? How would you make it a better
place to work?
43. What is your vision for our company? What has
attracted you to taking this position?
44. Describe the biggest organizational change you’ve
ever dealt with. How did you adapt?
45. Which three aspects of your last role gave you the
most satisfaction?
46. What factors make you most effective at work?
47. Have you thought about leaving your present
position before? If yes, what held you back?
48. What makes you think you’re a good addition to the
team at our company? Why are you interested in
joining our company?
49. Describe a time you had to confront an employee
who was producing inadequate results. How did
you do this? What was the outcome?
50. How do you prefer to communicate with your peers
and team?
51. What was your strategy for building relationships
with your team members and peers at your last
company?
Interview Questions to Assess if a Culture Add

11. 11
If you’re interviewing anyone from mid-level managers to directors and VPs, you’ll want to
understand their management style and how they motivate the rest of their team. Because
statistics don’t lie: employees today are likely to leave people, not places.
52. Tell me about a leader or manager that you’ve
looked up to and has inspired you.
53. What have you done in past roles to
inspire or motivate your direct reports?
54. What do you think is most important when it comes
to leading a team?
55. How do you determine what goals and milestones
you set with your team?
56. What does your ideal culture and work environment
look like? How do you contribute to building that
ideal environment?
57. What are your preferred tools for communication?
How have you used these successfully in the past?
58. Tell me about a time when you had a project run
into problems because of communication. What
would you have done differently if given the chance?
59. We let employees work remotely X number of
days/week/month. What do you think is necessary
to ensure everyone is operating at a high-level? How
do you help monitor progress or goal setting within
your team?
60. Describe a time when your team had a “fire-drill”
emergency situation occur. How did you manage
the team effectively through that situation? Is there
anything you would have done differently if given
the chance?
1. Businesssolver, 2018 State of Workplace Empathy
Interview Questions for
Management and Leadership Skills
92% of employees said they would be more likely to stay with
their job, if their bosses would show more empathy.1

12. 12
61. Tell me about a project or situation that involved
input from multiple departments or stakeholders.
What did you do and say to manage the situation?
What was the outcome?
62. Describe a time that you had to deal with an
employee that was toxic to the team or work
environment. How did you communicate with the
employee that his/her attitude or behavior was
not ok? What was the outcome?
63. Tell me about a time when a senior member of
your team had an issue with the work of one of
your direct reports. How did you react or resolve
this situation? Would you do anything differently
if given the chance?
64. If hired, how would you evaluate past performance
and set goals for the next 30, 60, 90 days?
65. What do you think is most important when it comes
to setting goals and performance standards for
your team?
66. If a member of your team is not hitting their
performance marks, then what do you do? How do
you communicate with them and help them improve?
67. What do you think are the most important metrics
to measure in your department and team?
68. Do you collaborate with your team to set their
individual and team goals?
69. How do you motivate your team to ensure they meet
their goals?
70. Think back to the best manager you’ve ever had.
What was great about their management style?
How have you modeled yourself or learned from
their example?
71. Explain a time when you had to promote an idea
or project to a group. How did you go about
persuading them?
Interview Questions for Management and Leadership Skills

13. 13
Strong communication is critical in a great hire. It’s also an important skill to spot quickly when
trying to make a hire. When communication breaks down, so does transparency and company
culture. Not many think to screen for communication during the interview process, but it
will pay dividends in the long run.
72. Tell me about a time when you were the expert
in your field and needed to describe a project,
situation, or challenge. How did you handle this
and ensure all stakeholders understood your
perspective and what you were describing?
73. Describe a time when you had to rely on written
communication to initiate a project. How did you
communicate to ensure your ideas came across to
your team and they understood all deliverables?
74. Describe a time when you worked as part of a
team spanning multiple departments. What forms
of communication did you use to ensure the project
ran smoothly?
75. Tell me about a time when you were a team leader
for a project or task. What did you do to ensure
everyone understood the deliverables and met the
deadlines?
76. Give me an example of a successful presentation
you gave. How did you prepare and explain
everything to ensure it was successful?
77. Tell me about a time you had to make a good
impression on a client. How did you ensure you
made a significant, positive impression?
78. Give me an example of when you had to interact
with a difficult client or customer. Were you able to
change the experience from negative to positive?
79. Tell me about a time you had to persuade a
co-worker or manager. What did you do to persuade
them to see things your way?
80. Describe a time when you had to deal with a
conflict with another person in your department
or reporting directly to you. How did you handle
it and what was the outcome?
Interview Questions for
Communication Skills

