Strategic Interview Questions to Ask Candidates

What are strategic interview questions to ask candidates?

In order to find the best candidate for a job, it is important to ask the correct interview questions. Finding the most qualified applicant usually involves more than just reviewing their application materials. Strategically planning interview questions helps human resources professionals learn more about candidates beyond their CV, including their personality traits and most valuable abilities.

Read on to have a better understanding of strategic interview questions, their variations, and 22 sample questions to use during your next interview.

In order to gain a better understanding of a candidate’s abilities to carry out the job, interviewers often use strategic questions.

Strategic interview questions help to identify a candidate’s strengths and provide a better understanding of how they might succeed in the available position. To encourage detailed responses from the candidate and to give the interviewer room to probe further, it’s best to keep these questions open-ended.

Kinds of strategic questions for interviews

It is possible to broadly classify strategic interview questions as follows:

• Questions about long-term career goals provide human resources and hiring managers a sense of whether or not an applicant plans to remain with the organization for the long haul.
• Asking candidates behavioral questions is a great way to gauge their fit with the company’s values and objectives.
• Examine a candidate’s performance in response to hypothetical or actual work-related situations using situational questions. Human resource professionals can use them to gauge how well candidates deal with pressure, uncertainty, failure, and loss.

Key questions for a strategic interview

While the specific strategic interview questions to ask applicants may differ by position and sector, the following questions might serve as a guide:

1. Do you have a vision for the perfect company culture?

Asking a prospect about their ideal company culture is a great way to gauge their fit for the position. By asking candidates questions like “do you like working alone or in a team?” or “would you rather work remotely or on-site,” you can learn more about their ideal work setting.

To find out if they are a suitable match for your company, you should inquire about their preferences. Another way to help a candidate get a feel for your organization is to talk about your culture while they’re interviewing.

2. If you’re facing obstacles, how do you keep going and get things done?

In the course of a typical workday, employees encounter a number of obstacles that have the potential to lower their motivation and productivity. As a hiring manager, you must assess a candidate’s ability to persevere in the face of adversity.

This is a great way for interviewers to gauge candidates’ resilience and capacity to deal with setbacks while still maintaining high levels of drive and productivity.

3. What are your current and future professional aspirations?

Qualtrics found that employees are less likely to quit their jobs if their personal beliefs and career objectives are congruent with those of the company. One way to find out if a candidate’s goals and the company’s are a good fit is to ask them about their professional goals.

An applicant who has no plans to stay in the field for the foreseeable future might not be the best fit for the position. On the flip side, the organization can back a candidate’s professional growth aspirations if they intend to stay in the business for the long haul.

4. Please describe an initiative you spearheaded and the results it produced in the company.

The goal of asking this question is to find out if the candidate can change their approach to the job. Inquire about the candidate’s involvement in implementing past proposals for change and ask for specific examples.

Asking if they thought the adjustment helped or hurt the team or company could be a good follow-up question. In this case, you want to know if the candidate can look at the broader view.

5. When a long-term project you’ve been working on unexpectedly encounters a huge roadblock, what do you do?

You can tailor this question to include a situation that is related to the position, but the main objective is to learn how the candidate handles major problems on the job.

Can they come up with creative solutions? Are they going to work together to find a solution? You can learn about their strategy for dealing with these problems from their response.

6. Give me an example of a situation where you had to think outside the box to find a solution.

The capacity to efficiently resolve issues is an asset in any firm. People applying for the position should expect to do well if they have this ability. You may learn a lot about a candidate’s ability to solve problems by asking them this question during an interview.

Ask the candidate to describe times when they had to think outside the box to find a solution. This will give you a good idea of how creative they are when confronted with difficult problems.

7. What new developments do you see having a profound impact on the market in the next five years?

An essential trait for prospective workers to have is knowledge of current events in the field. By asking this question, we can gauge the candidates’ level of interest in and understanding of the subject matter.

Take note of the candidates’ predictions for the industry’s future and how those predictions will impact the company in their answers.

8. When it comes to your field, how do you keep up with the latest developments?

Along similar lines, this inquiry tries to ascertain the candidates’ go-to resources for staying abreast of industry news. Ask them what magazines they subscribe to, podcasts they enjoy, and influential people they follow in their response.

Responding positively shows that they are eager to learn about the industry and take the initiative to do so. If a candidate doesn’t put much effort into bettering themselves, it could show in their lack of understanding of trends and quality sources.

9. Give an example of a moment when you messed up on the job and how you recovered.

Errors are inevitable, even for highly trained experts. While it’s true that everyone makes errors, it’s far more indicative of character to see how one deals with adversity, gains wisdom, and moves on.

Find out how well a candidate grasps the concept of accountability by asking them this question.

10. How can you overcome possible resistance or objections when making a compelling presentation to upper management?

Asking this question might give you a good impression of how well a candidate can articulate their thoughts, analyze critically, and handle criticism. Additionally, it might reveal how well they think strategically and how persuasive they are.

It is important for the interviewer to gauge the candidate’s strategy, show that they can foresee and respond to possible criticisms, and back up their claims with facts and proof. The candidate should also be able to adapt their strategy in response to management criticism and convey their ideas with conviction and clarity.

