Interview experience survey questions focus on what it’s like to go through an interview—not what a candidate has done in the past. These questions are designed to give your talent acquisition team full visibility into how candidates are treated during interviews.
Why are these questions so important? Because interviews—whether in-person, on video, or through a hiring platform—are where a lot of candidate experience metrics are formed. It’s where opinions about your company start to solidify.
And those opinions matter. A positive experience increases offer acceptance rates, shortens time to hire, and can reduce how much you need to offer to win top talent. A negative experience? It can lower satisfaction, create drop-off, and even damage your employer reputation.
Let’s also not forget: one rude or unprepared interviewer can hurt your employer brand significantly.
The Role of Interview Experience Survey Questions
If your team doesn’t know what’s happening in interviews, you can’t manage or improve them. Most companies have limited insight into how interviewers treat candidates, how prepared hiring managers are, or whether interviews are delivering a good impression.
That’s where well-crafted candidate feedback questions come in. When you ask the right things and ask them at the right time, you unlock insights that drive candidate experience improvement and better interview feedback collection.
Optimize With These 7 Interview Experience Survey Questions
If you’re unsure where to begin, start with these seven questions. These are best used right after an interview. Short surveys get more responses, and if your survey platform connects to your ATS, you can link feedback to roles, departments, and even specific hiring managers.
1) Were your interviewers prepared?
Yes / No
This simple question checks for interviewer preparedness. If candidates answer “no,” it could mean the interviewer was late, distracted, or didn’t know who they were meeting with.
2) How knowledgeable were your interviewers about the role?
Scale: Not at all → Extremely knowledgeable
This helps assess role clarity in interviews. If hiring managers can’t explain the role clearly, candidates leave confused—and may question the whole process.
3) Do you feel your time was valued during the interview process?
Yes / No
According to candidate experience surveys from the Talent Board, the top frustration among candidates is feeling like their time wasn’t respected. This question goes right to the heart of that issue.
4) Have all of your questions about the role and/or the company been answered?
Open text
This is one of the most useful candidate feedback questions. It shows whether the company is doing a good job of giving candidates the info they need—and highlights gaps where candidate engagement strategies might fall short.
5) Did you leave the interview with a clear understanding of next steps?
Yes / No
This is key for managing expectations. A transparent hiring process makes candidates feel more confident and less likely to drop out.
6) Based on your experience so far, how likely are you to recommend COMPANY to others?
Net Promoter Score: 0 → 10
This helps measure candidate satisfaction and acts as a clear candidate experience metric. Asking NPS at multiple steps of the process—from job site visit to interview—gives a full picture.
7) Do you have any additional feedback about your interview experience?
Open text
This is where candidates open up. It’s where you learn what worked and what didn’t. These responses help you train interviewers, fix problems, and reinforce what’s going well.
Final Thoughts
These interview experience survey questions help you monitor and improve your interviews in real time. The key is to ask consistently—and to actually use the insights.
Whether it’s improving your hiring manager evaluation, fixing communication gaps, or improving your candidate satisfaction surveys, asking these questions is the first step toward creating a better experience for every applicant.
FAQs
What are the best questions for a candidate experience survey?
Some of the best questions include:
- How would you rate your application process?
- Were your interviewers prepared?
- Did you understand the next steps after the interview?
- How likely are you to recommend us to other job seekers?
- Do you have any feedback to share?
These combine ratings with open text to give you real insights.
How do you measure candidate experience?
You measure it through regular candidate experience surveys and Net Promoter Scores. Ask questions after key steps—application, interview, offer—to understand how candidates feel and where the process needs work.
How can I improve my hiring experience?
Use clear communication, keep the process simple, respect candidates’ time, and collect real feedback. Regular interview feedback collection and candidate feedback surveys will show where you’re falling short.
How do you create a positive candidate experience?
Start with well-organized interviews, prepared interviewers, and clear information about the role. Respect the candidate’s time. Share next steps. And most importantly, listen to feedback and act on it.
