Preparing Interview Questions

Questions Are Your Interview's Backbone

Great interviews start with thoughtful preparation. With professional interview management, InterviewCue helps you organize your questions, add private research notes, and structure your conversation for success.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of the questions section in edit mode]

Adding Questions

The Basics

  1. Open your interview and click "Edit" (or you're already there after creating)
  2. Click the "Add Question" button
  3. Type your question in the Question Text field
  4. (Optional) Add Background Information below
  5. Click "Save"

The question is added to your list!

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of adding a new question]

Question Text

This is what you'll see during the interview—the actual question you're asking.

Keep it clear and conversational:

  • ✅ "What inspired you to start this company?"
  • ✅ "Can you walk me through how that works?"
  • ❌ "Inspiration/motivation re: company founding???"

Background Notes: Your Secret Weapon

Background notes are private information that only you see during the interview. They appear below each question in Live Mode but are never shared or exported.

What to Put in Background Notes

Research Points:

"She mentioned in her blog that this idea came from a trip to Japan in 2018"

Pronunciation Guides:

"Pronounce: KEE-noh, not kee-NOH"

Follow-up Reminders:

"If she mentions the acquisition, ask about the transition period"

Context for You:

"This relates to question 7 about team building"

Talking Points:

"Her product won Best Innovation Award 2024"

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot showing a question with background notes visible]

Background Notes Best Practices

  • Be concise - You'll read these mid-interview
  • Use bullet points - Easier to scan quickly
  • Include pronunciation - Nothing worse than mispronouncing someone's name or company
  • Add timestamps - If referring to a video or podcast, note the time
  • Flag sensitive topics - Remind yourself what to approach carefully

Crafting Effective Questions

Open-Ended Questions

These invite stories and details:

  • ✅ "Tell me about..."
  • ✅ "How did you..."
  • ✅ "What was it like when..."
  • ✅ "Can you walk me through..."

Avoid yes/no questions:

  • ❌ "Did you enjoy that?"
  • ✅ "What did you enjoy most about that?"

Specific vs. General

Mix both for variety:

General (opening conversation):

  • "What got you into this field?"
  • "Tell me about your background"

Specific (diving deep):

  • "You mentioned the 2019 pivot—what triggered that decision?"
  • "Can you explain how the algorithm handles edge cases?"

Follow-Up Questions

You don't need to write every follow-up! Let the conversation flow naturally. But you can add reminders:

Question: "Tell me about your biggest challenge"
Background Note: "Follow-ups: How did you overcome it? Would you do anything differently? What did you learn?"

Reordering Questions

Your questions appear in order during Live Mode. Reorder them by dragging and dropping.

How to Reorder

  1. Hover over a question
  2. Click and hold the drag handle (⋮⋮ icon)
  3. Drag up or down
  4. Release to drop in the new position

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot showing drag handles on questions]

Question Order Strategy

Classic Structure:

  1. Warm-up - Easy, comfortable questions
  2. Background - Context and history
  3. Main content - The meat of the interview
  4. Specific deep dives - Technical or detailed
  5. Wrap-up - Forward-looking, inspiring

Or try topic clustering:

  • Group related questions together
  • Build from simple to complex within each topic
  • Create natural transitions

Remember: You're not locked in! During the interview, you can skip questions or jump around using the Live Mode navigation.

Editing and Deleting Questions

Editing a Question

  1. Click the "Edit" button on the question card
  2. Modify the question text or background notes
  3. Click "Save"

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of editing a question]

Deleting a Question

  1. Click the "Delete" button (trash icon) on the question card
  2. Confirm you want to delete it

Note: If the interview has been recorded and this question has captured events, you might want to keep it for your timeline.

How Many Questions?

