Developing interview questions

Using the job description as a guide, develop questions based on each major task, responsibility
or core skill. Avoid questions that will only prompt a “yes” or “no” answer, use Behavioral
Interview techniques to elicit a comprehensive view of the candidates past behavior which is the
best predictor of future behavior. Examples of behavioral interview questions for a variety of
themes are included at the end of this document as a starting point for you. Please see HR for
additional support.

It is critical to conduct lawful interviews with candidates for your open positions. The guiding
principle behind any question to a candidate should be, “Can the employer demonstrate a job-
related necessity for asking the question?” The intent behind the question, as well as how the
information received is used, determines if any discrimination has occurred. Before asking the
question of a candidate, ask yourself whether the information is really necessary in order to
judge the applicant’s qualifications, level of skills, and overall competence for the job in
question.

Acceptable and Unacceptable Inquiries for Interviews and/or Applications

If Unacceptable, What Is
Topic Acceptable Unacceptable
the Reason?
Could be viewed as
What hours and days can How many children do you
Attendance/reliability discriminatory toward
you work? have?
females
Are there specific times Could be viewed as religious
Attendance/reliability What religion are you?
that you cannot work? discrimination
Do you have
responsibilities other than
Could be viewed as
work that will interfere What are your child care
Attendance/reliability discriminatory toward
with specific job arrangements?
females
requirements such as
traveling?
Do you have a reliable Could be considered racial
Attendance/reliability Do you own a car?
method of getting to work? discrimination
Citizenship/
Are you legally eligible for What is your national Could be considered
national origin
employment in the United origin? Where are your national origin
States? parents from? discrimination

Not only are these

What is your father’s
irrelevant, but they could be
National origin None surname? What are the
considered national origin
names of your relatives?
discrimination
Arrest and
conviction Please see Human Resources Have you ever been Could be considered racial
for guidance arrested? discrimination

Disabilities Can you perform the duties Could be considered

Do you have any
of the job you are applying discrimination against
disabilities?
for? disabled persons

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 Have you ever filed a
Disabilities None Could be considered
workers’ compensation
discrimination against
claim? Have you ever been
disabled persons
injured on the job?
Credit record Do you own your own Irrelevant and could be
None home? Have you ever considered racial
declared bankruptcy? discrimination
What type of education,
Military record training and work Irrelevant and could be
What type of discharge did
experience relevant to job considered racial
you receive?
did you receive while in the discrimination
military?
What languages do you What is your native
Language Could be considered
speak and write fluently? language? How did you
national origin
(if the job requires learn to read, write or
discrimination
additional languages) speak a foreign language?
Inquiry into an applicant’s
membership in
Organizations List all clubs, societies and Could be considered racial
organizations that the
lodges to which you or national origin
applicant considers
belong. discrimination
relevant to his or her
ability to perform job
Race or color Could be considered racial
Complexion or color of
None or national origin
skin.
discrimination
Could be considered racial
Weight, height, eye color None or national origin
discrimination
What is your religious
denomination, religious
Only if there is a bona fide Could be considered
Religion affiliations, church, parish,
occupational qualification religious discrimination
pastor? What religious
holidays do you observe?
Do you wish to be
Only if there is a bona fide Could be considered gender
Gender addressed as Mr.?, Mrs.?,
occupational qualification discrimination.
Miss? or Ms.?
Do you have a high school
diploma or equivalent? Do What year did you
Could be considered age
Education you have a university or graduate from high school
discrimination
college degree? (if relevant or college?
to job performance)
(Adapted from Society for Human Resource Management)

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 Sample Interview Questions
Hiring managers should create a selection of questions specific to the competencies and requirements of
the posted position. We have included a list of potential questions as a starting point. Best practice
would include meeting with your interview team prior to candidate interviews to review the position
requirements and your interview process.

Employment & Education Background

1. What is the highest level of education you have received? Where did you earn this
degree/diploma?
2. Please tell me about any other education or training that is relevant to _________ position.
3. Who is your present or most recent employer?
4. What are/were your major responsibilities in that position?
5. What did you like best about that position? What did you like least? What was the most
difficult part?
6. Tell us about the skills required for your current/prior position. What skills have your acquired
that will make you more competitive for _______ position?
7. Which accomplishments in your present/most recent prior position are you proud of and why?
8. Why are you planning to/did you leave that position?

