Based on 20,918+ real interview questions collected from InterviewPal’s user dataset.

If you feel like every interview asks the same dozen questions, you’re not imagining it. In 2025, hiring teams have shrunk, interview loops have grown, and the questions being used across industries have quietly converged into a predictable core set.

To understand exactly what candidates are facing, we analyzed 20,918 interview questions submitted by candidates across tech, finance, healthcare, retail, education, and early-career roles from January- October 2025.

This is the largest independent dataset of real interview questions published this year- nothing here is scraped or guessed. Every question in this list was actually asked by a recruiter, hiring manager, or senior panel interviewer.

How We Collected the Data (Methodology)

This report is based on 20,918 real interview questions submitted by job seekers between January and October 2025. Data was cleaned, verified, and grouped across industries including tech, finance, healthcare, retail, consulting, and early-career hiring.

Read Full Methodology →

Questions were ranked by frequency of appearance across interviews, weighted by industry size.

Quick Summary:

• Behavioral questions dominate the top 20
• Tech and finance hiring loops reuse ~70% of the same questions
• Healthcare is shifting toward scenario-based judgment questions
• Early-career hiring: “Tell me about yourself” still the #1 opener
• AI/Automation questions appear for the first time in the top 50

The Top 100 Most Asked Interview Questions of 2025

Top 20 Most Common Across All Industries

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why are you interested in this role?
3. Walk me through your resume.
4. What are your strengths?
5. What’s one weakness you’re working on?
6. Describe a time you dealt with a difficult situation.
7. Why do you want to work at our company?
8. Tell me about a time you showed leadership.
9. Tell me about a time you failed.
10. What are your salary expectations?
11. How do you prioritize tasks when everything is urgent?
12. Describe your ideal work environment.
13. What motivates you at work?
14. How do you handle feedback or criticism?
15. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
16. Tell me about a conflict you had with a coworker and how you resolved it.
17. What do you know about our company?
18. How do you handle working under pressure?
19. What are your long-term career goals?
20. Why should we hire you?

Top Technical / Skill-Specific Question Categories (Ranked)

Software Engineering (based on 4,612 questions)

21. Explain a system you designed end-to-end.
22. Tell me about a time you fixed a critical production issue.
23. How would you scale an application to support 10x growth?
24. Describe your approach to debugging complex problems.
25. What’s the hardest technical challenge you’ve faced recently?
26. Explain the trade-offs between monolithic and microservice architectures.
27. How do you ensure code quality in a fast-moving team?
28. What’s your process for reviewing code?
29. How do you balance shipping quickly with technical debt?
30. How do you stay up-to-date with new technologies?

Data & Analytics (based on 2,020 questions)

31. Explain a time you turned raw data into a business decision.
32. How do you handle missing or inconsistent data?
33. Walk me through a recent model you built.
34. What’s your approach to A/B testing?
35. How do you explain technical insights to non-technical stakeholders?
36. What’s a metric you would build to measure product success?
37. How do you prevent bias in your analysis?
38. Explain variance vs. standard deviation in simple terms.
39. How do you validate that a dataset is trustworthy?
40. What tools do you prefer for large datasets and why?

Product Management (based on 1,734 questions)

41. Describe a product you launched and the results.
42. How do you decide what to build next?
43. Tell me about a failed product decision.
44. How do you work with engineering teams during conflict?
45. What’s your approach to defining success metrics?
46. How do you handle competing stakeholder priorities?
47. Tell me about a feature you cut and why.
48. What’s your framework for product discovery?
49. How do you measure the impact of a feature?
50. How do you balance user needs with business constraints?

Top Behavioral / Situational Questions (Cross-Industry)

These questions increased in frequency this year due to shrinking teams and risk-averse hiring:

51. Describe a time you had to learn something fast.
52. Tell me about a time you managed multiple responsibilities.
53. Explain a situation where you disagreed with your manager.
54. Tell me about a time you solved a problem without clear direction.
55. What’s the last thing you taught yourself?
56. Describe a time you went above and beyond expectations.
57. Tell me about a situation where you had to persuade someone.
58. Explain a time you delivered under an unrealistic deadline.
59. Tell me about a time you made a data-driven decision.
60. Describe a time you improved a process.

AI, Automation, and Future-of-Work Questions (New in 2025)

These began appearing after Q1 2024 and exploded in 2025:

61. How do you use AI tools to improve your work?
62. Have you ever replaced manual processes with automation?
63. What tasks do you think AI will take over in your role?
64. What’s your approach to validating AI-generated output?
65. Tell me about a time you caught an AI tool making a mistake.
66. How do you ensure accuracy when using AI?
67. What tools do you consider essential for productivity in 2025?
68. How would you adapt if a key part of your job became automated?
69. What skills will matter most in five years?
70. How do you manage information overload with modern tools?

Industry-Specific (Finance, Healthcare, Retail, Consulting)

Finance (1,880 questions)

71. Walk me through your approach to financial modeling.
72. Describe a time you identified a risk others missed.
73. What’s the most complex analysis you’ve led?
74. How do you ensure accuracy under pressure?
75. Explain a financial concept as if speaking to a client.

Healthcare (1,432 questions)

76. Tell me about a time you had to de-escalate a patient situation.
77. How do you prioritize patient care under time pressure?
78. Describe a time you collaborated across departments.
79. How do you handle emotionally difficult cases?
80. What does quality care mean to you?

Retail / Support (1,276 questions)

81. Describe a time you handled an unhappy customer.
82. How do you stay calm during peak hours?
83. Give an example of delivering great customer service.
84. How do you handle team disagreements on shift?
85. What does reliability look like in a service role?

Consulting (1,130 questions)

86. Walk me through your approach to breaking down a complex problem.
87. How do you manage client expectations?
88. Describe a time you aligned stakeholders with conflicting incentives.
89. How do you structure ambiguous challenges?
90. Tell me about a time you drove impact quickly.

Early-Career / New Grad Questions

These consistently appeared across internships and first-jobs:

91. Why did you choose your major?
92. Tell me about a project you’re proud of.
93. What did you learn from your last internship?
94. How do you stay organized while studying/working?
95. What's something you taught yourself recently?
96. Describe a time you took initiative.
97. What kind of role are you looking for after graduation?
98. How do you handle setbacks or low grades?
99. Tell me about a time you worked in a team.
100. What skills are you currently trying to build?

Key Insights for 2025 Hiring Teams

• Behavioral questions dominate because companies are risk-averse.
• AI questions are now “standard”, even in non-tech roles.
• Portfolio-based roles (design, marketing) often ask fewer but deeper questions.
• Early-career candidates face more “learning ability” questions than ever.
• Interview loops are longer, but the question pool is narrower, companies reuse the same templates.