Recruiting
Interview questions: 30 questions to ask candidates and what they reveal
A ready-made set of interview questions by group, red flags in the answers, a 45-minute interview plan and a scorecard to compare candidates on facts, not on gut feeling.
In short
- A good interview isn't a list of questions. It's a 45-minute plan and the same scoring criteria for every candidate.
- Below are 30 questions grouped by topic: what each one tests and which answer should make you wary.
- Don't ask about private life, children, age, religion or ethnicity: it's discrimination, and the answers tell you nothing about the job.
- Fill in the scorecard right after the interview and get back to the candidate within 2–3 working days.
How to run an interview in 45 minutes
Without a plan, an interview turns into small talk: an hour later you know the candidate loves hiking, but not whether they can close deals. Split the meeting into blocks and stick to the timing.
| Minutes | Block | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Introductions | Introduce yourself, outline the plan and how long it will take |
| 5–15 | Motivation and experience | Why they're looking, what they did in their last job, what results they got |
| 15–30 | Behavioural and situational questions | 2–3 STAR questions and 1–2 cases on the role's key competencies |
| 30–38 | Role-specific block | Questions for sales or management roles, or a short practical task |
| 38–43 | Candidate's questions | Answer honestly about the work, schedule, pay and team |
| 43–45 | Next steps | Say when and how you'll get back to them |
Pick 3–4 competencies that make or break success in the role before the interview. For a cashier at a store in Almaty, that's care with cash, speed and staying calm with difficult customers. For a call-centre agent in Astana, it's stress resilience, clear speech and working with a script. Choose questions for these competencies, not from a one-size-fits-all list.
If you get a lot of applications, screen out poor fits before the interview: a short check against the must-have requirements saves hours. How to do that with AI is covered on the AI résumé screening page.
Interview questions on motivation, experience and results
These questions show why a person wants to join you and what they actually did hands-on. Listen for specifics: numbers, timelines, their own part in it.
| Question | What it tests | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Why are you looking for a job right now? | The real reason for leaving and the risk they'll leave you too | Spends a long time criticising their former manager and colleagues |
| 2. What matters to you in your next job? | Whether their expectations match what you offer | "Doesn't matter, as long as it pays" or expectations you definitely can't meet |
| 3. Why did you apply for this particular job? | A conscious choice or a mass mailing of résumés | Can't remember what the company does |
| 4. Where do you see yourself in two years? | Growth plans and how realistic they are | Wants a position that doesn't and won't exist in your structure |
| 5. Describe a typical working day in your last job. | Actual duties, not lines from the résumé | Vague words with no tasks or tools |
| 6. What result are you most proud of? | Scale of achievements and personal contribution | Only "we", never "I did" |
| 7. How was your work measured and what were the numbers? | Understanding of their own metrics | Doesn't know their KPIs and can't name a single number |
| 8. What have you learned in the past year? | Ability to learn | "Nothing, I already know it all" |
STAR behavioural questions and situational cases
A behavioural question asks the candidate to describe a real case from the past. The answer is broken down using STAR: Situation, Task, Action (what the candidate personally did) and Result (how it ended). If the candidate drifts into "usually I…", bring them back: "And in that specific case, what did you do?"
Behavioural
| Question | What it tests | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 9. Tell me about a time you were about to miss a deadline. What did you do? | Planning, honesty, warning others in advance | Everyone else was to blame, they changed nothing themselves |
| 10. Think of a conflict with a colleague. How did you resolve it? | Teamwork and handling disagreement | "I never have conflicts" or the conflict went to the boss without a conversation |
| 11. When did you make a mistake at work and what happened next? | Accountability and lessons learned | Can't recall a single mistake |
| 12. Describe a task where you had to get up to speed on something new fast. | Learning speed | Waited for someone to teach them |
| 13. Tell me how you improved a process. | Initiative | Made suggestions but never saw anything through |
Situational
A situational question simulates the future job. It's useful for candidates without experience: graduates and career changers.
| Question | What it tests | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 14. A customer is shouting that they were sold a faulty item and the queue is growing. What do you do? | Composure, service, knowing the limits of their authority | Argues with the customer or refunds right away without checking |
| 15. Your manager gave you two urgent tasks with the same deadline. What will you do? | Prioritisation and communication | Quietly does one and fails the other |
| 16. You notice a colleague breaking safety rules in the warehouse. What do you do? | Attitude to rules | "None of my business" |
Interview questions for sales managers and team leads
Sales manager
The main mistake is judging a salesperson by charisma. A charming candidate may not know how to manage a pipeline. Ask about numbers and have them sell to you right there in the interview.