Teamwork

1. How do you go about developing relationships at work?

2. We have all had to work with someone who is difficult to get along with. Give me an example
of when this has happened to you. Why was that person difficult? How did you handle it? What
would you do differently today?
3. Give me some examples of when one of your ideas was opposed in a team discussion/decision.
How did you react? Were you able to influence?
4. We all have ways of showing consideration for others. What are some things you’ve done to
show concern or consideration for a co-worker?
5. Describe a situation when you wished you had acted differently with someone at work.
6. Tell me, specifically, what you have done to be a good team player at _____________.
7. Give me some examples of when one of your ideas was opposed in a team
discussion/decision. How did you react? Were you able to influence the team to a greater
understanding of your point of view?

Communication Skills

When assessing communication skills, it is important to observe the candidate as they respond
throughout the interview. Consider if the applicant is able to express himself/herself effectively and in a
well organized manner.

1. We’ve all had occasions when we misinterpreted something that someone told us – due date,
complicated instructions, etc. Give me a specific example of when this happened to you. What
was the situation? Why was there a misinterpretation? What was the outcome? What would
you do differently?
2. What kind of reports/proposals have you written? What are the most challenging parts of these
reports/proposals?

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 3. Give me an example from your past working experience where you had to rely on information
given to you verbally to get the job done.
4. What different approaches do you use in talking with different people? How do you know you
are getting your point across?
5. What is the worst communication problem you’ve experienced? How did you handle it?

Analytical Problem Solving

1. Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-finding skills to gain information needed
to solve a problem. Then tell me how you analyzed the information and came to a decision, if
applicable.
2. Give me an example that demonstrates your ability to use a variety of approaches in your work.
3. Tell me about a time when you were assigned a project with you had little or no experience.
What strategy did you adopt to plan and complete the assignment?
4. Tell me about a difficult problem you solved for a customer or colleague.
5. Describe a position you have held where you problem solving skills were regularly tested.
6. Tell me about a time when you had to quickly analyze a situation and quickly come to a
decision. What were the trade-offs you made and why? What was the result?
7. What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision? Walk me through a
specific example.
8. What is the most difficult decision you have ever had to make at work? Why was it so difficult?
What process did you go through in order to get to your decision?
9. Tell me about a time when you used multiple data sets to determine a solution. What tools and
methods did you use?

Leadership

1. What leadership skills and experience do you have that would qualify you as an effective leader?
Be specific.
2. Describe how you have influenced someone to do something new. What were the obstacles?
Walk me through how you did it. Were they ultimately successful?
3. Explain a situation where you had an opinion that differed from your manager or other
leadership within the organization. What happened? Did you ultimately persuade others to
agree?
4. Tell me about the difference you see in management vs. leadership, provide specific examples of
when you have been in each role? What was different? What was the same?
5. Tell me about a time when you had to take a firm stand with a colleague. What was the
situation? What was difficult about the colleague? What was the firm stand you had to take?
What was the outcome?
6. Describe a time when you had to establish/re-establish the mission and values of an
organization? What was going on at the time? How did you formulate the need to take action?
How did you do it?
7. Tell me about a time when you failed? What was happening? What were your mistakes? What
was the organizational impact? What did you learn from it?
8. Walk me through your approach to strategic planning. What scope of programs have you
worked on? Who do you include? What major steps do you take? How do you implement a
strategic plan effectively?

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Motivation

1. Give me an example of when you worked the hardest and felt the greatest sense of achievement.
2. Tell me about the most boring job or task you have had. Why was it boring? What did you do
about it? How did you handle the boredom?
3. Tell me about a time when the duties and responsibilities available in a specific position
overlapped with duties and responsibilities that brought you personal satisfaction.
4. Why did you choose this (career, type of work)?
5. What job values are important to you?
6. What was the most useful feedback you ever received?
7. How do you like to be recognized for doing good work? Tell me about a time you appreciated it
most.

Initiative

1. Please tell me about a project or idea (not necessarily your own) that was carried out
successfully primarily because of your efforts.
2. What new ideas or suggestions have you come up with at work? What problem were you
solving?
3. What things do you do to make your job easier or more rewarding?
4. Tell me about a time when you recognized a problem before your supervisor or others at the
organization. How did you handle it?
5. How do you know if you are doing a good job?
6. What career accomplishments are you most proud of?
7. What risks did you take in your last position?

Planning & Organization

1. How do you organize your day?

2. How do you establish priorities in scheduling your time? Give specific examples.
3. Tell me how you establish a course of action to accomplish specific short and long term goals.
4. Do you postpone things? What are good reasons to postpone things? How do you manage the
impact to others?
5. How do you catch up on an accumulated backlog of work after a vacation or conference?
6. What did you do to prepare for this interview?

Technical and/or Position Specific

1. What training have you received in ____________?

2. On a scale of one to ten, ten being you are a perfect technical match for this position, where
would you rank yourself? Why? Please give examples.
3. What would you add to or subtract from your technical background to make you more qualified
for this position?
4. Describe how _________ process can best be performed. Have you discovered any short cuts?
How do they work?
5. Walk me through the procedures you would follow to __________.
6. Do you consider your technical abilities basic, intermediate, or advanced? Why?

