18 Best Recruiter Interview Questions To Ask [And Why]

When interviewing a candidate, you have to gather as much info about them as possible in a short period of time. 

This info will help determine whether a candidate is the best fit for the position but asking the right questions can be challenging.

The questions you ask the candidate need to give you a better idea of their skills and experience, as well as their ability to think quickly, hold a conversation, solve problems, and any other job-specific skills. 

To adequately assess a candidate for their skill and culture fit, you need to ask them both questions that are specific to the role and the company. 

You also need to ask questions that are more broader and that will give the applicant the opportunity to show their personality and convince you that they are the best candidate for the position. 

In this post, we explore the best recruiter interview questions to ask.

1. What made you want to apply for this position?

This is one of the best recruiter interview questions to ask because it goes into all the specifics about the role.

It can show how carefully the candidate has read the job description. This question also gives the candidate the chance to share why they think they would be a great fit for the role.

A truly thought out answer to this question should reference both the skills that the applicant has as well as what skills they want to develop or improve in the future.

2. Why do you want to work here?

This question is a bit similar to the previous one, but you should still ask to get a better idea of what the candidate is looking for in an employer.

When you ask this question, be sure to pay attention and catch any details about your organization as well as any parallels the applicant is drawing your company and them as a candidate.

3. Share something about yourself that cannot be found on your resume

Most candidates spend a great amount of their time on their resumes in the hopes that their resume is the best summary of their professional experience.

However, you simply cannot learn everything about a candidate just from what they put down on paper. 

This question is a bit vague because it leaves the candidate the opportunity to choose whether or not they want to share something work-related or not.

How they respond to this question and the story they decide to share with you will tell you a lot about the type of employee they will be if you hire them. 

4. How do you run meetings?

Any candidate worth your time has developed their own tricks and tools to help them better accomplish the work they have to do. 

Of course, not every trick is right for every purpose, so the candidate should demonstrate that they are open to experimenting as well as learning from others to achieve the desired outcome.

5. What are you passionate about?

This question is a favorite of many recruiters and hiring managers.  Whether it is NBA, video games, or their family, most people are passionate about something.

If the candidate is not passionate about anything, they may not end up being passionate about working for my company.

6. What career accomplishment are you most proud of?

Hiring someone who can do the job well is important. However, it is also important that you hire someone that is proud of their work. 

This is one of the best recruiter interview questions because it allows the candidates to share a career highlight they think is important for you to hear. 

This question can also help you get a better understanding of the type of work that they enjoy working which should make it easy for you to see whether that works for the role or not.

7. What are your greatest weaknesses?

By asking this question, you can quickly learn a lot about a candidate. The answer to this question can help you see if the candidate’s weaknesses could conflict with what the job requires or if it will potentially hinder their ability to excel in the role. 

It can also help you determine whether or not a candidate is self-aware about their weaknesses.

8. What are your greatest strengths?

The same as you need candidates to address their weaknesses, you also need them to talk about their strengths. Their strengths show their level of humility as well as self-awareness. 

It also gives the candidate a chance to discuss how they will use their strengths to help the company reach its goals and how their qualities align with the needs of the role.

9. Why are you leaving your current employer?

This may shock some candidates but it is a great question to ask. Make sure you pay attention to how they talk about their former job and whether they are focusing on the negative or positive sides of their previous job. 

If a candidate shows respect for their previous employer and their workplace, it will demonstrate their professionalism, which is essential in any role.

10. What are your long-term career goals?

One of the best recruiter interview questions to get a feel for how ambitious, hardworking, and goal-oriented a candidate is. 

Seek out candidates whose career goals align with your company’s values and mission. This question can also reveal how long the candidate plans on staying at your company.

11. If you could go back to any point in your career, what would you change and why? 

This is a great question to get a glimpse into the candidates’ personal experience. A candidate’s resume will almost always often boast about their achievements, discovering their grit in overcoming diversity and challenges is almost as equally important.

12. Talk about a difficult work situation and how you overcame it

Everyone has experienced challenging circumstances at work and almost always these moments are where people grow the most as professionals. 

This is one of the best recruiter interview questions to ask because it allows the candidate to problem-solving skills, the ability to manage stress, and how they work under pressure, which is a common occurrence these days.

13. Describe a time when you had to work with someone who was very different from you

Being able to work with other people is an important aspect of almost every job in 2020. 

Ask this question to see how the candidate’s teamwork, interpersonal and problem-solving skills, as well as how they compromise, communicate and collaborate with others to achieve a goal. 

This question can also give you deeper insight into their personality and work style.

14. What would be the ideal culture for you to work in?

Asking this question should help you see if the potential employee is an ideal fit for the company. Of course, relying just on this question alone when determining culture fit is not enough but it can sure help out.

15. What do you value in your work relationships? 

This question should help get the candidate talking. See what type of relationships they choose to talk about as well, if they about their managers, teammates, customers, or clients. The answer should help you get an insight into how they work and cooperate with others.

16. How do you want to improve yourself in the next year? 

One of the best recruiter interview questions to ask candidates is how they want to grow professionally. This question can give insight into a candidate’s willingness to invest in their own growth and how dedicated they are to their career.

17. How do you influence others to work with you? 

By asking this question, you can get a sense of how collaborative a candidate is and how they influence the people they are working with. 

Be sure to ask the candidate to give examples of what they have down and how were they able to get others to go along.

This question can be asked even if a candidate has never been a lead or a manager on a project. In that case, tell them to talk about specific examples or team activities they have experienced. 

18. Do you have any questions for me?

This is a wrap up to this article and our recommendation for one of the best recruiter interview questions to ask before you wrap up the interview.

Most candidates that are truly interested in the job will be prepared for this part of the interview. This means that they will have a few relevant questions for the person that is interviewing them. 

However, if your interview was long, then they may have already asked their question. If that is the case with a particular interview, it is perfectly fine if a candidate does not have a list of questions at the end of the interview.

Interviewing is great for shortlisting and hiring great employees. But you will need a good recruitment software to track all your notes and communications.

Recruiteze is a simple, modern online recruitment software that helps you to broadcast your jobs to numerous job boards. 

You can manage your applications through customizable screener questions and workflow.

You can also manage all your hiring notes, communications and tasks in one place.

Try Recruiteze for free today.

Thank you for reading!

Additional reads:

1. What are the pros and cons of group interviews
2. Competency-based interview questions
3. Exit interview questions
4. Unique interview questions
5. Best recruiter interview questions
6. Help candidates prepare for an interview
7. Interview questions for program managers
8. Rules to follow during phone and video interviews
9. Overlooked interview questions
10. Overlooked interview questions
11. Performance Review Questions