When selecting a CRM, a number of them may seem limited in their functionality, and that’s where third-party software tools can become integral to your success. Seamless CRM integration compliments the function of your CRM with the inclusion of third-party applications that stand to enhance your software platform through intuitive integration.
CRM integration explained
CRM integration is a process where your CRM connects with third-party software that not only compliments the functionality of your existing CRM, but goes beyond it by adding more options that will aid your business and alter how it routinely operates.
There are many tools available on the market today that target the specific needs of your business and a CRM alone may come with some limitations that can be mitigated with reliable third-party tool support. This is where CRM integration comes into play and has the potential to help your company meet its goals organically with as little setup stress as possible.
One of the most significant perks of using CRM integration is that you and your team will no longer have to bounce between systems to ensure an adequate work balance. Thanks to third-party app support, and the power of your CRM, important data is easily accessible within a consolidated system.
TechnologyAdvice is able to offer our services for free because some vendors may pay us for web traffic or other sales opportunities. Our mission is to help technology buyers make better purchasing decisions, so we provide you with information for all vendors — even those that don’t pay us.
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Micro, Small, Medium Sized Companies
Core Features
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Integrations
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What are CRM tools?
CRM tools work in a variety of ways and are fundamentally designed to support the many areas of your business, which include marketing, sales, and customer service. The main purpose for using these CRM tools together is to stay on top of customer data. Using this data will help your team track your customers and guide them through the sales process.
While CRM tools can work independently from each other, they tend to work best when used together on a shared platform. In doing so, these tools will allow you and your team members to take full advantage and improve how your business operates. Your team stands to benefit your company by targeting its unique needs and expanding the capabilities of your existing CRM software.
5 essential CRM integrations
CRM integrations can be highly valuable in streamlining business operations and increasing efficiency. Here are five essential CRM integrations that can be beneficial for your business:
Email integration
Integrating your CRM system with your email platform can help you keep track of all email communications with your customers. This integration can also enable you to automate follow-up emails, set reminders, and categorize emails based on different criteria.
Integrating your CRM system with an analytics platform can help you track and analyze customer behavior, website traffic, and sales data to gain valuable insights into your business operations. This integration can enable you to make data-driven decisions to improve customer experiences and boost your bottom line.
Integrating your CRM system with a customer support platform can help you manage customer inquiries and complaints more efficiently. This integration can enable you to prioritize support requests, assign tasks to team members, and track response times.
What are the benefits of CRM integration?
CRM integration can yield many benefits for your business. Ideally, this form of system integration has the potential to streamline your business’s internal work processes, while allowing you and your team to accurately forecast your company’s flow of data as it relates to customer interactions and their purchase behavior.
Ultimately, CRM integration is meant to keep your customers satisfied with the level of communication and attentiveness that they come to expect from your company. Your chosen CRM and its ability to be integrated with third-party apps can improve customer service by giving your team the means to engage in more personalized communication with the speed to do so effectively.
Additionally, CRM integrations will often make automation easier to implement, which gives employees the opportunity to focus on other areas of importance. Daily communication and extensive record-keeping is often very time-consuming as well and can contribute to additional work pressure. However, the option of automating these processes conserves precious time and resources, which is ideal.
Why is a fully integrated CRM important for the success of your business?
A fully integrated CRM system can be an important platform to drive the success of your business for a number of reasons.
An integrated CRM will allow you and your team to better understand the needs of your customers, which is a crucial component to your success. Keeping track of customer interactions while also helping your team better understand the needs of your clientele will lead to the offering of more personalized solutions, which in turn builds trust between your company and the customers it serves.
An enhanced customer experience provides a seamless and consistent flow across different key areas, which assists with building brand loyalty and leads to repeat business.
CRM integration also has the potential to increase your team’s efficiency and productivity through the automation of routine tasks and optimized workflows. This inevitably frees up your employees to focus on more value-added activities. All this leads to an increase in productivity and focus, which translates to higher profitability.
Better decision-making is another effect of CRM integration and can provide insights into customer behavior in real-time. This increases sales performance and other key metrics that can help your team make more informed business decisions. This can help you identify opportunities for growth and optimize your operations to improve profitability.