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Work Standard

1. What are your standards of success in your job? What have you done to meet those standards?
2. What do you consider the most important contribution your department has made to the
organization? What was your role?
3. What factors, other than pay, do you consider most important in evaluating yourself or your
success?
4. Tell me about a time when you weren’t very pleased with your work performance. Why were
you disappointed with your performance? What did you do to turn around your performance?
5. When judging the performance of others, what factors or characteristics are most important to
you?

Mission Alignment

1. How would you describe the mission of the University of Portland?

2. How do you see promoting this mission in this position?

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 Assessing Candidates
As you are assessing candidates, be sure that your assessment is based on the same criteria for each
candidate. Using the job description, identify the minimum requirements. Once you have narrowed the
pool to include only those candidates who are minimally qualified, you can start to assess for core skills
and responsibilities. Using the candidate’s resume, cover letter, and interview notes drill down into
their experiences, skills, and past behavior to determine if he/she is the best fit for the posted job
description. As you are taking notes regarding each candidate, do not write personal assumptions and
non-position related comments. Hiring managers should keep all interview notes and documentation of
the hiring process for 2 years after the search has been completed.

Creating a Critical Skills Matrix

Once you have identified the key skills and responsibilities, you can create a critical skills matrix for all
interviewers to utilize and provide feedback. Below is a sample Critical Skills Matrix, built in
Microsoft Excel. Each interviewer completes one matrix for each candidate, then the hiring manager
can create composite scores for each candidate. HR is happy to provide a matrix for you.

Defining the rating scale is important, so all interviewers are using the same measures. For example, a
Rating Level 0 is representing that the skill or ability is not obviously present. A Rating Level 1 would
be having an awareness or basic level of understanding/skill. The candidate would demonstrate that
they have or can perform the skill or ability in some situations, but would require guidance. A Rating
Level 2 would represent demonstration of intermediate to advanced understanding. The candidate
would be able to perform the skill or ability in considerably difficult or challenging situations and
requires occasion to little guidance. A Rating Level 3 is representing expert skill or understanding.
The candidate would be able to perform the skill or ability in exceptionally difficult or challenging
situations and would serve as a leader/advisor/key resource to others.

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Consider Common Interviewing Biases

There are several problems that interviewers run into when they allow biases to get in the way. These
include:

Stereotyping: Forming an opinion about how people of a given gender, religion, race, appearance, or
other characteristic think, act, respond, or would perform the job - without any evidence that this is the
case.

Inconsistency in questioning: Asking different questions of each candidate leads to a skewed assessment
of who would best perform the job. Questions designed to get particular information about a specific
candidate are only appropriate in the context of a core set of questions asked of all candidates.

First impressions: An interviewer might make a snap judgment about someone based on their first
impression - positive or negative - that clouds the entire interview. For example, letting the fact that the
candidate is wearing out-of-the-ordinary clothing or has a heavy regional accent take precedence over
the applicant's knowledge, skills, or abilities.

Negative emphasis: This involves rejection of a candidate based on a small amount of negative
information - a common occurrence. Research indicates that interviewers give unfavorable information
about twice the weight of favorable information.

Halo/horn effect: The "halo" effect occurs when an interviewer allows one strong point about the
candidate to overshadow or have an effect on everything else. For instance, knowing someone went to a
particular university might be looked upon favorably. Everything the applicant says during the
interview is seen in this light. ("Well, she left out an important part of the answer to that question, but,
she must know it, she went to XYZ University). The "horn" effect is just the opposite - allowing one
weak point to influence everything else.

Cultural noise: Since the candidate wants the job, she or he will provide the words the interviewer wants
to hear, even if those words are not entirely truthful. For example, an applicant might say that he has no
problem reporting to someone younger, or working in a team setting, when this is not the case.
Interviewers should prepare questions that probe for specific examples and stay away from questions
that elicit "yes" or "no" answers.

Nonverbal bias: Undue emphasis might be placed on nonverbal cues that have nothing to do with the
job, such as loudness or softness of voice, or the type of handshake given.

Contrast effect: Strong(er) candidates who interview after weak(er) ones may appear more qualified than
they are because of the contrast between the two. Note taking during the interview and a reasonable
period of time between interviews may alleviate this.
(Adapted from Society for Human Resource Management)

As always, HR is available and happy to advise through any part of the interview process. Please
contact Nicole Bresnahan at bresnaha@[Link] or 503-943-8752 for assistance or coaching at any point
in your hiring process.

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