Interview Question Bank

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name: interview-question-bank
description: "Build a structured, role-specific interview question bank with what good answers look like. Use when asked to create interview questions, an interview guide, a structured interview kit, or competency-based questions for a role. Produces questions mapped to the competencies that matter — behavioral (STAR), role/technical, and values — each with what a strong vs. weak answer shows and follow-up probes, for fair, consistent interviews."
---

# Interview Question Bank Skill

Unstructured interviews mostly measure who's charming. Structured, competency-based interviews predict
performance — the same questions, mapped to what the role needs, scored against what a good answer looks like.
This skill builds that question bank so every interviewer assesses the same things, fairly and consistently.

## Working from a brief

Given "interview questions for a senior PM", **build the bank anyway** — infer the core competencies for the
role and write questions for each, labelling assumptions. Provide "what good looks like" for every question.
Never hand back a flat list of questions with no evaluation guidance.

## Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided (else infer and label):

- **The role** — title, level, and the 4–6 competencies that actually predict success in it.
- **Must-have skills** — technical/functional areas to probe, and any deal-breakers.
- **Values/culture** — the behaviours the team cares about (collaboration, ownership, etc.).
- **Format** — how many rounds/interviewers, and time per interview (so the bank is sized right).

## Output Format

### Interview Question Bank: [role]

**1. Competency map** — the 4–6 competencies to assess and which round/interviewer owns each (avoid everyone asking the same thing).

**2. Questions by competency** — for each competency, 2–4 questions:

| Question | Type | What a strong answer shows | Red flags | Follow-up probes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Tell me about a time you…" | Behavioral (STAR) | specifics, their role, the outcome, learning | vague, all "we", no result | "What would you do differently?" |

Include **behavioral** (past behaviour, STAR-friendly), **role/technical** (a realistic problem or scenario), and **values** questions.

**3. Scoring** — a simple rubric (e.g. 1–4 per competency) and the bar to advance, so scores are comparable across interviewers.

**4. Fairness notes** — ask every candidate the same core questions; keep questions job-related; avoid questions about protected characteristics (age, family, health, religion, etc.); focus on evidence, not "fit feeling".

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Questions map to explicit competencies the role actually needs — not trivia
- [ ] Each question has "what good looks like" and red flags, so answers are scored, not vibed
- [ ] A mix of behavioral, role/technical, and values questions is included
- [ ] Competencies are distributed across rounds so interviewers don't overlap
- [ ] A simple, comparable scoring rubric is provided
- [ ] Questions are job-related and avoid protected-characteristic / illegal territory

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not produce a flat question list with no evaluation guidance — that's how interviews stay inconsistent
- [ ] Do not use brain-teasers or trivia that don't predict job performance
- [ ] Do not let every interviewer assess the same competency — map and distribute
- [ ] Do not include questions about age, family status, health, religion, or other protected areas
- [ ] Do not score on "culture fit" gut feel — score on observable, job-related evidence

## Based On

Structured-interview practice — competency-based, behaviorally-anchored questions with scoring rubrics and fairness/consistency safeguards.