Choosing the right CRM
Overall, a fully Integrated CRM system can help you build stronger customer relationships, improve communication and collaboration within your organization, enhance the customer experience, and also increase efficiency and productivity. This will allow you and your employees to make more informed business decisions. These benefits will ultimately help your business achieve long-term success in a highly competitive marketplace.
CRM integration seamlessly connects your CRM with third-party applications, which streamlines your team’s workflow and improves system functionality. This often leads to increased productivity and optimized time management.
Why is a fully integrated CRM important?
A fully integrated CRM is important because it promotes focus and better organization while also streamlining your team’s workflow and adding enhancements to customer support. This is done through the incorporation of third-party app support that works in unison with your current CRM platform.
TechnologyAdvice is able to offer our services for free because some vendors may pay us for web traffic or other sales opportunities. Our mission is to help technology buyers make better purchasing decisions, so we provide you with information for all vendors — even those that don’t pay us.
Unlock the power of integrations for your CRM system for greater productivity & efficiency. Learn about essential CRM integrations & explore the benefits.
Square is best for businesses that need an all-in-one POS solution.
PayPal is best for businesses looking for a versatile online and mobile payment processor.
When comparing Square and PayPal, look closely at each provider’s ability to scale along with your business requirements.
Square and PayPal are two popular names in payment processing. Both are great for quickly launching startups and accepting a wide variety of payment methods at a low cost. Not surprisingly, these similarities often result in a recurring Square vs PayPal debate over which is best for different business types.
Below we take a closer look at Square and PayPal, how they work, what sets them apart, and when to choose one over the other.
Square and PayPal are just two of the many POS software providers in the industry. Check out other POS systems options on our list.
For the best value all-in-one POS and payment system, choose Square
Square is an all-in-one POS solution popular among businesses for its affordability and ease of setup. The system includes a proprietary payment processing service built into the POS software with a variety of card and digital payment methods ready to use after signup. With its free basic software plan, Square users can set up a POS and start accepting payments within the day with little to no upfront cost. This makes Square the ideal payment processor for startups and businesses on a budget.
With Square’s ecosystem, users can easily scale their business with ready integrations and optional paid add-ons. This includes everything from online platforms and invoicing to employee management and marketing. Square also offers industry-specific free and paid POS software that users can upgrade at pace with their business needs. Square’s proprietary hardware is also among the most reliable and affordable on the market.
For enterprise-level businesses, Square recently launched its advanced POS system tools that support custom, developer-based integration and upgrades similar to Stripe’s. Custom rates for large-volume transactions are also available.
Square’s POS system comes with a built-in payment processor, Square Payments. There is no extra monthly cost for using the service, just the transaction processing fees.
Payment methods
Square allows you to accept credit cards, ACH, and digital wallet payments. It supports multiple payment services, such as invoicing, recurring billing, and MOTO payments, with its virtual terminal. Square has its own buy now, pay later (BNPL) service (Square AfterPay) and a peer-to-peer payment service (Cash App) that can process cryptocurrency payments.
Native e-commerce platform
Square provides its own e-commerce platform with a free plan that allows users to create and personalize their business website. The website builder uses a drag-and-drop function that makes it easy to complete without any coding knowledge.
Omnichannel payments
Square Payments is fully integrated into the POS system, so sales and customer data are accessible online, on mobile, and in-store.
Proprietary hardware
Square offers a range of proprietary hardware. Its mobile card readers are divided into magstripe (for swipe payments) and contactless (for EMV chip and NFC payments). Square’s POS hardware includes iPad stands that can be set up either as a countertop or kiosk, a standalone POS terminal, and an all-in-one register. Businesses can purchase hardware in installments and the first magstripe reader comes free with every sign-up.
PayPal is a pioneer and a trusted name in the payments industry. Like Square, PayPal is easy to set up and lets users start accepting payments within the day. PayPal’s online checkout service can be easily added to any e-commerce platform, and having the PayPal brand is proven to boost conversions. At present, there are around 400 million active consumers with a PayPal account who readily use the service to make purchases on websites that offer a PayPal checkout. This means you get the same number of opportunities to make a sale with a PayPal payment option on your checkout.
