Interview questions that actually predict job performance

It’s surprising how often certain outdated interview questions still come up today. You know the ones…they are irrelevant to the job, on the verge of being illegal, and sometimes just awkward. It’s not a good first impression for the company and can set the candidate up for failure because of the meaningless responses they may have to provide.

Here are some examples:

1) Ineffective Question: “What is your greatest weakness?”

• The question often prompts insincere answers where candidates either mask strengths as weaknesses (for example, “I work too hard”) or give responses that offer little real insight into how successful they’d be in the role.

Behavior-Based Version: “Describe a situation where you recognized a gap in your skills or performance. What actions did you take to address it?”

• This rewrite is a more introspective question for the candidate. The candidate must think through a specific situation and explain how they course-corrected.

2) Ineffective Question: “Why should we hire you?”

• This generic question will most likely result in a generic response. It doesn’t necessarily help you learn anything new about their qualifications or fit for the role.

Behavior-Based Version: “Can you share an example of how your skills and experience helped you succeed in a role similar to this one?”

• This revised interview question is multi-layered. First, it helps the employer understand how well the candidate understands the role and responsibilities they are interviewing for. Second, it highlights the skills and experience the candidate brings that are relevant to a similar role they have held previously.

3) Ineffective Question: “Are you a team player?”

• This is a closed-ended question which just requires a “Yes or No” answer, and of course we would all answer, “YES!”

Behavior-Based Version: “Tell me about a project where teamwork was critical. What did you do to ensure effective collaboration?”

• This updated version is now an open-ended question. It prompts the candidate to think of a specific example (which does not have to be work-related) and to reflect on what worked and what didn’t.

The BEST questions are open-ended, behavior-based interview questions. They provide measurable, comparable insights across candidates and reduce bias in decision-making. The HR trope says, “past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.” So, let’s re-word those BAD & INEFFECTIVE interview questions into GOOD & BEHAVIOR-BASED questions.

If you’d like to strengthen your interview process or build a more effective hiring strategy, I’d love to connect and be a resource for your team.