| Question | What it tests | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 17. What was your sales target and how much did you hit month by month? | Actual performance | Only mentions their best month |
| 18. How many calls or meetings does it take to get one deal? | Knowledge of their own funnel | Never tracked conversion |
| 19. Tell me about a deal you nearly lost but closed. | Handling objections (STAR) | Only a discount saved the deal |
| 20. Sell me our product in two minutes. | Uncovering needs, structuring the conversation | Lists features straight away without asking a single question |
| 21. How do you manage clients in your CRM? | Discipline | "I keep it all in my head" or on a personal phone |
Team lead
| Question | What it tests | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 22. How big was your team and how did you set their goals? | Management scope and approach to goals | Goals "came from above", never discussed them with the team |
| 23. Tell me how you parted ways with an employee. | Readiness for tough decisions | Never let anyone go, or did it without warnings and conversations |
| 24. Who on your team did you help grow, and how? | Developing people | Can't name a single example |
| 25. Your team has missed its target for the second month. What are your first three steps? | Diagnosing the problem | Only pressure and penalties |
A good way to test a manager's goal-setting is to ask about cascading: how a company goal turned into metrics for their department. For more on how such metrics are built, see our article on employee KPIs.
Off-limits: what you can't ask in an interview
These questions don't help you assess a candidate and put the company at risk of discrimination claims. Kazakhstan's labour law prohibits discrimination at work, including on the grounds of gender, age, marital status, religion, ethnicity and other circumstances unrelated to professional qualities.
| Question | Why not | What to ask instead |
|---|---|---|
| 26. Are you married? Planning to have children? | Marital status and family plans have nothing to do with professional qualities | "The job involves business trips twice a month. Does that work for you?" |
| 27. How old are you? | Age is a discriminatory ground | Ask about the experience and skills the job requires |
| 28. What is your religion? | Religion is a private matter | "We work shifts, including weekends. Does that suit you?" |
| 29. What is your ethnicity? Where are your parents from? | Ethnicity and origin don't affect the work | If language matters, test their Kazakh or English on the job content |
| 30. What illnesses have you had? Do you have a disability? | Health is discussed only within the job requirements and the medical check | "The job involves lifting loads of up to 20 kg. Do you have any limitations?" |
Why these questions are off-limits. The Labour Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan prohibits discrimination based on origin, gender, race, ethnicity, language, attitude to religion, beliefs, place of residence, age, physical disabilities and other circumstances (Art. 6). Pregnancy, children under three and disability cannot be grounds for refusing employment (Art. 25). From August 2026, at such a candidate's request, the employer must explain the reason for the refusal in writing. That's why the decision should rest on a skills-based scorecard, not on a vague "just didn’t feel right".
Scorecard: how to assess a candidate after the interview
Without a shared scale, the candidate you liked wins. Each interviewer fills in the scorecard separately, right after the meeting, while the details are fresh. Discussing the candidate with colleagues comes afterwards.
Candidate scorecard
Job: ___ · Candidate: ___ · Interviewer: ___ · Date: ___
Scale: 1 — no skill, 2 — below the bar, 3 — meets the bar, 4 — above the bar
- Competency 1 (e.g. handling objections): score ___ · example from the answer: ___
- Competency 2 (e.g. planning): score ___ · example: ___
- Competency 3 (e.g. teamwork): score ___ · example: ___
- Professional knowledge: score ___ · example: ___
- Motivation and fit with expectations (schedule, pay, tasks): score ___
Red flags: ___
Decision: hire / next stage / reject · Comment: ___
The rule is simple: back every score with something the candidate said. "Communicates well" is not an example. "Explained how they won back a client who'd moved to another supplier by offering personalised delivery terms" is an example.
How it works in TapHR
In the Recruiting module, the hiring manager's scores are stored right in the candidate profile, next to the résumé and stage history. Applications from hh.kz, OLX, LinkedIn, Telegram and your careers site land in a single pipeline, and candidates pick their own interview slot in Zoom or Outlook.
How not to lose candidates after the interview
A strong candidate is in 3–5 interview processes at once. While you spend a week collecting opinions, they accept another offer. Most candidates are lost not in the interview, but in the silence after it.
- Give a deadline in the interview and meet it: "You'll hear from us by Thursday."
- Make the decision within 48 hours. All scorecards are filled in on interview day, and the interviewers have a short call the next day.
- Warn about delays. A message like "the manager is on leave until Monday, you're in the final round" keeps candidates better than silence.
- Reject politely and briefly. A candidate who got a decent rejection may apply again in a year.
- Make the offer verbally, then in writing the same day.
Keep a separate eye on speed: how many days pass from application to interview and from interview to offer. If that time is growing, the problem is your process, not the market. How to choose a system that shows these numbers is covered in our article on choosing an ATS.
Where to start tomorrow
- Pick 3–4 competencies for an open job.
- Take 8–10 questions for those competencies from the list above and map out a 45-minute plan.
- Remove questions about family, age, religion and health from your script.
- Print the scorecard and ask every interviewer to fill it in on the day of the interview.
- Agree as a team: candidates get an answer within 3 working days at most.
