After conducting over 200 interviews in my career and bombing plenty as a candidate, I’ve had a front-row seat to what works and what makes hiring managers internally cringe. Spoiler alert: it’s not what most interview prep articles tell you.
Last week, I interviewed a candidate who gave textbook-perfect answers to every question. Experience? Checked all the boxes. Technical skills? On point. But I didn’t hire him. Why? Because rehearsed perfection feels fake, and I couldn’t get a sense of who he actually was.
Let me pull back the curtain on what hiring managers are really thinking:
When we ask about your weaknesses, we’re testing self-awareness, not fishing for humblebrags
“I’m a perfectionist” or “I work too hard” are eye-roll inducing non-answers. Instead, try something real: “I tend to get deep into the technical details and sometimes miss communicating the big picture to stakeholders. I’ve started creating executive summaries for my projects to address this.” Now I know you’re reflective and actively working on growth.
The STAR method works, but only if you include the messy reality
When telling me about a challenging situation, include the part where things didn’t go as planned. The candidate I eventually hired told me about a project where his initial approach failed completely. Rather than glossing over it, he explained what he learned and how he course-corrected. That’s infinitely more impressive than a sanitized success story.
We ask behavioral questions but want glimpses of your thinking process
When I ask “Tell me about a time when…”, I’m not just collecting your work history—I’m evaluating how you process problems. My favorite candidates think out loud: “Initially I thought X would work, but then I realized Y was happening, which led me to try Z…”
Culture questions are about work style, not personality contests
When I ask how you handle conflict or collaborate, I’m not checking if you’d be fun at happy hour. I’m assessing whether your work style will create friction with the existing team. Be honest about how you operate best. One candidate told me she prefers written communication for complex issues before meetings—which perfectly matched our async-first team culture.
The “no questions for us?” part is not optional
When you say “No, you’ve covered everything,” what I hear is “I’m not really interested in the specifics of working here.” Ask questions that demonstrate you’re picturing yourself in the role: “What would success look like in my first 90 days?” or “What’s the biggest challenge your team is currently facing that this role would help solve?”
Remember: interviews aren’t tests with right and wrong answers. They’re conversations to determine fit—in both directions. The candidates I end up hiring aren’t the ones with perfect answers; they’re the ones who make me feel like I’ve already had a productive work conversation with a colleague.