“What are your strengths/weaknesses?”
“Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”
“Tell me about a time…”
Heard these before? If you’ve ever been in an interview on either side, our guess is that you have. The challenge is that most candidates have heard them too, and practiced their answers in the mirror (or with AI). By the time it reaches a hiring manager’s ears, it’s often polished, well-rehearsed, and not all that revealing.
And that’s how you end up with answers like, “My biggest weakness is that I’m a perfectionist.” Or moments where you ask what you thought was a straightforward question and get an answer that has nothing to do with what you were actually trying to learn.
A lot of organizations rely on a standard set of questions like this because it helps create a more structured, comparable interview process across candidates. The challenge is when that structure becomes too rigid. Instead of helping you compare candidates, it starts giving you the same version of every candidate. Different backgrounds, different experiences… similar, rehearsed answers. Interviews aren’t one size fits all. The questions that work for one role (or one person) don’t always translate to another. If you’re not willing to adjust, you can end up learning less, not more.
After hundreds of interviews across our team, one thing has become clear: many of the “classic” interview questions tend to produce predictable answers, but don’t offer much in terms of real insight. So we asked our team to share their tried and true questions. The ones that have led to more meaningful conversations.
A few we keep coming back to:
- Who is the best manager you ever had and why? What did you learn from them?
- If money wasn’t a factor, what would you like to do?
- What is the worst job you ever had and what did you learn about yourself from that experience?
- In your current role, if I gave you a magic wand and you could make any change to your job, team, or company, what would it be?
- What do you think you’ll do in this role?
- Is there anything you’re avoiding in your search?
- Why do you think you’d be a good fit for this role? (somewhat basic, but we like this one)
We’re not suggesting you ask different questions just to be different. We’re challenging you to ask better ones. The kind that uncover how someone actually thinks, works, and shows up for your role.
Because that’s what leads to better hiring decisions.
Until next time,
Your Spherion WI & Northern IL team