12 Interview Questions to Ask Candidates (And How to Score Them)
Most small business interviews are a 45-minute friendly chat that ends with “I liked them.” Then the person no-shows on day four. The fix isn’t better instincts — it’s asking every candidate the same questions in the same order and scoring them before you forget. Here’s the script.
Why the friendly chat fails
An unstructured interview mostly measures how comfortable someone is talking to a stranger — a real skill for a salesperson, irrelevant for a tech who needs to show up at 7am with the right tools. Structured interviews (fixed questions, fixed order, scored on the spot) are the most reliable signal a small employer has, they take less time, and they leave a defensible record if a rejected applicant asks why.
Step 1: The 8-minute phone screen (4 questions)
Do this before anyone drives to your shop. Eight minutes cuts a 20-person applicant pool to the four or five worth meeting.
- “What are you looking for in your next job?” — If the answer is “anything available,” you’re a placeholder while they keep looking.
- “What hourly rate are you targeting?” — Ask it in minute two. If they want $38 and you pay $26, stop there. You just saved two hours.
- “Our start time is 7am at the shop in [town]. Does that work every day?” — Commute and start time end more new hires than skill gaps do.
- “Why did you leave your last job?” — You’re listening for a coherent story, not a perfect one.
Step 2: The 30-minute interview (8 questions)
Three things predict whether a hire works out at a small company: can they do the work, will they show up, will customers like them.
Can they do the work?
- “Walk me through the last job you ran start to finish.” Let them talk for three minutes uninterrupted. Real experience has specifics: materials, sequence, what went sideways.
- “You arrive and the customer’s description doesn’t match what’s there. What do you do?” Good answer: stop, document, call before touching anything. Bad answer: “figure it out and keep going.”
- “Tell me about a job you got wrong.” Anyone with five years in has one. “I can’t think of any” means green, or not being straight with you.
Will they show up?
- “How did you get here today?” A candidate 45 minutes out with an unreliable car becomes a scheduling problem in three weeks.
- “Last time you were going to be late, what did you do?” You want “I texted my boss at 6:40.” Communicating early is the whole answer.
- “What’s the longest you’ve stayed anywhere, and why?” Tells you what keeps this person — money, autonomy, or a boss they liked.
Will customers like them?
- “A customer is upset about a bill you didn’t write. What do you say?” Listen for de-escalation, not agreement or arguing. “That’s not my department” will cost you a review.
- “What questions do you have for me?” The most underrated one. Candidates who’ve thought about the job ask about schedule, tools, who they report to. No questions is a flag.
Score it in the parking lot, not next week
Write scores down within five minutes of the candidate leaving — by Friday everyone blurs into “the nice one.” Use a 1–3 scale on four lines:
Skill — could run a job alone within 30 days: 1 2 3
Reliability — will be here at 7am in March: 1 2 3
Customer-facing — I’d send them to a $9,000 job: 1 2 3
Coachability — takes correction without friction: 1 2 3
Total ___ / 12. One thing they said that I want to remember: ________________________________
A 10 or higher is a hire. A 1 in reliability is a no regardless of total — skill can be taught in a season, showing up can’t.
Questions you legally can’t ask
Off-limits in the US however casually they come up. Small employers get tripped up by small talk, not malice.
- Age, birth year, or graduation year
- Marital status, kids, childcare, or pregnancy plans
- Religion or which holidays they observe
- National origin, first language, or “where are you from?”
- Disability, health conditions, or workers’ comp history
- Arrest record — and conviction questions are restricted in many states too, so check yours
You can ask: “Are you legally authorized to work in the US?”, “Can you work 7am to 4pm, Monday to Friday?”, and “Can you lift 50 lbs repeatedly, with or without accommodation?” Tie questions to the job, never the person.
The tiebreaker: a paid working interview
When two candidates land within a point of each other, bring each in for a paid half day at your normal rate. Four hours at $25/hr is $100 to avoid a mis-hire that costs thousands in rework, lost days, and a re-run of the search. Say upfront it’s a trial, not a guarantee.
FAQ
How many candidates should I interview before hiring?
Phone screen everyone plausible, then bring in three to five. Fewer than three and you have nothing to compare against; more than six and your early candidates take other offers. If nobody clears a 10, re-post rather than settle.
What if a great candidate wants more than I budgeted?
Decide your ceiling before the interview and say the range out loud on the phone screen. If they’re $3/hr above it, close the gap with things that cost less than wages: paid drive time, a tool allowance, guaranteed 40 hours, or a 90-day review with a set raise.
Should I check references for a small business hire?
Yes — one call per finalist, two questions: “Would you rehire them?” and “What did they need the most help with?” The pause before the first answer tells you more than anything on the resume.
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