Jacob Kaplan-Moss

Series: Unpacking Interview Questions

A series sharing some of the questions I use when I interview for technical roles. I’ll unpack the question, when to ask it, and how to evaluate answers.

Unpacking Interview Questions: “Explain a Topic At Multiple Levels…”

Part 1 of my Unpacking Interview Questions series, where I share one of the questions I use when I interview for technical roles. Today: asking candidates to explain a topic at multiple levels. This is one of my favorite questions to ask for engineering roles; strong performance on this question correlates very highly with high job performance on my teams.
February 8th, 2021 • hiring interviewing management

Unpacking Interview Questions: “Tell Me About a Project You Led…”

Part 2 of my Unpacking Interview Questions series, where I share one of the questions I use when I interview for technical roles. Today: measuring a manager’s ability to lead projects and manage them effectively.
February 9th, 2021 • hiring interviewing management

Unpacking Interview Questions: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Part 3 of my Unpacking Interview Questions series, where I share one of the questions I use when I interview for technical roles. Today: making sure candidates align with organizational values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
February 10th, 2021 • diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring interviewing management

Unpacking Interview Questions: “Tell Me About a Disagreement…”

Part 4 of my Unpacking Interview Questions series, where I share one of the questions I use when I interview for technical roles. Today, an oldie-but-goodie: looking into a candidate’s ability to disagree and resolve conflict professionally.
February 11th, 2021 • conflict resolution hiring interviewing management

Unpacking Interview Questions: The Weakness Question

The fifth and final part of my Unpacking Interview Questions series, where I share one of the questions I use when I interview for technical roles. Today’s question is the most difficult-to-ask of the series, but also one of the most valuable: asking a candidate to discuss one of their weaknesses.
February 12th, 2021 • hiring interviewing management

Unpacking Interview Questions: Interview Question Series Wrap Up

A summary and wrap-up of my Unpacking Interview Questions series, covering why I wrote this series in the first place, some advice on developing your own questions, and answers to a few questions.
February 15th, 2021 • hiring interviewing management

Unpacking Interview Questions: Types of Interview Questions

There are three types of interview questions: behavioral, hypothetical, and trivia. Behavioral questions are the gold standard; they’re the most effective at predicting job performance. Hypothetical questions can be useful in certain circumstances, if used correctly. Avoid trivia.
March 1st, 2021 • hiring interviewing management

Mailbag: Adapting Interview Questions for Junior Candidates

Sébastien asks: “Would you say that your questions are equally applicable to junior and senior positions?”
March 29th, 2021 • hiring interviewing juniors mailbag