I just reviewed Glassdoor’s “50 Most Common Interview Questions.” They suck.

Too harsh? Maybe. I am not knocking Glassdoor. If these are the most common questions, then we have a lot of work to do.

“What is the name of our CEO?”

“What is your favorite website?”

“Describe yourself.”

“Who is your mentor?”

“What are your weaknesses?”

Ugh! Terrible!

They’re terrible because they don’t give you the information you need to make a decision about hiring. And that is what a traditional interview is for. It’s a conversation designed to exchange information. The company is trying to figure out if you are right. You are trying to figure out if the company is right.

Here’s the philosophy behind better interview questions: Ask the candidate questions about their philosophy and their lived experience through the lens of who you are (culture+core values), what you do (mission), and what they will do (the job itself).

To do this well, the questions are important, how we listen is important, and our follow up questions are important.

Here’s an example of how this works –

“One of our core values is honesty. We know, though, that being honest can sometimes be uncomfortable. Tell me about a time that being honest got you into trouble.”

(Listen)

Possible follow ups:

“What made you think of this example?”

“What big lesson did you pull out of this situation?”

“What happened next?”

“Has that situation ever come about again?”

“What would you do differently now, in hindsight?”

“[Open ended question about something else that struck you about their response.]”

Interviews are conversations designed to exchange information.

Whether you are hiring for an entry level position, or for a senior leader, it’s always about digging into their beliefs and their lived experience WITHIN the context of who you are, what you do, and what they will do.