16 Insightful Questions For Tech Applicants
Expert PanelForbes Councils Member
Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POST| Paid Program
When assessing a job candidate, it’s important to look beyond the skills listed on a résumé. Tech leaders, in particular, need to gauge if a potential new employee is creative, adaptive and ready to work within a team.
By asking insightful questions, you can gauge the mindset and personality of an applicant and find talented professionals who can add to the company culture. Below, 16 experts from Forbes Technology Council share questions that have given them a genuine insight into the potential of candidates they’ve interviewed.
1. ‘When’s the last time you broke something?’
Every time I ask a candidate to describe a time they broke something and what they did about it, I get a great answer. This applies to both what is said and what is not said. How willing are you to take a risk, how calculated was it and what do you do when you make a mistake? Were you able to fix it yourself? What did you learn from it? How comfortable are you in sharing your failures? - Ryan Peeler, Voxx Analytics
2. ‘What’s missing in your current job?’
If they share an issue we can’t resolve for them, we save a lot of time and dodge a potential failed hire. If they are just fishing, they likely have no clear direction for their future, they’re only motivated by compensation or they will be easily drawn to another company a few months from now. If they share a real issue that we can resolve for them, we have a potential win. - Michael Levine, Advantage Talent, Inc.
3. ‘Can you talk about one of your weaknesses?’
Candidates focus on their strengths and achievements, and rightly so. Most times when I ask this question, candidates do mention a weakness, but it’s more of a strength in disguise—for example, “I can’t tolerate lazy colleagues,” which effectively means, “I am very hardworking.” But when someone indeed points out a weakness, it shows the person is honest and is willing to learn and improve. - Sameer Shelke, Aujas Cybersecurity
4. ‘How have you helped others?’
My favorite question to ask is, “Tell me how you’ve helped someone in their career.” If the story told sounds self-focused or self-inflating, it’s a big turn-off. However, if the person speaks humbly of their supporting role and puts the focus on the talents of the person they helped, then it tells me they have the others-focused value system that is required of great leaders. - Dean Hager, Jamf
5. ‘What three words best describe you?’
This question tells me several things: how well the person thinks on their feet, what the person thinks of themselves, what I should expect of the person if hired and whether the person fits our culture. After employing this single question, we’ve improved our ability to find candidates who fit our culture. - Jay Marshall, Eyelock LLC
6. ‘What tech fascinates you the most?’
Innovation is the most important attribute I look for in a tech candidate. Applying tech to innovation is meaningful and purpose-oriented. A question I ask is, “Which new technology fascinates you the most, and what solution will you build with it if I give you all you want for six months?” I have seen that, in most cases, this question shows a candidate’s clarity of thinking and ability to innovate and think beyond. - Veena Gundavelli, Emagia Corporation
7. ‘Where do you want to be in a few years?’
As technology evolves, technical skills come and go. What really interests me is where the candidate wants to be in three to five years. This enables me to assess the alignment of their personal career goals with the company’s needs. From a career development perspective, it allows me to tailor a career plan and provide opportunities to help them try on career trajectories. - Yu Lee, Kasasa
8. ‘Are you familiar with working on a remote team?’
As remote working becomes more desirable to employees and to companies that are offshoring parts of development to quickly adapt to business requirements, the performance and efficiency of teams are at risk. Understanding not only the pitfalls of their own remote working process but also those of collaborating as a distributed team shows the maturity and the awareness that are now highly sought after. - Glyn Roberts, iTechArt Group
9. ‘Who do you think would be good for this job?’
I’d recommend asking them to name a few individuals whom they believe would be stronger contenders for the position and to explain why. This gives me an understanding as to what they believe are the needs for the position and their honest evaluation of their own strengths and weaknesses. If they can identify strong qualities in others, it is a sign of a healthy leader who knows their limitations. - José Morey, Liberty BioSecurity
10. ‘What were your favorite team and project?’
When interviewing candidates, one of our favorite questions is, “What were your favorite team and project you’ve worked on?” This helps you understand the size, scope and team dynamics the person is most passionate about and is key to assessing how they may interact in your organization before making the hiring decision. - Robert Chapman, 101 Solutions
11. ‘Can you explain your job as you would to a 7-year-old?’
Ask prospective hires to explain their last big project in terms a novice could understand. You’ll learn about their communication skills—every tech worker should be able to explain their ideas to nonspecialists—and you’ll also discover how deeply they understand their field. The smartest people think from first principles and can explain even the most complex problems in simple terms. - Chris Turlica, MaintainX Inc.
12. ‘What new things have you learned recently?’
In a fast-changing technology landscape, technical skills are meant to become obsolete every couple of years. We need to hire people who can learn new skills and are willing to leave the old ones behind. A couple of questions that are part of my interviews are, “Tell me about the new things you have learned in the recent past” and “What do you not enjoy doing in your current role?” - Vineet Bansal, iptiQ by Swiss Re
13. ‘What are you currently reading?’
I ask potential employees the name of a book they are currently reading. Résumés are great for assessing a person’s accolades and experience. However, an applicant’s reading choice offers insight into who the person is. An individual’s reading choice reveals their passion and, therefore, what drives them personally and professionally—this is critical to know about a hire. - Frank Speiser, Talla
14. ‘Do you like puzzles?’
Technical skills don’t mean much in the tech and cybersecurity world if you don’t have a basic knack for solving puzzles. Visual, numeric, word-based—whatever the type of puzzle—it’s crucial candidates have an innate desire to conquer all types of challenges. - Rahul Kashyap, Awake Security Inc.
15. ‘What do you do outside of work?’
You might be surprised to find that some of the most valuable skills that a tech candidate can bring to your organization have little to do with writing code. For example, some of our best tech employees are also artists, musicians and video producers. A highly creative mind is critical for startup environments; therefore, I want to know what candidates enjoy doing outside of work. - Steven Khuong, Curacubby
16. ‘When have you been the happiest?’
I always ask candidates when they have been the happiest and most fulfilled in a role, and then we explore why—what drove the passion and energy. I also try to use this discussion to discuss our company’s mission and to see if it aligns with the candidate’s values and core motivations. - Jeff Bell, LegalShield