Casual interview questions to ask candidates (that still tell you something)
Nervous candidates underperform their true ability, which means YOUR interview measures anxiety instead of competence. Casual questions fix that: they lower the temperature, get the candidate talking about comfortable ground, and — chosen well — still tell you something. Use them in the first five minutes, then transition to the real work.
“Before we get into it — how's your day going? What's the rest of it look like?”
What it reveals: Nothing profound. It's a genuine human warm-up, and that's the point — calibrate to a person, not a CV.
“What's been the most interesting part of your week — work or otherwise?”
What it reveals: What engages them, and how they tell an unprepared story.
“How did you first get into [their field]?”
What it reveals: Origin story = motivation in its most honest form; people relax when telling it, and you learn what pulled them in.
“What are you reading, listening to, or watching that you'd recommend?”
What it reveals: Curiosity and taste — and it's the fastest genuine rapport-builder there is.
“What's a small thing that makes a workday good for you?”
What it reveals: Low-stakes preferences that add up to working-style fit — coffee rituals, deep-work mornings, a good standup.
“If you weren't in this field, what would you be doing?”
What it reveals: Adjacent passions and self-concept — often surfaces transferable strengths the CV hides.
“What's something you've gotten weirdly good at outside work?”
What it reveals: How they pursue mastery when nobody requires it — the purest sample of their learning style.
“Was this place easy enough to find? / How's the setup on your end?”
What it reveals: Pure logistics warmth for on-site/remote respectively — costs nothing, signals care.
How to use this bank
- ✓Spend 3–5 minutes here maximum, then signpost the transition: 'Great — let's get into the proper questions.' Structure relaxes people too.
- ✓Actually listen and follow up once — a warm-up treated as a checkbox reads as fake and makes nerves worse.
- ✓Never score the warm-up. Its job is to REMOVE noise from your assessment, not add a likeability test.
We're building an AI candidate that answers these questions in character — from a real CV — and coaches your follow-ups. Join the early-access list.
FAQ
Why start an interview with casual questions?
Because anxiety suppresses performance: a nervous candidate shows you their interview skills, not their job skills. A few minutes of genuine low-stakes conversation measurably settles people, which makes the rest of your interview a truer reading of ability.
Can casual questions be unfair or biased?
Yes, if you score them — rapport questions favour candidates similar to you, which is exactly the bias structured interviewing exists to remove. Use them to warm up, keep them consistent-ish across candidates, and start assessment only when the structured questions begin.