interview-question-bank

Interview Question Bank Skill

Unstructured interviews mostly measure who's charming. Structured, competency-based interviews predict

performance — the same questions, mapped to what the role needs, scored against what a good answer looks like.

This skill builds that question bank so every interviewer assesses the same things, fairly and consistently.

Working from a brief

Given "interview questions for a senior PM", build the bank anyway — infer the core competencies for the

role and write questions for each, labelling assumptions. Provide "what good looks like" for every question.

Never hand back a flat list of questions with no evaluation guidance.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided (else infer and label):

• The role — title, level, and the 4–6 competencies that actually predict success in it.
• Must-have skills — technical/functional areas to probe, and any deal-breakers.
• Values/culture — the behaviours the team cares about (collaboration, ownership, etc.).
• Format — how many rounds/interviewers, and time per interview (so the bank is sized right).

Output Format

Interview Question Bank: [role]

1. Competency map — the 4–6 competencies to assess and which round/interviewer owns each (avoid everyone asking the same thing).

2. Questions by competency — for each competency, 2–4 questions:

| Question | Type | What a strong answer shows | Red flags | Follow-up probes |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| "Tell me about a time you…" | Behavioral (STAR) | specifics, their role, the outcome, learning | vague, all "we", no result | "What would you do differently?" |

Include behavioral (past behaviour, STAR-friendly), role/technical (a realistic problem or scenario), and values questions.

3. Scoring — a simple rubric (e.g. 1–4 per competency) and the bar to advance, so scores are comparable across interviewers.

4. Fairness notes — ask every candidate the same core questions; keep questions job-related; avoid questions about protected characteristics (age, family, health, religion, etc.); focus on evidence, not "fit feeling".

Quality Checks

• [ ] Questions map to explicit competencies the role actually needs — not trivia
• [ ] Each question has "what good looks like" and red flags, so answers are scored, not vibed
• [ ] A mix of behavioral, role/technical, and values questions is included
• [ ] Competencies are distributed across rounds so interviewers don't overlap
• [ ] A simple, comparable scoring rubric is provided
• [ ] Questions are job-related and avoid protected-characteristic / illegal territory

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not produce a flat question list with no evaluation guidance — that's how interviews stay inconsistent
• [ ] Do not use brain-teasers or trivia that don't predict job performance
• [ ] Do not let every interviewer assess the same competency — map and distribute
• [ ] Do not include questions about age, family status, health, religion, or other protected areas
• [ ] Do not score on "culture fit" gut feel — score on observable, job-related evidence

Based On

Structured-interview practice — competency-based, behaviorally-anchored questions with scoring rubrics and fairness/consistency safeguards.