14. 14
Project management and planning are critical in understanding your candidates’ work ethic.
Use these interview questions if planning and organization are important responsibilities
for any open role. Cross-functional collaboration also relies on individuals to have strong project
management skills to keep projects on track.
81. Describe a time when you had to be very organized
and strategic with your responsibilities to meet all
of your top priorities. How did you organize?
82. Give me an example of a long-term project that you
managed. What did you do to maintain progress
and meet the timeframe of the project without
wasting time?
83. Give me an example of a long-term project you
managed that had multiple stakeholders. How did
you manage everyone’s time and tasks to ensure
deliverables were consistently met?
84. Tell me about a time when you had to create a
plan for a long-term project. What was your process
for creating this strategy? What did and didn’t go
as planned?
85. It’s not always possible to get everything on your
task list complete in a single day. Describe a time
when your responsibilities became overwhelming.
What did you do? How did you prioritize?
86. Describe a time when you had multiple projects
with conflicting deadlines. Were you able to juggle
these projects to meet their deadlines? What
sacrifices did you make to ensure you were
successful?
87. Tell me about a time when you had to get a project
completed with very little resources and team
support. How did you plan around this?
Interview Questions for
Project Management

15. 15
How motivated and committed a candidate is will impact your ability to retain them as an
employee. These questions will uncover how much your company resonates with your
candidate, as well as their key motivators.
88. What other jobs are you looking at?
89. What motivates you to come to work everyday?
90. What about this position interests you the most?
91. What are your salary expectations?
92. What’s most important to you when considering
a new company?
93. What about our company resonates most with you?
94. How would this position get you closer to where you
want to be in 5-10 years?
95. What do you hope to learn or gain by taking this
position?
96. What did you like and dislike about the culture
at your last company?
97. What type of work environments do you prefer?
98. What makes you want to leave your current role?
99. What could your current company change about
your job, your team or their culture to keep you on
their team?
100. Would you take a job with a toxic work culture but
a higher salary, or a lower salary with an ideal
work culture? Why?
101. How would you define a healthy work/life
balance? At what point do you think it’s necessary
to blur the lines?
102. What would motivate you to stay at our company
for the next 5 years?
103. When you’re able to make extra time in your role,
do you ever do anything to make your job more
efficient or easier?
104. Tell me about a time when you went above and
beyond your role and expectations. Why did you
do this? What exactly did you do?
Interview Questions
for Motivation
Interview Questions
for Motivation

16. 16
When interviewing candidates, it’s important to be prepared. Coming to the interview with
your questions ready is just the first step, though. You need to incorporate smart interview
questions with a streamlined and standardized process. With interview kits, self-scheduling,
and structured feedback forms, teams use Lever’s Talent Acquisition Suite to create a seamless,
optimized interview experience for candidates and interviewers alike. Use these interview
questions in conjunction with Lever to take you interviewing to the next level.
To learn more, request a demo and speed up your hiring!
Final Thoughts

17. 17
Lever’s mission is to help the world hire
with more predictability.
Recruiting today is more about numbers than ever before. But having the
right numbers at your fingertips can help you uncover hidden sources of
talent, create greater efficiency in your processes, and align everyone on
your team with what’s needed to hire the right people. Lever offers the
ability to streamline your process and keep track of the numbers, so that
you can have greater success in bringing the right people on, at a lower cost.
Lever is transforming the way companies hire through an approach that
allows talent leaders to attract candidates like a marketing leader, forecast
like a sales leader, and have the insights of a finance leader.
Lever was founded in 2012 and supports the hiring needs of over 2,500
leading companies around the globe, including the teams at Netflix, KPMG
NZ, Hot Topic, and Cirque du Soleil. With an overall gender ratio of 50:50,
Lever is also fiercely committed to building a team culture that celebrates
diversity and inclusion.
For more information, visit lever.co
LeverApp Lever @lever