The best interviews are conversations. But it’s hard to have a conversation when you ask a series of fairly unrelated questions. (That’s true even if you have questions you really like to ask (like these three), or if you ask the one question that identifies a superstar, or even if you like to ask strange and unusual interview questions.)
Ask a series of canned questions and to the candidate the process will feel more like an interrogation… and where interrogations are concerned there are no winners.
So try this instead: Just ask one good, compelling question.
Influencer and Inc. colleague Lou Adler would argue for this one: “What single project or task would you consider your most significant accomplishment in your career to date?” Great question, but here’s one I like even better, because it gets to the heart of every small-business owner’s needs:
“What one skill do you possess that will most benefit our bottom line?”