The Right Questions to Ask During an Interview

Of all the types of questions to ask, the simplest is the closed question. A closed question asks something that the interviewee responds to with a simple yes or no. By giving them the option to answer like this, they may not expound on their answer beyond the one word.

When developing questions, try to avoid this method. A simple modification can lead to an open-question format.

For example, instead of asking an interviewee, “Did you do...?” ask “How (why, where, etc.) did you do...?" Using words such as why, where, how, etc. change a question from closed to open.

The open question gets the interviewee to talk about a subject more effectively. The interviewee might give factual information chronologically or linearly. They also might talk about their personal opinion of a situation or interpretation of a piece of information. Simply adding "how" or "why" to the beginning of a question helps create an open question.

Amplifying questions sometimes aren’t questions at all. Sports reporters commonly use this technique. After a game, the reporter reminds a player about a specific play. Without even asking a question, the player will generally start speaking about the play they mentioned. Practicing this technique, along with active listening and non-questioning (silence), can lead to answers.

For example, "Friends tell me you come from a long line of military service as far back as the War of 1812." This gives the interviewee the impression that the interviewer researched and is interested in who they are as a person. By showing care and interest, the interviewer may generate better responses from the interviewee.

Clarifying questions seek to clarify the interviewee's answers. Use these questions to verify the order of events or get the interviewee to restate the response, including new information. Sometimes the respondent may have certain colloquialisms that are not understood, to which a clarifying question will help define the answer successfully.

For example, "Did I hear you say...?" or "Can you repeat that so I can be clear on the order of events?"

Leading questions prompt the respondent to answer in a particular way. They lead to answers that are most likely slanted. Many times, these types of questions can be confused with directive questions. A leading question creates an assumption about a particular act or belief behind an event.

For example, asking a commander, "What trouble are you having with your unit?" is a leading question. The phrasing assumes problems are present within the ranks. Alternatively, prompting the commander with, "Tell me about your relationship with your unit" does not lead or imply any judgment.

Directive questions are also known as suggestive or loaded questions. They take a piece of information and apply an assumption of the outcome. The issue with loaded questions is that they contain an implicit or explicit assumption with which the person being questioned is likely to disagree.

For example, “Did you finally respond to the reporter?” is a loaded question because it implies the interviewee is not timely. In this case, the loaded question pushes the respondent to give a yes or no answer and may cause them to become defensive. Regardless of the response they choose, they will appear to agree with the question’s underlying presupposition:

• A response of “yes” appears to confirm they were late responding to reporters in the past but have since stopped.
• A response of “no” appears to confirm they were late responding to reporters in the past and still do in the present.

This type of questioning, most times, supports logical fallacy. A logical fallacy is a pattern of reasoning that contains a flaw, either in its logical structure or underlying premises.

There is an instance where a directive question doesn’t take the form of a logical fallacy. When the respondent chooses to accept the assumed form of the question, it prevents a logical fallacy from occurring.

For example, the question, “What dress are you going to wear tonight?” This assumes that the respondent will wear a dress instead of a different article of clothing. If they respond by affirming the assumed status of wearing a dress, they prevent a logical fallacy since the assumed information is now presented as correct. If they refute the question by indicating they will wear pants, a skirt, etc., it results in a logical fallacy based on the assumption by the questioning party.

Indirect assumptive questions assume a positive answer and help overcome a barrier.

It's easy to observe this tactic during Girl Scout cookie sales season. When a customer approaches the table, a parent will probably ask, “How many boxes of cookies can I get for you?” The opposition generally comes from the young scouts asking, “Would you like to buy some cookies?”

As the customer is definitely at the table to buy cookies, the indirect assumptive question helps progress the conversation. It’s important to remember that indirect assumptive questions are not leading or directive, nor should they become either.

Junk questions are potentially some of the most important questions to ask. While they seem as the name would suggest, like junk, they can help uncover new information. Asking junk questions before the interview helps to warm up the conversation and builds rapport with the interviewee. They can also be a “breather” between hard-hitting questions throughout the interview, giving the subject a chance to clear their head. They can even lead to an element of the story that the interviewer hadn’t planned on covering because it was missing information during the pre-interview or research. While potential benefits exist, most of the time, these junk questions will be junk.

Junk questions have the potential for greatness in every interview. While they may be junk, or sometimes a little more than junk, they should be planned for with the same effort as other questions.

For example, "When did you decide to pursue a career in the military?"