HR managers share their go-to interview questions

While there are scores of questions that could potentially come up during an interview, a survey of HR experts shows that many employers still favour tried and tested, traditional interview questions that have been part of recruitment scripts for decades.

Ciphr polled over 150 HR professionals about their favourite interview questions to assess potential hires. And, you can probably guess which ones they like best.

1. Why do you want to work here?

This question will be familiar to anyone who’s led (or attended) an interview. It digs into a candidate’s motivations for applying, and their level of interest in, and understanding of, the role and company. A serious candidate will be able to show they’ve done their research and be able to talk in detail about how the job aligns with their skillset and career trajectory. It can be a good opener for more in-depth, follow-up questions about an applicant’s job specific knowledge and work history, how they match to the role’s essential and desirable requirements, and where they think they can add value to the team.

2. What can you bring to this organisation?

This question helps recruiters gain more insight into an individual’s personality, enthusiasm for the role, and whether they’re a strong cultural fit. This is a candidate’s opportunity to showcase their strengths and the value they can deliver, but they’ll also be demonstrating their communication skills, confidence and self-awareness. A serious candidate will be able to provide evidence-based examples of previous performance and achievements that relate directly to the role’s responsibilities and requirements.

3. Tell me about a time you overcame a major challenge at work?

Most interviews will include behavioural or situational questions that explore how people approach common workplace challenges and issues, based on past work experiences or hypothetical scenarios. Questions about dealing with challenges, or conflict resolution, are designed to assess problem-solving, decision-making and communication skills, how the candidate works with others, their resilience, accountability, and adaptability, and how they handle pressure. An overcomplicated answer, or one that doesn’t focus on their contribution to the outcome, can be a red flag, as it may signal a lack of experience or self-awareness. A serious candidate will highlight their soft skills, focus on their impact, and include takeaways about what the experience taught them and what they might do differently again.

4. Where do you see yourself in five years?

This isn’t designed to be a trick question, but it can help sense check whether a candidate’s career aspirations and expectations align with the position they’re being interviewed for, or whether they could be a flight risk (if misaligned). A serious candidate will show they want to grow within the role and the company. They’ll take this opportunity to talk about attainable career progression, with tangible outcomes that add value and will be beneficial to the company. Too much ambition, or too little, or misaligned ambitions, can all be red flags depending on the job opening.

5. What skills and qualities can you bring to the team?

Candidates will face many versions of this question in interviews, but, generally, what people say here to differentiate themselves can help recruiters spot standout applicants. Listen for answers that highlight soft skills – like collaboration, teamwork, initiative, communication and empathy – and how they will add value to different aspects of the role. A serious candidate will be able to summarise how their qualifications, technical competencies, experience, transferable skills, strategic thinking, and personality are a good fit for the team and wider company culture.

These are the top 10 questions that HR professionals like to ask candidates at interviews, based on a survey of 158 HR decision makers in 2025:

• Why do you want to work here / why did you apply for this job?
• What can you bring to this organisation? / what do you have to offer?
• Tell me about a time you overcame a major challenge at work?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What skills / qualities can you bring to the team?
• Tell me about your previous job / work history?
• Why are you looking to leave your current job? / why did you leave your last job?
• What are your job expectations? / what makes you happy at work?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What sets you apart / makes you stand out from other applicants?

Claire Hawes, chief people and operations officer at Ciphr, says: “Ask anyone working in HR and recruitment, and they’ll have a selection of go-to questions that they like to ask in interviews. But interestingly, as this research highlights, many of these ‘go-to’ questions aren’t particularly unique – they tend to be versions of common interview questions that people will be somewhat familiar with. That way, candidates can rehearse their answers to a point, but they still need to be ready to think on their feet and showcase their skills and competencies during the interview, as the questions may come from a different angle than they expect.

“For example, my favourite interview question – tell me what energises you and what drains you? – can be insightful to understand what lights someone’s fire and where you will experience drag or resistance. It reveals a lot about their attitude and what drives them to excel, and how they’ll show up day-to-day, without asking them to explain ‘what motivates them’ directly.

“I find this question really gives you an insight into what makes someone tick and how to get the best out of them. When a candidate talks about what energises them, you’re hearing what they genuinely enjoy and where they’ll naturally bring enthusiasm and energy.

“It’s a great way to spot whether their passions line up with the role. If they light up when talking about collaboration and the job is highly team-focused, then, for me, that’s a complete win. But, on the flip side, if they thrive on deep, independent work and the role is all about constant interaction, it could be a red flag.

“When they share what drains them, it’s also about understanding where they might need more support or where friction could creep in or cause misalignment with the realities of the role. Everyone has things that sap their energy, and the best candidates will hopefully be self-aware enough to acknowledge that and explain how they manage it.”

Hawes adds: “A bad hire can be costly for employers, with time, effort and money wasted. It can reduce productivity, disrupt operations and leave teams under resourced.

“It can also have a number of secondary impacts – bad Glassdoor reviews from candidates or employees that don’t last long in the role, lack of trust in management’s abilities to hire well, and damage to the company's employer brand, which could make future recruitment more difficult. So, it’s important not to rush the process.

“Ensure your job advert is working for you and that your job description is attracting the right calibre of talent. Screening calls and pre-interview tests are useful for filtering applicants. And remember to plan in enough time to run at least two rounds of interviews.

“A skilled interviewer knows which series of core questions to ask, and what information they need to look for, to be able to assess a candidate’s ability to do the job and whether they are the best person for the job (not just the person who answered the interview questions best on the day).”

The full results of Ciphr’s survey on HR professionals’ favourite interview questions to ask job candidates, plus research into the interview questions that job hunters find most difficult to answer (based on Google search data), are available at: https://www.ciphr.com/infographics/common-interview-questions-answered.