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Discussion on: What's your favorite interview question?

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Frank Carr

My favorite question from a hiring manager: "When can you start working here?"

But, when I'm the interviewer I like to ask open ended questions that relate closely to the work that's going to be expected and how the applicant's experience fits into that. I avoid asking generic brain teaser type questions or language/framework trivia questions. I assume that the person I'm interviewing doesn't know everything and, like me, there will be gaps in their knowledge. No silly "gotcha" questions.

I may also ask about their most recent project, what was the most interesting part, what was the most challenging part, what worked the best and the worst. I may ask them to diagram it out on a whiteboard just to see how well they can explain something they've worked on. That will be important for demoing at the end of sprints and epics.

I also like to ask why they are here, why they chose to apply at this particular company. I want to see if they are in "a job, any job" mode or if there was something in particular they thought was interesting about the company.