How to Evaluate Interview Candidates Through Storytelling
By Marta Gongos Finding the right candidate isn’t just about checking off a list of skills and qualifications. You need to understand how they think, solve problems, and fit into your company culture. By shifting your approach from traditional, boring interview questions and focusing on how to evaluate interview candidates through the key stories they share, you can uncover deeper insights that help you make an informed hiring decision.
This guide will walk you through the power of storytelling in interviews, how to encourage candidates to share meaningful stories, and how to assess their responses effectively.
Why Storytelling in Interviews Matters
In a traditional interview, you often ask candidates questions that they respond to with direct, fact-based answers. They list their soft skills, describe past experiences, and provide generic answers. While this approach is decent, it only scratches the surface of a candidate’s true potential.
On the other hand, asking candidates questions they can respond to with stories gives you a deeper look into how they think, solve problems, and interact in real-world situations. You can get to know them as a person and understand how they approached similar roles or challenges in the past.
Modern Stories Reveal More Than Just Basic Skills
Candidates who share stories about their past experiences discuss a broader range of skills than what’s listed on their resume. Without even thinking about it, they may highlight areas such as:
- Communication skills: How they conveyed their thoughts in certain scenarios
- Decision-making skills: What factors influenced their choice in making a decision
- Emotional intelligence: How they responded to conflict, setbacks, or feedback
- Problem-solving skills: How they approached and overcame a challenge
For example, when asked to share a personal story about handling a difficult client, the candidate will reveal how they approached challenges, managed relationships, and processed complex situations. Every detail they include or omit provides valuable insights into their decision-making process and emotional maturity.
No More Generic Answers
Standard interview questions, like “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and “Why do you want to work here?” often fall flat. While you can gain insights into the candidate’s goals and experience, you’ll likely get a rehearsed answer that doesn’t truly reflect their abilities and character.
For example, a candidate saying, “I work well under pressure,” doesn’t tell you much about how they actually perform in a high-stakes environment. Instead, ask them a situational question where they can share a story about a time when they successfully met a deadline or resolved a crisis under pressure.
Authenticity and Cultural Fit
Through storytelling, candidates naturally reveal their personality, values, and work style. When discussing real-life experiences, people naturally showcase their authentic selves. Listen out for how they describe past colleagues, handle setbacks, and their role in the bigger picture to get an idea of how they might fit into your company’s culture.
You Can Make Better Hiring Decisions Through Storytelling
Candidates who tell great stories in the interview stand out, as you can get to know their skills and experiences, communication abilities, and problem-solving approaches in real-world situations. This gives you deeper insight, leading to more informed decisions in the hiring process, fewer recruitment challenges, and better long-term fits for you and the candidate.
Image Source: Pixabay
How to Encourage Candidates to Share Stories
Now that we’ve covered why storytelling in interviews is so important, let’s dive into the practical side. As a hiring manager, solid techniques will prompt candidates to tell you those valuable stories. Here are some storytelling techniques you can use in your next interview:
Ask Questions That Prompt Meaningful Stories
The classic “Tell me about a time when…” interview prompt exists for a reason—it works. However, you can’t just ask candidates questions like “How do you handle difficult clients?” Instead, say, “Tell me about the most challenging client interaction you’ve had recently.”
The second version invites the candidate to tell a specific story rather than a made-up scenario, giving you insights into their problem-solving abilities and emotional intelligence. Similarly, you could ask them, “Tell me about a time when you were in conflict with your boss and how you resolved it.”
Ask Follow-Up Questions
A candidate’s initial story is only the beginning. Ask them thoughtful follow-up questions like, “How did that experience change your approach moving forward?” to help them expand on their experiences and decision-making process, giving you further insight into how they operate.
Create a Comfortable Environment
Nobody tells their best stories when they’re nervous. Create a comfortable environment where candidates can open up to you. This can mean starting with some small talk, making eye contact, and having encouraging body language. You can even share a brief story of your own to break the ice and model a response you’re looking for.
If the candidate seems hesitant or doesn’t know how to respond to a question, try rephrasing it in a more approachable way. The goal is to help them feel comfortable sharing meaningful, real-life experiences.
Avoid Overly Rigid Questions
This point may seem obvious, but it’s a trap many interviewers fall into—asking too many questions, one after the other. Avoid overly rigid questions; don’t cut off the candidate mid-story to move to the next one. When candidates feel rushed, they will most likely tell you rehearsed, generic answers—ones that you’re trying to avoid!
How to Evaluate Interview Candidates’ Stories Effectively
Encouraging candidates to use storytelling in interviews is just the first step. Knowing how to evaluate their responses is equally as important. Here’s how you can move beyond surface-level analysis and uncover what a candidate’s stories truly tell you.
Listen for the Important Details
A wise person’s story should include specific details, such as what happened, their thoughts about the situation, and how it was resolved. Let’s say a candidate is telling a story about leading a project. They should share details such as budget constraints, timeline challenges, and team dynamics—concrete details that separate real experiences from a made-up story. They should paint a picture of their thinking process, role, and measurable outcomes.
Assess Their Emotional Intelligence
All these key stories often reveal how candidates handle workplace conflicts, relationships, and difficult situations. When considering how to evaluate interview candidates, listen for how they describe their interactions with others. Great candidates will tell you about times when they took responsibility for their actions, showed empathy, and acknowledged different perspectives.