Previously, upgrading to Braintree was the best option for setting custom upgrades to use PayPal for business. Today, PayPal offers an enterprise solution that provides users with advanced checkout solutions to integrate with other custom e-commerce websites and mobile POS systems. This includes features such as accelerated guest checkouts, global payment processing, dispute automation, and payment orchestration. Developer documentation is also available for those who prefer custom-built solutions.
Early this year, PayPal launched new features that harnessed artificial intelligence (AI) to improve customer checkout experience. This includes smart receipts, product recommendations, better Venmo integrations, and shoppable cashback offers.
PayPal allows users to accept credit card, digital wallet, and eCheck payments and supports invoicing, cross border, and virtual terminal transactions. Like Square, PayPal also has its own BNPL, Pay in 4, and peer-to-peer payment service, Venmo.
Checkout integrations
The PayPal Checkout is a customizable payment platform that users can add to their website as the main checkout service or as an additional payment method. PayPal Checkout can also be used without a website through a payment link that can be embedded on emails, digital invoices, and social media platforms.
Trusted consumer brand
PayPal is a trusted brand among online consumers and is well-known for boosting conversions on websites with a PayPal checkout.
Proprietary POS software
PayPal Zettle is PayPal’s free mobile POS software for in-person sales. The system can be used on a tablet and paired with the Zettle mobile card reader for an in-store setup or a smartphone for mobile sales.
Fast access to funds
One of PayPal’s unique features is its ability to provide businesses with fast access to cash. While both PayPal and Square can process same-day funding for a fee, PayPal merchants can already access their sales proceeds through their PayPal balance in PayPal’s digital wallet — PayPal’s pioneer service. Businesses can spend their PayPal balance to pay bills, pay employees, or purchase assets online.
How are Square and PayPal different?
Software type
POS with built-in payment processing
Online payment processing; optional simple POS
Fee structure
Flat rate
Flat rate
Contract type
Free/Pay-as-you-go
Free/Pay-as-you-go
Payment service integration
Exclusive to Square ecosystem
PayPal Zettle
Some POS systems
Most e-commerce platforms
For larger businesses
Custom pricing for industry-specific POS system
Advanced features in PayPal Enterprise
Square and PayPal are both small business favorites mainly for their ease of set up, free merchant account, and pay-as-you-go plan. That said, the two are popular for different reasons:
Software type
Square is the go-to provider for all-in-one POS with built-in payment services. PayPal, on the other hand, is well-known as an online and mobile payment services provider. PayPal also has a POS software, but the system is simpler and lacks the versatile features of Square’s POS. Meanwhile, Square also offers online checkout, but the use is limited within Square’s e-commerce platform.
PayPal’s mobile app doubles as a digital wallet and provides more functionality than Square’s; for example, it allows accepting and storing cryptocurrency and instant access to funds. The contrast between Square and PayPal’s primary software and use also makes the two providers cater slightly to two different types of small businesses. Square is more ideal for a brick-and-mortar setup while PayPal is the better choice for businesses that require mobility and wider online integrations.
Compatibility with sales platforms
Square is easy to set up because all the components are already integrated; even the hardware is configured and ready to use out of the box. The downside to this arrangement is that all the features only work with other Square products, so business growth is limited to Square’s capabilities. Square Payments, for example, is not available if you want to switch to Shopify’s e-commerce platform or Clover’s POS software.
Meanwhile, PayPal’s advantage is that its payment services are designed to work with most online e-commerce platforms and some POS systems. This way, users can choose and replace e-commerce and POS platforms based on their business needs without giving up their PayPal account.
For large, enterprise-level businesses, Square focuses more on better in-house POS software capabilities combined with volume discounts for sales greater than $250,000/year. PayPal, on the other hand, offers support for wider payment processing functionalities such as global payments, payment optimization and orchestration, and network compliance.
Square vs PayPal: Pricing
Monthly account fee
$0–$89
POS software
$0–$30
Payment services
Includes POS
Full POS
Optional Mobile POS
In-person transaction fee
2.6% + $0.10
2.29% + $0.09
Online transaction fee
2.9% + $0.30
2.59% + $0.49 to 3.49% + $0.49
ACH/ eCheck:
1%, Min $1 (ACH)
3.49% + 49 cents, $300 cap (eCheck)
Discount for nonprofits
✓
✓
Same-day or instant funding
1.75%
For same-day or instant
1.5% Instant access to funds via PayPal Balance
Hardware
$0–$799
$29–$699
Chargeback fee
Waived up to $250/month
$20 (for guest checkouts)
Volume discounts
> $250,000 sales volume/year
N/A
When comparing PayPal vs Square fees, it’s important that we first make a clear distinction as to what is covered in their monthly account fees.
