Revealed: The Most Common Interview Questions Asked During Asynchronous Video Interviews

Willo – one of the world’s fastest-growing asynchronous video interview platforms – has revealed the most common questions candidates face during interviews using its technology.

Data gathered from more than 15,000 real life interviews completed using the asynchronous video hiring tool this year has uncovered the questions most likely to be posed to candidates during interviews – a godsend for jobseekers.

The six most common questions candidates face are:

1. Why are you open to a new position?
2. Why do you feel this role is a good next step in your career?
3. What sets you apart from other candidates in your field?
4. In your current or most recent position, walk me through your day-to-day duties. What does a typical day look like?
5. Tell us about a time that you faced a challenge on a particular project you were working on, and how did you overcome that challenge?
6. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How would you best summarise your background and experience?

Euan Cameron, co-founder and CEO of Willo, which is designed to give firms the tech to evaluate candidates based on their abilities and potential, not just points on a CV, said: “A Google search will bring up billions of answers to questions on the most common interview questions, however most of these are probably not being used by recruiters.

“Questions like ‘why should I hire you’ and ‘what are your greatest strengths’ may seem like they would be obvious questions, but they’re not very effective questions in terms of assessing candidates so we don’t see recruiters using these types of questions very often.

“Professional recruiters tend to use much more impactful questions. These are questions that have a specific direction but are open-ended to allow candidates to answer freely. We know that many high-performing candidates will tell a story about a personal experience with these types of questions, but only if the question allows space for authenticity.”

According to Euan, candidates can expect to see more questions like these as would-be employers recognise the need to improve the interview experience for candidates and hiring managers.

He added: “Recruiters tell us that they notice the benefits of improving their questions for candidates. After all, better questions receive better answers which is the key interest for both sides. It’s important to build a relationship with a candidate early on by asking engaging questions that allow for authentic expression.

“Recruiters are increasingly aware that an interview is also a two-way process where in-demand candidates can and do walk away from companies with poorly-designed interview processes.

“Our advice to recruiters is to give candidates plenty of time to answer; keep questions open-ended but not vague; provide context on why you are asking a question; ask original questions; and don’t frustrate candidates by asking things you already know.”