There's no perfect number, but here are guidelines:

By Interview Length

  • 15-20 minutes - 3-5 questions
  • 30-45 minutes - 5-8 questions
  • 60 minutes - 8-12 questions
  • 90+ minutes - 10-15 questions

Quality Over Quantity

Better to have:

  • 5 great questions that spark deep conversation
  • Time to follow up naturally
  • Space for unexpected directions

Than:

  • 20 questions you rush through
  • No time for follow-ups
  • A rigid, checklist feel

Question Templates (Coming Soon)

We're working on pre-built question templates for common interview types:

  • Entrepreneur interviews
  • Technical deep dives
  • Author interviews
  • Career journey stories
  • Product launches

Stay tuned!

Structuring Your Interview

The Three-Act Structure

Act 1: Setup (15-20%)

  • Who is this person?
  • What's their background?
  • Why should we care?

Act 2: Exploration (60-70%)

  • The main content
  • Deep dives and stories
  • Challenges and solutions

Act 3: Conclusion (10-15%)

  • What's next for them?
  • Advice for listeners
  • Inspiring wrap-up

The Hero's Journey Approach

Structure questions around a narrative:

  1. The ordinary world (before)
  2. The call to adventure (trigger)
  3. The challenges (obstacles)
  4. The transformation (growth)
  5. The return (wisdom to share)

The "What, How, Why" Pattern

For each major topic:

  • What - What is this thing? (objective)
  • How - How does it work? (mechanics)
  • Why - Why does it matter? (meaning)

Tips for Better Questions

Do's

✅ Ask "Why" - Get to motivations and meaning
✅ Ask for stories - "Tell me about a time when..."
✅ Show you've done research - Reference their work
✅ Leave room for tangents - Best content is often unplanned
✅ Ask what they're excited about - Enthusiasm is contagious

Don'ts

❌ Don't ask what Google can answer - Make it worth their time
❌ Don't ask yes/no questions - Open-ended invites stories
❌ Don't ask double-barreled questions - One question at a time
❌ Don't lead the witness - Let them bring their perspective
❌ Don't save the best for last - Energy drops over time

Working with Background Notes During Interviews

How They Appear in Live Mode

When you're in Live Mode, background notes appear below the question in a muted, smaller font. They're there when you need them, unobtrusive when you don't.

[PLACEHOLDER: Screenshot of Live Mode showing question with background notes]

Quick Reference

Use background notes for information you want at your fingertips:

  • Names and pronunciations
  • Dates and facts to reference
  • Follow-up reminders
  • Sensitive topic flags

Don't put your whole script in background notes - keep them concise!

Importing Questions (Future Feature)

We're planning to support importing questions from:

  • Text files
  • Spreadsheets
  • Other interview tools

This will make it easy to bring in pre-planned content.

Example: Well-Structured Interview

Here's an example for a tech entrepreneur interview:

Question 1: "Tell me about yourself and how you got into tech entrepreneurship"
Background: Stanford CS, worked at Google 2015-2018, started company in 2019

Question 2: "What problem were you trying to solve when you started [Company]?"
Background: Product is dev tools for API testing - mention Postman as context

Question 3: "Walk me through the early days—what was it like going from idea to first customer?"
Background: Raised seed round in 2020, first customer was Stripe

Question 4: "What's the biggest technical challenge you've faced building this?"
Background: They wrote a blog post about scaling issues - good follow-up

Question 5: "How has the company culture evolved as you've grown?"
Background: Now 45 employees, fully remote

Question 6: "What's next for [Company]? Where are you heading?"
Background: Just announced Series A - might hint at plans

Question 7: "What advice would you give someone starting a dev tools company today?"
Background: She mentors at Y Combinator - might have good stories

Quick Reference

Task How To
Add question Click "Add Question" button
Edit question Click "Edit" on question card
Delete question Click "Delete" (trash icon)
Reorder questions Drag and drop using handle
Add background notes Fill "Background Information" field

What's Next?

Now that you've mastered questions, explore other preparation features:

Great questions lead to great conversations—you're on your way! 🎙️