Square’s monthly account fee is for its POS system. The built-in payment services feature is free, so users only have to pay the transaction fees every month. Meanwhile, PayPal’s monthly account fee is for its payment services. The mobile POS app Zettle is free but optional, and there are no available upgrades.
This distinction, again, highlights the difference between PayPal vs Square target users. It also helps to better compare the two for cost-effectiveness.
PayPal clearly offers slightly cheaper rates. However, unlike Square, PayPal’s payment processing fees are complex and include additional monthly charges for features, such as $30/month for using its virtual terminal and $25/month when using PayPal checkout with a third-party payment processor.
Between the two, only Square users can upgrade to a paid industry-specific (retail, restaurant, and appointments) software plan. Only with Square can users get a volume discount, which, again, makes it the better choice for small businesses with steady sales.
Square and PayPal are equally outstanding in terms of payment services, so the choice ultimately boils down to which provider matches a user’s business needs better.
When to choose Square
Choose Square if you determine that its POS system, e-commerce platform, and other business management tools meet your business needs. This ensures that you can maximize what Square has to offer and avoid compatibility issues. Because while Square supports independent payment links that can be added to invoices, social media, and instant messaging platforms, its online checkout only works with the Square ecommerce platform.
You should also choose Square if you need niche POS and payment services. For example, Square is compatible with healthcare services because it signs business associate agreements to ensure Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) compliance. Users planning to sell some form of CBD products can process sales via Square’s CBD program.
When to choose PayPal
Choose PayPal if you want more flexibility with integrations. PayPal offers a more flexible payment gateway than Square because PayPal’s online checkout service can be integrated with most e-commerce platforms and POS systems like Hike and Clover. Users who often process microtransactions, eChecks, cross-border, and cryptocurrency payments will do better with PayPal.
Does Square accept PayPal?
The quick answer is yes. Merchants using Square’s e-commerce platform can add PayPal payment methods without extra cost. PayPal charges its standard fees for Payflow Pro payment gateway, which includes a $25 monthly fee.
Note that this feature will no longer be available to Square merchants in Canada after October 29, 2024.
Square is clearly miles ahead of PayPal in both POS software and hardware. While both Square and PayPal offer a free POS software plan, Square can be upgraded to a paid plan that offers industry-specific features. It also comes with optional products such as payroll, marketing, and loyalty functionalities.
Square’s POS hardware is also significantly more extensive than that of PayPal, as it offers both mobile and in-store countertop setup. Each proprietary Square countertop hardware comes with a built-in credit card reader/payment terminal.
Square provides a wide range of mobile and countertop POS hardware (Source: Square)
When to choose PayPal POS
Choose PayPal if your priority is simple in-person sales and significantly lower transaction rates. The PayPal POS system is mobile-based, which can be downloaded onto a smart device and paired with PayPal’s mobile credit card reader. The POS software itself supports simple inventory management along with employee and customer management, as well as reporting tools.
PayPal also offers better in-person rates and great discounts for the first mobile credit card reader, making it more ideal than Square for businesses looking for a simple mobile POS setup.
PayPal’s mobile POS app can be used to create a countertop setup (Source: PayPal)
Building a customer base and keeping them engaged is a key factor for growing businesses. Square and PayPal’s customer engagement capabilities are different. Square has a more rounded set of features that allows users to connect with in-person and online customers, while PayPal excels in keeping online customers engaged.
Both Square and PayPal offer multiple platforms for selling and accepting payments—on a website, on social media, via instant messaging, online invoicing, and in-person via mobile or in-store. However, only Square offers a fully integrated omnichannel selling feature for small businesses, primarily because it has a more defined in-person POS functionalities to work with its e-commerce platform.
When to choose PayPal
Meanwhile, PayPal’s checkout services can be integrated with a couple of POS systems (Hike and Clover), but PayPal’s POS software, Zettle, does not integrate with online stores that use PayPal checkout. Omnichannel features are available for larger businesses through developer coding and integrations.
