Hiring interview playbook

What a hiring interview is for

A hiring interview is for collecting evidence about whether a candidate can deliver the role’s must-haves. That means real examples from their past rather than how they’d handle a hypothetical, and a score you write down before you hear anyone else’s view.

The playbook follows the method in Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street. It starts with a scorecard written before any interview: the role’s mission, the outcomes expected in the first year and the must-have skills. The career walk-through, with the same questions for each recent role, is the core of their interview. Asking what a former manager would say is from the same book, which calls it the threat of reference check: people tend to be more candid when they think you might call.

The must-have questions are behavioural (“Tell me about a time you…”), followed by what they did themselves and what happened. Scoring each must-have from 1 to 4 on your own before the panel discusses is common structured-interview practice; it stops the first opinion in the room from setting everyone’s score. The playbook also flags questions you shouldn’t ask, such as age, family plans or health. What’s unlawful depends on where you hire, so check the rules that apply to you.

The hiring interview playbook

Words in [Capitalised brackets] are for you to fill in before the call. Words in [lowercase brackets] are filled from the call itself. Copy it to use anywhere, including in Aside.

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How to coach me

• Track which must-haves I have real evidence for, and remind me of the ones still open.
• If they say “we” or “I usually”, prompt me to ask what they did themselves, in one specific case.
• Push me to follow up on big claims: “How exactly?” and “What was the result, in numbers?”
• If I talk more than a quarter of the time, or start selling the job before I’ve learned enough, tell me.
• Flag it if I ask anything I shouldn’t: age, family plans, health, religion, nationality.

The role

• Mission: [Why this role exists, in one or two sentences]
• First-year outcomes: [3 to 5 measurable results, e.g. “Ship the new onboarding by Q2”]
• Must-haves: [3 to 5 skills or traits, e.g. “writes clear specs”, “owns problems end to end”]
• Dealbreakers: [e.g. blames others, can’t give specifics]

The flow

1. Open (3 min)
   • “Thanks for coming in. I’ll ask about your last few roles and some specific situations, then you’ll have time for your questions.”
   • “I’ll ask a lot of follow-ups like ‘tell me more’. It just means I’m interested in the detail.”
2. Career walk-through (15 to 20 min). Their last two or three roles, oldest first. For each:
   • “What were you hired to do? How was success measured?”
   • “What are you most proud of there?”
   • “What went wrong, or what would you do differently?”
   • “Who did you work with most? If I called your manager, what would they say you’re great at, and what would they say you should work on?”
   • “Why did you leave?”
   • Listen for: results that match what they were hired to do, numbers, honest mistakes, a pattern in why they leave.
   • Move on when I have a clear picture of each role; don’t let one role take ten minutes.
3. The must-haves (15 min). One question per must-have, each about a real past situation.
   • “Tell me about a time you [a situation that tests the must-have].”
   • Follow up: “What was the situation? What did you do, personally? What happened? What would you do differently?”
   • If I haven’t written my own, use these:
     • Ownership: “Tell me about a problem no one owned that you fixed.”
     • Judgement: “Tell me about a decision you made with too little information.”
     • Working with others: “Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager.”
     • Learning: “What’s the hardest feedback you’ve had, and what did you change?”
   • Listen for: “I”, not “we”; specific details; results; what they learned.
4. Their questions and the pitch (10 min)
   • “What questions do you have for me?” What they ask shows what they care about.
   • Pitch the role to what they’ve said they care about: [Why someone great would join: the mission, the team, the stage, the pay].
   • “What would you need to know to say yes to an offer?”
   • “Where else are you in process, and what’s your timing?”
5. Close (2 min)
   • “Next step is [the next stage]. You’ll hear from us by [date].”
   • After the call: score each must-have 1 to 4 with the evidence I heard, before talking to anyone else on the panel.

Red flags

• Vague answers that stay vague after two follow-ups.
• Credit for wins, blame for losses.
• Can’t name a mistake, or the mistake is “I work too hard”.
• Results don’t match what they were hired to do.

Questions they’ll ask

• “What’s the salary range?” → [The range, and how equity works if any].
• “What does success look like in the first 90 days?” → [From the first-year outcomes above].
• “Why is this role open?” → [The honest reason].
• “What’s the team like?” → [Who they’d work with, team size].
• “Remote, hybrid or office?” → [Your policy].
• “What’s the process from here?” → [Stages and timeline].

Use it in Aside

Hiring interview is one of the starter playbooks in the Aside app. Click New playbook, pick Hiring interview, and fill in The role: mission, first-year outcomes, must-haves and dealbreakers, plus your answers on salary, policy and process. Then name it in the plan for each interview.

During the interview, live guidance reads the whole playbook and tracks which must-haves you have real evidence for. The coach is written to prompt you to ask what they did themselves when they say “we”, to follow up on big claims, and to tell you if you’ve started selling the job before you’ve learned enough.

Afterwards you have the transcript with your notes in place and the recording on your computer, so you can replay an answer before you score it. Tell candidates you’re recording at the start. See Aside for hiring.

Free guides 2 calls a week with a playbook; every call is on the paid plan, $48 a month or $456 a year. New accounts get 14 days of it free, no card needed.