I never stick with formal lists, but often ask something like these... 1. Tell me briefly about your professional development, including challenges you have fa

I never stick with formal lists, but often ask something like these... 1. Tell me briefly about your professional development, including challenges you have faced, mistakes you have made, how you overcame them and what you have learned. Have there been any critical mentors or resources? What motivated you in each position and how did that lead to your current application. Opens a floodgate of possibilities for discussion, generally gives a sense of career pattern or path, potentially personality. 2. What are you learning right now and why? Screens for curiosity and/or goal orientation. 3. Choose any recent technical or business idea you have had and explain why you considered it to be interesting. Possible insight in to how prolific their idea generation may be, and whether it is circumscribed by professional domain or not. With a bit of two-way questioning on these, you should have a basic sense of their capacity as a communicator as well as personality. Important: Predominantly co-workers and direct managers should interview, not random HR departments, external contractors or disconnected tiers of management.