Square also offers native loyalty management and rewards programs, while PayPal requires third-party integrations. Either option will require users to pay extra, so users looking for the easiest setup may prefer Square, but those that have a preferred third-party loyalty and rewards platform may opt for PayPal’s integrations.
Square and PayPal offer similar industry-standard risk management features. Both are Payment Card Industry (PCI) Level 1-compliant payment platforms equipped with machine-learning fraud protection tools and customizable filters.
When to choose Square
For businesses on a budget, choose Square. Square Risk Manager is free to use and provides users with an array of customizable fraud monitoring and prevention tools. This includes 3D secure that routes the customer data to the card issuer for identity confirmation and a block list that can be used to flag future payments from suspicious card information, emails, and IP addresses.
Square also provides a chargeback management platform where users can get notified and respond to customer chargeback claims from the merchant dashboard.
Choose PayPal if your business needs a more scalable solution. PayPal offers two risk management options. The basic fraud protection is free and is designed to stop potentially fraudulent transactions based on a set of fraud filters such as purchase price and item ceiling, shipping and billing mismatch, AVS and CVV fails, and IP address velocity.
Advanced fraud protection that costs $10/month includes additional filters for international payments, USPS address validation, IP and email service provider validation, account number velocity, geolocation, and chargeback management platform.
Clearly, PayPal provides more custom fraud protection filters that are ideal for midsize to large businesses, particularly those that accept cross-border payments. However, these advanced tools, including chargeback management, cost an additional monthly fee.
Square vs PayPal: Ease of use
Both Square and PayPal are popular for their ease of use, earning an identical user experience score of 4.69/5 in our evaluation. Both offer easy sign-up (with no merchant account application process required), easy setup (where users can start accepting payments in minutes), and easy-to-use interfaces.
What makes Square stand out, however, is that most of the features needed to run a business are available within the Square ecosystem, and it offers hardware that can be readily used out of the box. Omnichannel sales are automatic for users intending to sell in-store, online, and on mobile.
On the other hand, PayPal readily integrates with most online platforms, and its mobile app can accept more alternative payment methods. This makes PayPal a far better option for users selling online and on mobile.
Square and PayPal are both exceptional business platforms that are similar in a lot of ways but also distinct in some features.
Square’s all-in-one platform makes it easy to launch any business, but the exclusivity of its features can limit the system’s ability to grow and keep up with business requirements as it grows.
PayPal’s versatile payment services platform gives users the flexibility to expand their business online; however, its POS software is basic and can be easily left behind by businesses with a growing demand for better POS functions.
When choosing between PayPal vs Square, it’s important to first consider your type of business. If your goal is to create and expand online sales, with or without an e-commerce website, then PayPal will likely be the right choice. However, if you have a brick-and-mortar business that requires a quick and cost-effective POS setup, then Square is the better option.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
PayPal is clearly the better choice over Square for businesses that sell online. It provides a wide range of payment methods and more payment processing services for small businesses, plus expanded payment tools for larger organizations.
Both Square and PayPal are cost-effective payment and POS solutions for small businesses. They both offer free plans. However, PayPal requires additional monthly fees for certain payment tools, such as access to its virtual terminal and recurring billing features.
Both Square and PayPal are great options for small businesses. However, Square’s scalability can be limited by its POS features. PayPal, on the other hand, is the better choice for growing online businesses with its suite of expanded payment processing features.
By default, no. Unlike PayPal, Square’s mobile app does not include a digital wallet function. While anyone with a PayPal business account can make purchases directly from the PayPal balance (funded by the user’s sales proceeds), Square merchants will not have this function unless they sign up for a Square Business Bank account.
Yes, Square’s payment processing service is Level 1 PCI-compliant, which means that the system is equipped with industry-standard data protection and fraud detection management features.
Companies use a formal interview process to stick within tight hiring timelines, but this rush to hire can also lead to unconscious bias and make it harder to find a truly qualified candidate.
To avoid the bias trap, create a more inclusive work environment, and find the right candidate for their job, interviewers should rely on a mix of situational, behavioral, technical, and culture-add interview questions.
Hiring teams should also strive to make the interview process as transparent as possible, using expert techniques like shareable scoring rubrics, accommodation menus, and user-friendly systems.