11. When people criticize you, how do you respond?

Some forms of criticism, both good and negative, may be inevitable on the job. Success or failure for a job prospect often hinges on how they respond to criticism.

Criticism, when handled properly, can be a powerful tool for growth and advancement in the workplace. You may learn a lot about a candidate’s feedback management skills—and how they’ve dealt with constructive criticism—by asking them this question.

12. In what ways do you think you learn best?

The purpose of this question is to gain insight into the candidate’s learning style, the means by which they take in new information, and their flexibility in dealing with novel circumstances.

Candidates that are up for new challenges, who aren’t afraid to make mistakes, and who can put their knowledge to use in the real world tend to get the best responses. Think about whether their answer shows that they are interested in learning, taking initiative, and are open to new ideas.

13. Tell me about a conflict you resolved in the workplace and how you felt about it at the time.

Every employee would benefit from having the ability to handle workplace conflicts effectively. The interviewer can gauge the candidate’s perspective on and ability to handle workplace problems by questioning them about conflict resolution during the interview.

An ideal teammate would be someone who can look at problems from different perspectives and find constructive ways to resolve them. A candidate with difficulty conflict management skills may have trouble communicating with upper management or may be too dogmatic on some issues.

14. When multiple tasks need your attention, how do you typically handle them?

In today’s increasingly demanding workplaces, the ability to prioritize tasks is a valuable talent for employees to possess. The interviewer can gauge the candidate’s time management skills and ability to rank assignments according to importance and urgency using this question. Those that correctly respond to this question exhibit their ability to manage their time well and operate efficiently.

15. Tell me how you inspire people who work for you.

Leaders must make it a priority to keep team morale strong, as this generally leads to higher performance results. Assessing a candidate’s capacity to inspire and encourage others is crucial when choosing a leader.

You should look for particular instances of when they inspired their teams to achieve goals. Using this data, you may identify the most qualified candidate for the position according to their leadership and communication skills.

16. How can you break down extensive project details for individuals who aren’t experts in the field?

Workers may have to take the lead on difficult tasks from time to time. They must be adept at breaking down complex ideas into manageable chunks so that everyone on the team and in leadership can get behind the project.

This question is a great way to gauge a candidate’s knowledge of the subject and their ability to explain it in terms that everybody can comprehend.

17. Talk about a time when you had to collaborate with individuals from all walks of life.

Skills in effective cross-cultural communication and teamwork are in high demand as workplace diversity continues to grow.

This question is a great way for hiring managers to see how well a candidate understands diversity and can demonstrate inclusive behavior while working. It is helpful to examine the candidate’s prior work to get a sense of their cultural competency and sensitivity.

18. Is there a way you deal with job-related ambiguity and uncertainty?

The interviewer can gauge the candidate’s flexibility and adaptability by asking this question in contexts where specific instructions are not always available. How well the candidate handles pressure and adjusts to new situations are important factors to consider.

Evaluate the candidate’s ability to stay calm under pressure and their comfort level with ambiguity and uncertainty in their response. To find out how the candidate handled a particularly murky or confusing circumstance in their prior position, you should ask them to describe it. Think about how well the candidate communicated, worked with others, and asked for assistance when needed.

19. Tell me about a time when you had to choose between two equally bad options.

By asking this, the interviewer can gauge the candidate’s ability to think critically and solve problems.

Evaluate the candidate’s strategy, risk management, and decision-making abilities in this scenario. Think about the probable outcomes. Consider how well they conveyed the event or decision to stakeholders and the lessons they took away from it in their reaction.

Their answer ought to show that they are capable of making good decisions and handling risks efficiently.

20. Achieving a healthy work-life balance can be difficult; how do you do it?

After the pandemic, work-life balance became an important issue for employees, according to Aviva’s research. In order to thrive in one’s professional capacity without sacrificing one’s personal obligations, it is essential to strike a good work-life balance.

Assessing a candidate’s work-life balance requires looking at their task-planning skills and how often they take work home with them.

21. If you discovered that a coworker was repeatedly breaking business rules, what would you do?

Posing this question to a candidate allows the interviewer to gauge their moral fiber, discernment, as well as ability to manage delicate circumstances.

The candidate needs to show how they would handle the situation both personally and professionally. Check to see if the candidate would talk to their coworker about it or go to HR.

Can you tell if the candidate has good judgment in ethical dilemmas and is prepared to work with others to find a solution? Determine if the individual exemplifies professionalism, diplomacy, and honesty.

22. Share an example of when you accomplished what you set out to do.

One way to gauge a candidate’s drive, ambition, and strategy for reaching goals is to inquire about how they typically go about creating and revising their plans. The answer to this question might provide interviewers a good idea of the candidate’s drive, ambition, and capacity to plan and execute a successful strategy.

Most important things to remember

• Strategic interview questions allow human resources professionals and hiring managers to learn more about a candidate’s qualifications for a position than what is shown in their application materials.
• Some examples of strategic interview questions are those that focus on the candidate’s professional history, those that probe their behavior, and those that are situationally relevant. Questions categorized as “career-goal,” “behavioral,” and “situational” help evaluate a candidate’s responsiveness to various work-related challenges.
• Instead of asking applicants to answer yes or no, ask them open-ended questions so they can give detailed responses. The interviewer has the chance to build on the candidate’s initial response by asking follow-up questions.