I actually ask "Tell me about a project that went well for you. What was it, what was your role, and what was the final outcome?" I ask follow-ups, and generall

I actually ask "Tell me about a project that went well for you. What was it, what was your role, and what was the final outcome?" I ask follow-ups, and generally let the interviewee get comfortable, since it's a low-pressure question. However, as a follow-up, I usually ask "Tell me about a project that -didn't- go so well. Same questions, and what'd you take away from the experience?" People tend to slide into a comfort zone and open up a bit about their successes. They then -tend- to stay open and offer up useful insights into their past behaviors under pressure. I've found that it helps to ask the "success" question first, then ask the "failure" question second, rather than directly asking about someone's failures. As an aside, the technique outlined above is something taken from "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion," [1] and is a useful read to recognize situations where someone might be using certain techniques to influence the outcome of a situation. :-) Also - note that the general prompt above expects someone to answer in the "STAR" technique. [2] [1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BD2UUC/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BD2UUC/ [2] https://careerservices.wayne.edu/behavioralinterviewinfo.pdf https://careerservices.wayne.edu/behavioralinterviewinfo.pdf