I’ve been researching and writing for the HR tech industry for the last four years, specifically focusing on how companies create more employee-centric work experiences. Not only have I worked closely with HR practitioners and experts over the past few years, but I’ve also worked in an organizational setting on the employee side. I’ve spent time in environments where employers prioritized their people and those where they haven’t, and I’ve witnessed first-hand how powerful it is when company leaders emphasize the employee experience as much as they do growth—and when they develop their processes within that guiding philosophy.
TechnologyAdvice is able to offer our services for free because some vendors may pay us for web traffic or other sales opportunities. Our mission is to help technology buyers make better purchasing decisions, so we provide you with information for all vendors — even those that don’t pay us.
Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+)
Micro, Small, Medium Sized Companies
Core Features
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Integrations
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Top 32 interview questions to ask candidates
The average time-to-hire across industries in 2024 is around 44 days from job posting to the candidate’s offer acceptance. That’s likely propelled by the fact that recruitment teams are under tight deadlines when filling open positions, even if they use contemporary strategies like social recruiting to increase their candidate pool.
However, the focus on sticking to a short timeline can pull focus from what really matters during the interview process: effectively evaluating candidates for a role and limiting the chance for unconscious bias.
That’s why I suggest using the following questions as a framework for getting started. Be sure to adapt to the questions to your specific company and industry.
Situational questions
Situational questions help you assess how the candidate responds to a hypothetical situation. Try to keep these prompts as relevant to the actual role as possible so you can give the candidate a more detailed picture of the role’s day-to-day.
Imagine you’re leading a project that’s falling behind schedule. How would you handle the situation? This question assesses the candidate’s prioritization and project management skills, as well as their ability to solve problems under pressure.
Suppose a client is unhappy with a product or service we’ve provided. What would you do? Discover how the candidate behaves in client-facing situations in addition to their problem-solving skills.
If you were given a task outside of your area of expertise, how would you approach it? This tests the candidate’s adaptability and willingness to learn when faced with an unfamiliar challenge.
What would you do if you were tasked with implementing a new process you believe is flawed? See how well or how often the candidate exercises critical thinking skills and if they can constructively challenge new ideas.
If you realized a mistake in your work had negatively impacted the team’s results, what would you do? This is designed to test the candidate’s integrity and explore how well the candidate can take accountability.
Imagine you’ve been asked to give a presentation on a topic you’re not entirely familiar with. How would you prepare? I encourage you to make this question as specific as possible for your industry or company. This helps you identify the candidate’s research skills and ability to learn quickly.
If you were assigned to lead a team where one member is consistently underperforming, how would you address it? Get a better understanding of the candidate’s approach to performance management and ability to provide constructive feedback.
Imagine if you have conflicting deadlines for two important projects. How would you handle that? Discover how the candidate communicates and manages expectations, as well as their prioritization skills.
Behavioral questions
It’s easy to confuse behavioral questions with situational questions, but here’s the main difference: Behavioral questions tend to focus on scenarios in the past, while situational questions tend to be hypothetical “what ifs” designed to see how the candidate can think on their feet. Use these nine behavioral questions to encourage the interviewee to think critically about how their previous work experience has impacted them as a professional today.
Talk about a time when you were asked to do something you had never done before. How did you respond? This question helps interviewers assess how well the candidate does outside of their comfort zone and how open they are to learning from failure.
Describe a time when you had to adapt to rapidly changing technology or industry trends. What was your approach? This is extremely relevant with the recent explosion of AI, but it also invites the candidate to demonstrate their industry knowledge.
Can you share an example of a project where you had to collaborate with a cross-functional team? This tests the candidate’s ability to work with diverse stakeholders and understand how their work contributes to a greater whole.
Can you talk about a time when you were communicating with a team member and they didn’t understand you? If you’re hiring for a managerial role, this type of question is particularly important as it helps you assess how the candidate adapts to different communication styles.
Can you describe a time when your manager wasn’t around, and a pressing problem arose? This is key to understanding the candidate’s ability to rise to the occasion and fill a manager’s shoes.
Can you tell me about a time when a coworker came to you with concerns about your team’s processes? This gives you a sense of how well the candidate functions and communicates as part of a team.