Assess Their Critical Thinking
Pay attention to how candidates demonstrate their decision-making processes. They will tell you how they identified problems, evaluated options, and came to the final decision. The best candidates will show adaptability and critical thinking, especially when things don’t work out in their favour.
Alignment with Company Values
Listen for signs that the candidate’s values and work style align with your company. Narratives, such as their approach to solving problems and how they work with others, can help you predict whether they will thrive on your team.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
When thinking about how to evaluate interview candidates, remember that some stories can reveal inconsistencies, lack of depth, or other red flags you need to look out for. Watch out for candidates who:
- Speak in general terms and can’t provide specific examples when you ask them
- Consistently blame others for negative outcomes and don’t take ownership
- Tell a seemingly predictable story that don’t align with their resume or experience level
- Don’t seem to play a central role in their success stories
Image Source: Unsplash
How to Use Storytelling in Interviews to Predict Future Performance
A candidate’s past behaviour gives us some pretty reliable clues about their performance in future roles. Here’s how you can analyze the structure and content of their stories to make smarter hiring decisions:
Use the STAR Method to Assess Problem-Solving Skills
One of the most effective methods of how to evaluate interview candidates’ abilities is the STAR method, which breaks down stories into four key components:
- Situation: The context of their experience or challenge
- Task: The candidate’s responsibility in the scenario
- Action: The steps they took to resolve this challenge
- Result: The outcome of their actions
Strong candidates will naturally follow this story structure, giving you clear insight into their thought processes and problem-solving abilities. How they structure their stories can mirror the way they approach real-life situations.
Some red flags to look out for include jumping straight into the results without explaining their process, describing the situation without getting to the action, and telling several unconnected stories.
Listen to How They Followed Through
The Result part of the story can tell you a lot about the candidate. Listen to what happened after they resolved the immediate problem. Did they create new processes? Implement preventative measures? Share the lessons learned with the team?
Those who demonstrate strong follow-through in past experiences will likely bring that thoroughness to future roles, which is what you should be looking for.
Recognize Patterns Across Multiple Stories
Look out for common themes in candidates’ stories. You’ll want to especially listen out for how they:
- Handled unexpected obstacles
- Responded to negative situations
- Worked with different teams
- Approached learning new soft & technical skills
- Navigated challenging scenarios
Align these patterns with their potential fit for the role. For example, candidates who share stories about finding creative solutions under pressure might be best suited for a fast-paced role where problem-solving is required. If their stories focus on planning and long-term execution, they might do well in a strategy-focused position.
How Past Experiences Predict Future Success
Past performance doesn’t guarantee the candidate will behave the same in future roles; however, it offers a valuable preview of how they might handle future challenges.
When candidates share their stories, they reveal fundamental characteristics of who they are. When solving problems, do they focus on the problem itself or jump straight to the solution? Do they frame obstacles as roadblocks or opportunities?
As an interviewer, you should listen for:
- How candidates respond to setbacks or failure: Do they learn from past mistakes?
- How they adapt to new challenges: Do they embrace solving problems?
- Their long-term growth mindset: Are they actively learning and developing new skills?
By piecing together these storytelling clues, you can build a more complete picture of who the candidates are today and who they’re likely to become.
Image Source: Canva
Incorporating Storytelling into the Interview Process
To get the most value from storytelling in interviews, you need to intentionally design your interview process to evaluate candidates effectively and encourage them to tell quality stories. Here’s how you can naturally incorporate storytelling into the interview process:
Design Behavioural Questions That Prompt Storytelling
Come up with questions that naturally lead candidates to share specific scenarios. Remember, the best interview questions are conversation starters, not interrogations. Some behavioural interview questions you can ask to elicit the best responses include:
- “What’s the biggest change you’ve faced in your career so far? How did you handle this challenge?” — Assess adaptability to a challenging situation
- “Have you worked with someone difficult to work with? How did you interact with this person?” — Assess collaboration and communication skills
- “Was there a time when you thought of a better solution than the current one provided by the manager?” — Assess critical thinking skills
Train Interviewers to Actively Listen and Ask Follow-Up Questions
It’s important to guide the conversation and ask follow-up questions to uncover valuable insights from candidates. Some great follow-up questions to ask in the interview include:
- “What was going through your mind at that moment?”
- “How did that experience change your approach going forward?”
- “What would you do differently if you faced that situation today?”
Standardize the Storytelling Interview Structure
To best evaluate candidates, you need a story-friendly, standardized structure when conducting interviews. Consider including:
- A warm-up phase with an ice-breaker question or small talk to make the candidate feel comfortable
- Dedicated time for in-depth storytelling
- Multiple interviewers to listen for different elements in the same story
- Clear documentation methods (i.e. taking notes, recording) to capture details you might’ve missed in the interview
Over time, evaluate the effectiveness of your interviews. Note which questions led to candidates telling detailed stories and which ones gave you valuable insights into their character. It’s also a good idea to get feedback from interviewers and new hires to see what works and what you can improve.
Recruit Your Next Team with Ad Culture
By learning how to evaluate interview candidates through storytelling, you can move beyond generic responses and make smarter, more informed decisions in the hiring process.
Ready to find top marketing talent who can bring their skills and creativity to your team? Ad Culture is here to help. We specialize in connecting employers with the best candidates in the digital marketing space. Contact us today, and let’s build your dream team together!
