Interview questions for employers: a guide

A good job interview is prepared. When everyone on the panel asks the same questions and rates the answers against the same criteria, you can compare candidates and make a decision you can explain. Here is an interview guide with questions you can copy, a scorecard template and a list of the questions to stay away from.

Before the interview: three things

1. Pick 3–5 criteria from the job ad. For example "plans their own day", "talks to customers", "knows forklifts and warehouse work". These are what you rate, not whether the chemistry was good.
2. Give each criterion one or two questions. Every candidate gets the same questions in the same order. Follow-up questions are fine.
3. Agree who asks what, and that each interviewer writes down their rating before you talk it over. That way you do not sway each other.

12 job interview questions

Experience and tasks

• Tell me about a task in your current job you are proud of. What did you do yourself?
• What does an ordinary working day look like for you today?
• Which part of the job ad do you know best, and which will you need to learn?

Behaviour: "tell me about a time when …"

• … you had too much to do. What did you drop, and why?
• … a customer or colleague was unhappy. What happened next?
• … you made a mistake. How did you notice it, and what did you do?

Situation: "what would you do if …"

• … an important delivery was late and the customer calls?
• … you saw a colleague skip a safety rule?
• … you were given a task you did not know how to solve?

Motivation and practicalities

• Why are you applying for this job now?
• When can you start, and what is your notice period?
• What would you like to ask us?

Scorecard template

Each interviewer fills in their own. The 1–4 scale has no middle, so you have to take a position.

Candidate: [name]         Job: [job title]
Interviewer: [name]       Date: [date]

Criterion                         1  2  3  4   Note
[criterion 1 from the ad]         □  □  □  □   [what did they say?]
[criterion 2]                     □  □  □  □
[criterion 3]                     □  □  □  □

1 = far off  2 = below  3 = meets  4 = above expectations

Overall recommendation:
□ Strong no   □ No   □ Yes   □ Strong yes

Reason (with examples from the interview):
[...]

Questions you may not ask in Denmark

• Pregnancy, children and family plans. Not even "just chatting". The question can lead to discrimination on grounds of sex.
• Religion, ethnic origin, political views, sexual orientation and trade union membership (the Danish Anti-Discrimination Act, § 4, and GDPR Article 9).
• Health in general. Under the Danish Health Information Act (helbredsoplysningsloven) § 2 you may only ask whether the candidate has an illness of significant importance for doing this particular job, and you must say exactly what you are asking about.
• Age as a criterion. Asking is not forbidden, but age must not play a part in the decision. So do not ask.
• Previous salary. Under the Danish draft pay transparency law (expected from 1 January 2027) you may not ask about a candidate's current or previous pay. Tell them the pay level for the role instead.
• Criminal record only if the role justifies it, and preferably not before you make an offer.

After the interview

Collect the ratings before you discuss, and decide on the criteria. Reply within the deadline you promised, also when the answer is no (see Rejection email template). Interview notes are personal data: write only what is about the job, and delete them with the application (see GDPR, retention and deletion).

How jah.dk does it

In jah.dk you write the scorecard criteria on the job. After the interview each interviewer fills in their own scorecard on the candidate card: 1–4 per criterion, an overall recommendation from "strong no" to "strong yes", and a comment. From the candidate card you can also propose interview times; the candidate picks one and gets a calendar invite. Your team makes the decision; the AI never rejects anyone. Read about the flow in Pipeline.

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