Can you share a situation when you had to work under a tight deadline? This helps you assess the candidate’s prioritization skills.
When was the last time you had to delegate an important task? See how the candidate communicates instructions, deadlines, and expectations, as well as how ready they are to answer clarifying questions.
Technical questions
These questions aim to determine a candidate’s knowledge of the hard skills needed for the open role. For instance, a payroll specialist might be asked about how shift differentials affect overtime calculations, an HR specialist might be asked about measuring employee engagement, and a nurse might be asked to interpret doctor’s notes and codes. I tried to keep these questions non-specific so you can apply them to virtually any role.
How do you keep your technical skills current? This is a broad question, but it helps you assess how invested the candidate is in their own development.
Can you describe a troubleshooting process you’d follow for a crashing program? This is a key question for software engineers and developers who are so often tasked with problem-solving in a crisis.
What is your field of expertise, and what would you like to learn more about? Here, the candidate should talk specifically about the technologies, innovations, trends, or world events that will impact their role in the future.
Can you talk about a time when you had to explain something technical to a non-technical audience? See how well the interviewee can communicate and collaborate with a cross-functional team that isn’t entirely composed of technically skilled professionals.
How would you troubleshoot an issue with a process or system that’s currently in use? For instance, you can test the software developer’s understanding of debugging techniques that don’t disrupt active systems. However, you can also adapt this question to any role requiring candidates to think more strategically.
Have you implemented improvements to an existing process? What were they, and how did you implement them? This helps you understand candidate initiative and their own process for suggesting and making improvements to company procedures or systems.
Where do you place most of your focus when reviewing someone else’s work? This question can test job-specific knowledge as well as prioritization abilities and attention to detail.
How do you handle tight deadlines? See how well the candidate works within the constraints of the agile or scrum frameworks, which help them push projects over the line more efficiently.
Culture-add questions
A solid company culture is the engine that drives collaboration and facilitates healthy work experiences, which is why it’s so important to include culture-related questions in an interview. Still, it’s important to be clear about your intentions for asking these questions. If you’re looking for a culture fit only, you’re looking for a candidate whose beliefs, behaviors, and values align with those of your organization, and that can stifle diversity. That’s why it’s important to expand beyond culture-fit questions to assess if the candidate is a culture add, someone who brings new perspectives and enriches the culture with diverse and new ideas.
What does your ideal work environment look like? This prompts the candidate to talk about work style preferences, team dynamics, and their philosophy on leadership and management.
How do you prefer to be managed? Invite the candidate to be a bit more specific about positive experiences they’ve had with managers in the past.
What attracts you to our company? Rather than expecting the candidate to give you the “right” answer here, approach this question with genuine curiosity. Assess how deeply the candidate thinks about what they can bring to the table.
Which aspects of our culture resonate with you? Encourage the candidate to explore your company values on their own terms.
How do you collaborate with individuals who have different perspectives? If the candidate shows excitement about working with a diverse team, that’s a good sign.
What distinctive viewpoints can you contribute to our team? This invites the interviewee to be more direct about how they can impact your team culture.
Describe a situation where you challenged the status quo. What was the result? See how the interviewee talks about values like innovation, critical thinking, and being proactive in their communication.
How would you contribute to making our workplace more inclusive? It’s important the candidate is thinking about how they can improve on your current culture, especially if they’re interviewing for a managerial position.
Breaking down bias: Why strategic interview questions matter
I understand why recruitment stakeholders want to make the job interview process feel like an informal conversation. It puts the candidate at ease and encourages them to speak more honestly and extemporaneously, gently urging them to think on their feet, which is an essential soft skill. While the intention is admirable, this informal interview practice is a breeding ground for bias. Let’s break down how that looks in practice with a few statistics:
Research from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology found that employers have a tendency to overemphasize “gut instinct,” putting too much stock in their ability to evaluate a candidate based on a casual, unstructured conversation.
42% of women say they’ve encountered gender-biased or inappropriate questions during a job interview, and 41% of women said they’ve felt discriminated against due to gender, according to a report from Muse and RecruitmentMarketing.com.
In the Unpacking Name-Based Race Discrimination study of all 50 U.S. states, researchers found that candidates with names perceived as Black were less likely to even get an interview, highlighting how strong a role bias can play even at the application screening stage.
