Smart hiring is an art as much as it is a science. Traditional interview techniques often leave Hiring Managers guessing whether a candidate will truly contribute or merely fill a seat.
In today’s competitive workforce, the need to identify candidates with genuine drive and a proven track record of achievement is more critical than ever.
In this article, we explore a set of interview questions designed to reveal the real performance potential of candidates. By understanding the pitfalls of outdated practices and embracing success-predicting questions, Hiring Managers can make informed decisions that benefit both the company and its future employees.
Pitfalls of Conventional Interview Questions
Many organizations still lean on the familiar formula of generic and brainteaser questions during interviews. Questions such as why are manhole covers round or hypothetical riddles might spark a moment of intrigue but rarely offer insight into how a candidate would perform on the job.
Even conventional interview questions often fall short in assessing a candidate’s true fit for a hospitality role. Questions like:
- Tell me about yourself
- What is your greatest weakness
- Where do you see yourself in five years
- Why should we hire you
While these are common, they tend to encourage rehearsed responses rather than providing meaningful insights into a candidate’s ability to handle the demands of the industry.
The challenge with these questions lies in their failure to deliver hard data about a candidate’s decision-making process and motivation.
For example, asking a Chef, how would you handle a difficult customer, may result in a generic answer, but it doesn’t reveal how they have adapted menus based on guest feedback or managed customer complaints while maintaining service flow.
HR professionals have noted that such questions can divert attention from the candidate’s practical experience, leaving a gap between their polished interview performance and their actual ability to drive results. This is why interviewers need to rethink their approach and focus on questions that reveal how candidates perform under real-world conditions.
A better strategy would be asking unconventional interview questions. These questions are useful for assessing problem-solving, innovation and crisis management in high-pressure hospitality environments.
Examples:
- Tell me about a time when you had to design a completely new dish under pressure. What was your creative process, and how did it turn out?
- Describe a situation where you had to manage a kitchen staff conflict during a busy service. How did you resolve it, and what was the outcome?
- Share an example of when you had to make a difficult decision that affected the restaurant’s efficiency. How did you ensure both quality and speed were maintained?
Use Structured Interview and Predictive Questions To Hire High Performers
A structured interview ensures that candidates are evaluated based on relevant job skills rather than personal impressions. A structured interview asks a targeted question such as “Tell me about a time you had to handle an unexpected staffing shortage during peak hours. What steps did you take, and what was the outcome?”
This approach focuses on real experiences, allowing Hiring Managers to assess problem-solving skills, leadership and decision-making under pressure. This structured approach removes guesswork from the hiring process, allowing businesses to make informed decisions that result in stronger, more reliable hires.
Predictive interview questions take the behavioral approach a step further. Instead of just asking how a candidate handled a past situation, they help Hiring Managers assess patterns in leadership, decision-making and impact on the business. These questions require candidates to demonstrate how they measure success, drive improvements and align with business goals.
The focus on success is critical in hospitality because it determines whether a candidate can thrive in a fast-paced, guest-focused industry. High performers do more than just meet expectations — they create lasting guest experiences, improve team efficiency and contribute to revenue growth.
This focus on measurable outcomes enables Hiring Managers to build teams that consistently meet business goals and enhance customer satisfaction.
Each question in this set was crafted to probe deeply into a candidate’s work history, motivations and potential for future success. Below, we explore each question and its significance.
What led you to join your previous company?
This question seeks to uncover the motivation behind a candidate’s career moves. Rather than simply accepting an explanation like I needed a change, the goal is to understand whether the candidate was driven by a desire for growth, challenge or meaningful work.
In assessing the response, interviewers look for patterns that suggest a preference for learning opportunities over mere financial incentives. The insights gained can help determine if the candidate’s values align with the company’s culture and if they are likely to embrace new challenges enthusiastically.
What led to your decision to leave your job?
A seemingly straightforward inquiry, this question is instrumental in revealing a candidate’s reasoning and accountability when parting with previous employers. It is important to discern whether their departure was due to a lack of alignment with organizational values, personal accountability or less favorable reasons such as an inability to overcome challenges.
A detailed account of their decision-making process helps predict if similar patterns may arise in their new role, thereby offering a window into their long-term compatibility with the company.
What were you hired to do?
By asking candidates to define what they were originally brought on to achieve, interviewers can assess how closely or divergently a candidate’s performance has aligned with those expectations. This conversation often exposes whether the individual takes full ownership of their successes and failures or tends to shift blame to external factors.
What were your biggest accomplishments and how did you achieve them?
This question invites candidates to delve into specific, quantifiable achievements from their previous roles. The discussion should highlight not only the outcomes but also the strategic methods or creative approaches that led to success.
What impact have you made on your organization?
Understanding a candidate’s impact on their previous organizations is crucial. Here, the focus shifts from individual tasks to the broader, strategic contributions that led to significant changes within the company.
What did you enjoy most and least about your role?
Exploring both the enjoyable elements and the less favored aspects of past positions provides a balanced view of a candidate’s genuine passions and areas of potential discontent.
What three skills are you currently working on developing?
Self-awareness is a hallmark of high performers. This question challenges candidates to reflect on their current developmental journey. An ideal response will reveal clear, specific skills that are pertinent to ongoing personal and professional growth.
What questions haven’t I asked you that you would have liked me to ask?
The bonus question serves as a final opportunity for candidates to share insights that might not have been covered by conventional inquiries. It allows for the revelation of additional strengths, subtleties in their career perspective, or even unaddressed challenges.
How To Spot High Performers
High-performing candidates — often referred to as A-players — tend to exhibit distinct behavioral traits in their interview responses.
They display a high degree of accountability, demonstrate continuous self-improvement and show genuine passion for work that drives meaningful results. When probing deeper into past experiences, A-players reveal patterns of taking clear responsibility for both achievements and setbacks. Their passion is evident in how they describe pursuing challenges not just for extrinsic rewards but for personal and professional fulfillment.
On the other hand, candidates who might be classified as C-players often provide vague or defensive answers. They may habitually shift blame or offer overly rehearsed responses that do not capture the underlying dynamics of their previous roles.
Instead of illustrating commitment to growth, they may focus solely on extrinsic rewards such as salary increases or job titles. Recognizing such patterns can help Hiring Managers avoid potential pitfalls by identifying candidates whose motivations and behavior might not align with long-term company goals.
Concluding Thoughts on Hiring High Performers
The strategic use of success predicting interview questions represents a shift toward a more nuanced and effective hiring process. By asking meaningful, targeted questions, organizations can bypass the limitations of traditional interviews and uncover the true potential of their candidates. Aligning a candidate’s intrinsic motivations with the demands of the role is not only vital for their personal success but also for driving overall organizational growth.
For those interested in deepening their understanding of these techniques, additional advanced resources on effective hiring practices are available. Adopting these strategies can transform hiring into a process that not only fills positions but also builds a dynamic, forward-thinking team capable of propelling the company to greater heights.
Moving forward, Hiring Managers are encouraged to reassess their interview toolkits. By integrating these success predicting questions into the recruitment process, you take a proactive step toward making data-driven, insightful hiring decisions that truly differentiate high potential candidates.
Engaging with these questions can stimulate ongoing discussion and continuous improvement in your recruitment practices, laying the foundation for a team that is both innovative and resilient.
