Use ChatGPT & Workable to write better interview questions

Interviewing is equal parts art and science. It’s just as much a chance for the candidate to get to know you as a company, as it is for you to assess their ability to succeed in a role.

AI tools like ChatGPT can’t take the place of a human recruiter – but what they can do really well is help you brainstorm and process lots of information very quickly.

This is good news for you as an interviewer, because ChatGPT can be a true asset for you when writing interview questions. Combine this with Workable’s interview generator tool and you’re well equipped to create a great IQ kit that will help you identify the very best candidates for your open roles.

AI tools can help you spot trends, patterns, and angles that you may miss on your own. It can help you learn things about the requirements of the role that you may not have even thought of before.

This tutorial will walk you through all the ways you can use ChatGPT to write better interview questions so you can get the best candidates possible.

1. Understanding the role requirements

Let’s say that you’re a B2B ecommerce startup and you’re hiring for a UX developer. ChatGPT can help you get a clear understanding of what you should look for in terms of skills and key requirements.

Example prompt: I’m interviewing someone for a UX developer role at a B2B ecommerce startup. List the top 5 essential skills and qualities needed for a UX developer, ranked in order of importance.

You can even take a step further and get insight into what it takes to succeed in the role.

Example prompt: What are the key differentiators that set apart an exceptional candidate from an average one for this UX developer role?

Then, you can take everything you’ve learned, and input the qualities that stand out to you in the Workable interview question generator.

Let’s say you put UX developer, B2B ecommerce startup, Customer Empathy and Business Acumen, and Innovative Problem-Solving Approach into the interview questions generator. This is what you’d get.

You can also quickly get a sense of what tools or platforms someone would need proficiency with to succeed in the role. For a UX developer, that would include design and prototyping tools, front-end development tools, and user research tools.

You can also have ChatGPT write the interview questions – and combine your Workable and ChatGPT tools to get the best results.

You will probably need to customize the questions it gives you and tailor them to both your company and your role. You can also modify your inputs to make them more specific and targeted to the skill set and qualities you’re looking for.

Behavioral questions

Behavioral questions help you understand how a candidate navigates challenging situations. Past behavior is an indicator of future performance.

These questions assess their conflict resolution skills, and their ability to work with others and be a part of a team.

For example, say you’re writing interview questions for a Head of SEO at a consumer electronics company, and you want to question them on their ability to manage an SEO team.

Example prompt: I’m a recruiter, and I’m hiring for a Head of SEO at a consumer electronics company. Generate 3 behavioral interview questions that assess their ability to manage an SEO team.

You can then build off of that, and ask ChatGPT to write interview questions that assess their leadership and team-building skills.

Example prompt: Given this, can you please write me a list of interview questions assessing leadership and team-building skills in this role?

Skill-based questions

Skill-based questions dive into the technical skills that the candidate will need to have in their day-to-day. Any specialized knowledge, proficiencies with certain platforms or programming languages, these questions get into those.

If you were hiring for a role as a C# developer, you may want to know what other programming languages they’re proficient in, or what other technical skills they have.

Example prompt: I’m hiring for a C# developer. List skill-based interview questions to evaluate their programming and technical skills needed for this role.

You can even dive further into a specific software or tool to get a deeper understanding of their proficiency.

Example prompt: What are some targeted questions to assess their knowledge of LINQ in this role?

Situational questions

Situational questions evaluate the candidate’s ability to navigate specific scenarios – interpersonal conflicts, report preparation, etc.

ChatGPT’s adaptability makes it highly useful for creating scenario-specific questions like this.

If you’re hiring for a project manager role where the candidate would be working with the marketing team and the development team, you can learn about their ability to get two disparate teams working towards a goal under pressure.

Example prompt: I’m hiring for a project manager. Please write 2 situational interview questions that explore the candidate’s approach to managing teams for this role.

3. Incorporating company values

A candidate could be an extremely skilled expert who is the best at what they do, but if they are toxic, have problematic or offensive views, or don’t work well with others, it’s unlikely to be a good long-term fit.

Beyond how well the candidate can perform their job duties, you should also assess how well they will fit with the company culture.

If you’re hiring for the manager of an engineering team at a fintech company, you might ask them about their views regarding inclusivity and diversity.

Using ChatGPT, you would break this down into two steps. In the first step, you explain what you’re trying to accomplish, and then give ChatGPT example pages from your website to give it context and analyze your company culture.

This can also help you better understand what you’re looking for in a good culture fit.

Example prompt: I’m hiring for a manager role for a development team at a fintech company. I’d like your help writing interview questions.

First, here are some pages from the company’s website. Please analyze them. What can you tell me about the company culture?

• (URL1)
• (URL2)
• (URL3)

In the second step, you would ask ChatGPT to come up with some appropriate interview questions regarding the culture and company values for this role.

Example prompt: Given what you learned, can you suggest interview questions that assess a candidate’s alignment with our core values?

4. Role-specific customization

Not everyone coming to the role will have the same level of experience and knowledge. Just because someone hasn’t been in the field as long as other candidates, but that doesn’t mean you should discount other qualities like their drive, enthusiasm, and eagerness to learn.

ChatGPT can help you tailor interview questions for entry-level, mid-level, and senior roles for a given position.

When interviewing for a digital marketing role, it can be helpful to see how the qualifications and questions might differ for a junior vs. a mid-senior role.

Example prompt: I’m a recruiter, and I’m hiring for a junior digital marketing role. What are qualities I should look for in an entry-level digital marketing role in the real estate industry that focus on potential rather than experience?

Other than hard digital marketing skills and soft skills like communication and teamwork, you may also hire for a role like this based on knowledge of the real estate industry.

You can take the qualities and skills that ChatGPT gives you, and give them to the Workable interview question generator to make something more specific, qualities like:

• Adaptability and Eagerness to Learn
• Understanding of the Real Estate Market
• Team Player Attitude
• Feedback and iteration

Suppose you already have a list of interview questions that you use. You can have ChatGPT evaluate your questions and give you recommendations and feedback.

When interviewing for an accountant role, you can have Workable interview generator come up with the initial list of questions.

Example prompt for Workable: Accountant, education, mid-level

Then, copy the list of questions.

Then, have ChatGPT tell you what it thinks about the questions you have, and give you some suggestions.

Example prompt: I have a set of interview questions for a [specific job title]. Could you review them for effectiveness and suggest any improvements?

5. Preparation for interviews

You can go beyond the interview itself, and have ChatGPT write interview questions that prepare your recruiting team for the real thing.

What happens when you’re in the interview, and the interviewee throws you a curveball?

Take the above example of an accountant in the education sector. ChatGPT excels at the kinds of tasks that involve anticipating outcomes, and you may be surprised by what you learn.

Example prompt: Provide a challenging interview scenario for this accountant role, and possible candidate responses for training interviewers in handling difficult or unexpected answers.

You can even have ChatGPT anticipate the best answers to your interview questions to help guide the team in evaluating candidate’s responses.

Example prompt: For these interview questions [list questions], what would be considered strong, insightful responses that we can use as a guide for evaluators?

Use ChatGPT and Workable to write better interview questions

ChatGPT’s adaptability and Workable’s HR-specific features can help you improve your interview process and get you the best, brightest talent out there to work for you.

For more templates of all different types of interview questions tailored to kinds of questions and roles, check out our interview question templates here.