Interview Guide
Candidate Name: ___________________________________________
Interviewer Name: __________________________________________
Date of Interview: __________________________________________
Setting the Stage
Be sure to cover all of the following points with every candidate:
Put the Candidate at ease:
Introduction: your name, position
Establish mutual means of addressing
Explain purpose of the interview:
To determine match between your experience, skills, knowledge
compared to what we are looking for.
The evaluation will be based on your previous experience, skills and
knowledge
Explain the Content/Format of the Interview
Will be asking about various aspects of your experience, skills and
knowledge
Interview will take about 20 minutes, you will do most of the talking,
and I will take notes for the evaluation.
Will leave time at the end of the interview for any questions.
Describe the work the candidate will be doing and the Organization Chart.
Interview Questions
1. Overview questions:
Experience and career questions Points to observe
Take a few minutes to Level of responsibility
summarize your experience Diversity and breadth of
that is relevant to the position. experience
Describe your career path by Scope of accomplishments ad
mentioning your main spin-offs
activities, achievements,
preferences, reasons for
leaving)
What is important for you on a Areas of interest
job? Level of initiative
In which of your jobs were you Coherence of the career plan
most satisfied? Why?
What challenges are you
seeking at this stage of your
career?
On what criteria do you base Personal requirements
the evaluation of your work
quality?
2. Behavioral questions:
You need to use “THE STAR METHOD” technique in order to discover the
candidate competencies in depth:
The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-
based interview question by discussing the specific situation, task, action,
and result of the situation you are describing.
Situation: Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you
needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation,
not a generalized description of what you have done in the past. Be
sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This
situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or
any relevant event.
Task: What goal were you working toward?
Action: Describe the actions you took to address the situation with an
appropriate amount of detail and keep the focus on YOU. What specific
steps did you take and what was your particular contribution? Be
careful that you don’t describe what the team or group did when
talking about a project, but what you actually did. Use the word “I,” not
“we” when describing actions.
Result: Describe the outcome of your actions and don’t be shy about
taking credit for your behavior. What happened? How did the event
end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? Make sure your
answer contains multiple positive results.
Sample Behavioral Interview Questions: Describe a situation in which you
were able to use persuasion to successfully convince someone to see things
your way.
Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that
demonstrated your coping skills.
Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment
and logic in solving a problem.
Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to
meet or achieve it.
Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to
influence someone's opinion.
Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a
policy with which you did not agree.
Please discuss an important written document you were required to
complete.
Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of
duty in order to get a job done.
Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you
were required to prioritize your tasks.
Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second
decision.
What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.
Tell me about a time you were able to successfully deal with another
person even when that individual may not have personally liked you
(or vice versa).
Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year.
Give me an example of a time when something you tried to accomplish
and failed.
Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took the lead.
Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-
worker.
Give me an example of a time when you motivated others.
Tell me about a time when you delegated a project effectively.
Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-finding skills to solve a problem.
Tell me about a time when you missed an obvious solution to a problem.
Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventive measures.
Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision.
Please tell me about a time you had to fire a friend.
Describe a time when you set your sights too high (or too low).
Overall rating for each question:
Clearly misses Less than Meets Exceeds Far exceeds
requirements or requirements requirements requirements requirements
overuses
Candidate Evaluation Worksheet
1 2 3 4 5
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
Question 6
Question 7
