An interview is an opportunity to identify a candidate’s suitability for a role. But remember, the opportunity goes both ways. If your interview questions are confusing or cliched, you may lose a candidate’s interest and trust. 

What stands in the way of searching for and securing talent? The job interview. Done well, and you’ll gain insight into how a candidate could improve your organisation and add to its culture. But, done poorly, you risk asking interview questions that make them feel uncomfortable, or worse, dissuade them from progressing.  

A productive interview is shaped by the questions you ask, says Kirsty-Anne Ferguson, career and interview expert at SEEK and founder and coach at Interview Chix. 

And with competition for talent and labour shortages at an all-time high, it’s in an organisation’s best interest to conduct effective interviews where a potential employee walks away feeling comfortable, heard and informed.

Ferguson shares four styles of interview questions and behaviours that may unknowingly send candidates running for the hills, and suggests some alternate phrasing. 

Mistake 1: Generic and open-ended questions 

Put yourself in your candidate’s (recently polished) shoes: they might be feeling nervous, self-conscious and unsure of what the interview panel thinks of them. The worst thing you could do is ask them an open-ended question with no anchor point.

“Asking broad, open-ended questions before a candidate has even settled in will make them feel uneasy. They’ll be unsure how long to talk for or what’s appropriate to include,” says Ferguson. 

Some common examples include: 

• 🙅‍♀️ “Tell us about yourself.” 
• 🙅‍♀️ “What are your greatest strengths?”
• 🙅‍♀️ ”Why should we hire you?” 

Instead, Ferguson advises starting the interview by showing you are relatable and asking them focused questions so they can share specific stories or examples.  

To put them at ease, Ferguson suggests trying these phrases: 

• ✅ “There are no right or wrong answers, we just want to get to know you.”
• ✅ “If a question is unclear or you need me to rephrase anything, just let me know.”  
• ✅ “What’s the thing you most like to do during your work day ? What’s the last thing you want to do?”

Mistake 2: Trick questions 

Another line of questioning to avoid are those designed to trip the candidate up. Trick questions are more likely to focus on negative behaviours or events, such as mistakes or weaknesses.  

“A candidate probably won’t give a truthful answer to these kinds of questions because they’ll feel like they’re shooting themselves in the foot. 

“As a hiring manager, you are not simply there to run an interview. You’re establishing a relationship the moment a candidate gets in touch.” – Kirsty-Anne Ferguson, SEEK career and interview expert and founder and coach, Interview Chix.

“By making a candidate feel they have to tell a white lie or hold back on information, you’re preventing authentic interaction,” says Ferguson  

For example, asking a candidate to share their biggest weakness will only saddle you with cliches such as, “I’m a perfectionist” or “I care too much” without giving you any real insight into their suitability for the role.  

Examples of trick questions include:  

• 🙅‍♀️ “What’s the worst mistake you’ve ever made?”
• 🙅‍♀️ “What are your biggest weaknesses?” 
• 🙅‍♀️ “What makes you a better candidate than others?” 
• 🙅‍♀️ ”What negative feedback do you regularly receive?” 

Instead, Ferguson suggests rephrasing the question by seeing how the candidate would respond to a hypothetical situation.These kinds of questions are unlikely to yield a genuine answer. 

Instead, Ferguson suggests rephrasing the question by seeing how the candidate would respond to a hypothetical situation. That way, you see ‘how’ they actually perform or interact, not what they think of themselves or what they do. 

You could phrase it like this: 

• ✅ “Let’s say you receive an angry phone call from an irate customer whose order was lost. How would you deal with the situation?” 
• ✅ “Let’s say your colleague keeps missing deadlines. How would you resolve the issue?” 
• ✅ “Imagine someone gave you harsh feedback on a project you worked on, which you felt was unwarranted. How would you approach them about it?

But that’s not to say that you shouldn’t ask tough questions, says Ferguson. You just need to make sure the questions don’t catch them off guard or put them on the back foot. 

“It’s a matter of asking questions in a way that gives you the information you need, rather than making them feel like they need to hide something.”

Mistake 3: Double or triple-barrelled questions 

Ever been asked something with multiple questions hidden within? Then you’ve been double-barrelled. 

Asking a double- or triple-barrelled question will pile more pressure on someone who is already feeling nervous, says Ferguson. This could cause them to feel flustered, go on a tangent or forget the question. 

Multi-part questions could look something like this: 

• 🙅‍♀️ “If a client asked you to delay a deadline, how would you respond to them? And how would you communicate this to your team?” 
• 🙅‍♀️ “Tell us about the type of deadlines you have worked towards in the last 12 months? Which of them came in under deadline and how the outcomes were implemented?”
• 🙅‍♀️ “What would they say about you if I asked them and, what type of person do you work best with?” 

Rather than asking multiple things at once, Ferguson recommends interviewers home in on what they want to learn.

“Ask one question, listen to the response and then follow up with a related question.”

Mistake 4: Closing the lines of communication  

When we talk about poor communication, we don’t just mean words spoken or emailed – it also refers to what you’ve omitted. 

“As a hiring manager, you are not simply there to run an interview,” says Ferguson. “You’re establishing a relationship from the moment a candidate gets in touch.” 

This means setting them up for success by keeping them informed. Ferguson suggests sending them an email before you meet, so you can reference: 

• What kind of interview you’re hosting
• Items they need to bring (i.e. a portfolio of their work, references etc.)
• Directions to the interview venue 
• Who will be interviewing them  
• How long the interview might take

The same rules apply in the interview itself. 

“Always finish the interview with clear guidance on what the candidate can expect next,” says Ferguson.  

Here’s how you could phrase it: 

“We need to make a decision by the end of this week, so we will be in touch in three days. If you have other commitments or receive other job offers, please let us know because that would help us in our decision-making.” 

“The transparency creates trust and helps the candidate know where they stand,” says Ferguson.   

Interviews are a two-way street 

An interviewer shouldn’t forget that an interviewee is also assessing whether your company is right for them and will be lobbing the tough questions right back at you.

To ensure the parties on both sides of the table have a productive interview, hiring managers can practise active listening, tailoring questions and being open and honest about what the application will look like. 

And most importantly?  

“Treat the person as the individual they are, and do what you say you’re going to do.”