If you're getting ready to interview new candidates, it's important that you're prepared with a list of questions to ask.

On the other hand, it's also just as important to know what questions NOT to ask. Some questions are definitely more effective than others at helping you determine whether a candidate is right for your company.

Of course, you should always avoid illegal questions such as those based on age, sex, religion, nationality, and disability status. However, there are also plenty of common interview questions that, while not illegal, aren't exactly useful either.

Below we'll look at 3 common interview questions that you absolutely shouldn't ask during your next interview.

1. Why Do You Think We Should Hire You?

While this first question seems okay on the surface, it's not a question you want to be asking candidates. It's all too easy for a candidate to give a stock answer they read online when answering cliche questions such as this one, and chances are, the answer won't be very memorable.

They'll likely tell you that they're a great fit for your company and start listing out some of their best traits. But how can you really determine if what they're saying is true?

A better option would be to ask the candidate about a time they succeeded at a difficult task or overcame an obstacle in a previous position. While it's also possible to rehearse a story to fit this question, it is more difficult.

When your candidate tells a story, you'll likely get a lot more insight into their character traits since they won't simply be listing them off like items on a grocery list.

2. What Are Your Main Weaknesses/Strengths?

This next question suffers from the same problems as the previous one. When asking this question during an interview it is very hard to ascertain whether they are telling the truth.

Once again, they may start listing off their traits like a grocery list, and everything they will say will be very hard to verify. Until you hire them, that is.

For this question, there are also plenty of stock answers to be found online. You may just find that most candidates end up saying basically the same thing.

Even worse, when you ask about a candidate's weaknesses they'll likely give you answers which are actually positives, such as "I work too hard and don't know when to slow down." instead of being honest with you.

Instead of asking these types of questions, once again, it's better to have your candidate tell a story. Ask them about an example of when they succeeded or they failed and ask them to explain why. This approach will give you much more insight into what they have to offer.

3. What Was the Last Book You Read?

Many recruiters and interviewers believe that asking a candidate about the last book they've read will give them a lot of insight into a person's character and habits outside of work. They also believe it will reveal whether a candidate is the kind of person who works to keep up with the latest trends in their industry.

However, the truth is that this question is best left to filling an open bookstore position. In reality, a candidate has probably spent their free time reading a bestselling novel or a magazine rather than the latest business book.

Your time would probably be better served by asking a question that gets more to the heart of what you really want to know about a candidate. Instead of asking them about their reading habits, ask a candidate about a time they learned a valuable skill or best practice in their industry and then applied what they learned.

Asking this question will help you cut to the chase and give you a much better insight into their priorities when it comes to self-learning and for staying on top of current trends in their field.

Final Thoughts

While there are many more interview questions that need to be put to rest, the above are some of the worst of the bunch. The reason that the above questions don't work is that at this point they have become cliche and they end up wasting valuable interview time. There are better ways to find out if a candidate has the good habits and traits you're looking for.

When giving an interview, try to be more concise with your questioning. Make sure you're quickly diving into what you really want to know about a candidate rather than resorting to surface-level questions in which the answers can be easily faked or simply won't tell you what you need to know.

By eliminating questions such as these from your interview, you'll have the best chance possible of accurately judging a candidate and quickly finding out exactly what they can bring to the table.