That’s why I recommend “sticking to a script” by using a structured hiring technique. It keeps your biggest priority front and center—hiring a candidate who’ll excel in the role, regardless of their personal background. Putting a list of strategic interview questions also makes it easier to loop other stakeholders in the process so they can help you, the interviewer, develop questions that truly test the candidate based on skills, not the character or physical traits that are out of their control.
Generic questions like these make it harder to assess how well the candidate will actually perform within your company’s unique context. Source: HR Future.
The best interview practices, according to experts
Structured interviews are vital to combating bias and making the interview process more efficient. But how can you get the best candidates energized about working for your company and attract top talent? Follow these expert practices:
An interview rubric is a systematic framework used to evaluate candidates during the hiring process. It provides a standardized set of criteria and a rating scale to assess candidates’ skills and qualifications. Many companies may create a scoring rubric that they share internally, but few actually share it with the candidates.
“Every first interview for headcount365, I share our internal interview rubric with the candidate,” shares headcount365’s co-founder and CEO Eric Giudice on LinkedIn. “They now know what competencies we are looking for and what the “yes” is for each one. When every candidate knows the rubric, we can focus our evaluation on the quality and relevance of the answers.” If you’re wondering when to share the rubric, I recommend sending it an email ahead of the first interview, which gives the candidate plenty of time to learn your scoring process and prepare accordingly.
This is a suggestion from Katie Bach, a former nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has spent most of her career focused on job creation, access, and quality. This “menu” can include options like providing extra time for completing tasks or responding to interview questions, presenting questions in different formats to address different learning styles, or conducting remote interviews for candidates who may have mobility challenges. If you choose to create this menu as a shareable resource, I suggest sharing this before the first interview alongside your scoring rubric.
It’s not a bad thing if your company values alignment in all decision-making, but it could be harming your interview process if you’re asking candidates to sit through more than two interviews. Plus, it can mean losing out on great talent.
“Making the process cumbersome gives another company that has streamlined its process the ability to ‘cherry-pick’ the best folks,” says Ginny Rey, VP of people development at TCG Player for SHRM. “It also tells the candidate that the company values consensus, which can be good, but it can also mean the company has issues making decisions and taking action.” This is why I suggest investing in recruitment software if you haven’t already. The right software allows you to orchestrate and automate the entire process from beginning to end, notifying your candidates about their status every step of the way and keeping all candidates sorted in a clearly organized KanBan board or visual pipeline for improved hiring efficiency.
You don’t want to intimidate or overwhelm the candidate, of course. But it’s a good practice to have at least two people lead the interviews, and at least one of them should be someone who works on the team the candidate is applying to join.
“If there is only one interview and it is with HR, this can be a red flag, especially if the job is not in HR,” says Cheryl L. Mason, relational leadership expert and CEO of Catalyst Leadership Management for Newsweek. I’ve found in my experience that this practice also allows the candidate to gather more insight into the role, especially if you include a relevant supervisor or department head who can answer their questions in greater detail.
Be prepared for the next time you screen candidates. Learn from this comprehensive guide on How to Conduct a Job Interview.
Interview questions FAQs
When it’s time to close the interview, but you don’t want to do it too abruptly, you can ask these wrap-up questions:
When would you be available to start if offered the position?
Do you have any questions for me?
Is there anything else you’d like us to know we haven’t covered?
What’s the best way to contact you about the next steps?
Once the candidate has asked all their questions, you can end the interview by explaining how the next phase in the interview process will go, letting the employee know when they can expect to hear from you.
There are a few questions and topics that you should absolutely avoid, not only because they’re discriminatory and invasive, but they’re also illegal and in violation of historic laws and regulatory bodies like Title VII, the ADA, and the EEOC, to name a few. That’s why you shouldn’t ask about the candidate’s:
Age or date of birth.
Marital status, family, or children.
Religion.
Race, ethnicity, or national origin.
Gender or sexual orientation.
Salary history (which is illegal in some states).
Arrest record or felon status.
Citizenship or immigration status.
Physical appearance, medical history, or disabilities.
It’s best to spend at least a few hours to a day ahead of the interview to prepare effectively. In particular, you should spend your time:
Reviewing the candidate’s resume and application materials.
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