Interview Question Bank

The reason unstructured interviews don't work isn't that interviewers are bad — it's that without pre-defined questions and criteria, everyone evaluates differently and ends up rewarding likability over capability. Structured interviews fix this. Same questions, same probes, same evaluation criteria — independently scored, then discussed. The skill builds that structure for a specific role rather than handing over a generic top-50 list.

The first move is the competency map. Five to seven competencies that actually predict success in the role — pulled from the job description and from honest answers to two questions: "what does outstanding performance look like at six months?" and "what are the three most common reasons people fail in this role?" Six categories are available (technical, problem-solving, behavioural, leadership, culture alignment, motivation) but only the ones that matter for this specific role get used. A senior IC role isn't assessed on delegation; a manager role isn't over-weighted on individual technical depth.

Each competency gets three or four questions at increasing depth — foundation, depth, scenario. Behavioural questions demand a specific example, not a hypothetical ("tell me about a time" beats "what would you do"). Situational questions test thinking on the realistic challenges of this job, not brainteasers. Technical questions test applied knowledge — "walk me through how you'd approach this" beats "define this concept." Where work samples are useful, they're capped at 60–90 minutes, mirror real work, and aren't used as free consulting.

Every question carries evaluation criteria written before the interview. What a good answer sounds like. What the red flags are. A 4-point scale per question. Without this, interviewers evaluate against the previous candidate, against their own background, or against likability — none of which is the role.

The skill also handles the practical layer. Twenty questions for the bank, but only 8–12 used in a 45–60 minute interview. A panel plan that splits competencies cleanly across rounds so the same ground isn't covered twice. A debrief framework where every interviewer scores independently before sharing — anchoring on the highest-status person's opinion is the most common failure mode and it's specifically blocked. And a recovery guide for when a candidate gives a weak or vague answer — redirect, probe, rephrase, move on. Inability to provide a specific example is itself data.

Difficulty calibrates to seniority. Junior questions assess learning ability; senior questions assess strategic thinking and mentoring. Mismatch the calibration and you produce false negatives at the junior end and false positives at the senior end.