27 Go-To Interview Questions

My interview question bank

Whenever I have the privilege of hiring new teammates, I try to be as thoughtful, fair, and organized as can be. (Usually “organized” is the first attribute to go out the window.)

I want every candidate’s experience to be similar.

I want to remove as much of my own bias as can be.

And I found that one of the best ways to do this is to be prepared for each interview with

1. A list of questions, ideally the same ones you ask of each and every candidate

2. A sense for what you’re looking for with each question (“why am I asking this?”)

3. A framework for ideal answers and pause answers, so I’m not just going with my gut

Less gut, more planning. 😉

To help me make progress toward these three goals, I’ve spent the past few years jotting down my favorite interview questions. They are all here in Notion, and you’re welcome to have them.

In addition to the questions themselves, if you scroll further down the page, you’ll see:

What it tells you — A section explaining the “why” behind the question

Ideal answer & pause answer — A hopefully more objective way of measuring a candidate’s response to the question

Big thank yous to my friends at Buffer who helped me be a better interviewer and hiring manager. I still have a long way to go, so any advice or feedback is very welcome. Hopefully this Notion doc is a good start, and hopefully it may be helpful to you and your next hires!