Should interview questions be shared ahead of time?

[TheBeesKnee]

Hear me out.

I am someone who spends a lot of time thinking. I am useless when put on the spot and interviews always feel like an absolute ordeal and an exercise in memory more than a demonstration of any kind of competency. Especially when done face to face, at least remotely you can have something on screen to prompt you.

At work I would never attend a meeting without taking the time to prepare, and at least bullet points of key things to cover.

So why are interviews so artificial and don't give you a chance to prepare properly?

I know you can try to guess what the questions are likely to be based on the job description, but then it's all so stressful trying to "revise" a while range of things which may not come up.

You can ask for questions in advance. Particularly if you have a disability such as ND that would make it a reasonable adjustment.

Sometimes the organisation will be able to share their competencies that will be assessed.

The only time they wouldn't would be if it was a more exam style assessment. Even then for some large organisations they might have past papers online or threads in glass door with past questions.

Even if they don't have that, it's perfectly ok to write the question down when it's asked and take a moment to formulate your response.

I'm an ex recruiter btw.

HR bod here.

My main concern would be whether the candidate was being helped behind the scenes. I like to know who's answering the questions.

It wouldn't necessarily be a reasonable adjustment and I say that as both a HR person and someone with a ND.

It could be requested and considered though.

I don't think the process would be very fair if the questions were shared beforehand. The interview process needs to be as natural as possible so that both parties can get a feel for whether they're a good fit for each other. Otherwise you're just going to have a load of people who have rehearsed answers (possibly with outside help) and you're not going to get the best candidate.

We share all questions with all candidates 3-4 days in advance.

We've found it has massively improved the quality of the interview.

And it's much better for inclusion.

It's been great for us as the employer. And hopefully it's good for the candidates too.

We're introducing this where I work. It's meant to give people who are not so good at thinking up a quick answer on the spot a better chance. In most jobs, you have time to consider things and don't have to give an immediate answer, so why not in interviews. It's much more inclusive and should lead to a more diverse workforce.