The 30 Best Questions for an Internal Interview

Data from our onboarding cost calculator suggests that, on average, a new hire will cost your business at least $7,500 to find and onboard. That’s the equivalent of 409 pizzas (at $18.33) for your regular Friday office team get-together!

More and more businesses are leaning towards internal hiring because of the cost savings on requirements like background checks and the expense associated with posting a job advertisement. There’s no need to factor these into the process, as internal candidates have already been through them.

If you’re considering internal candidates for an open position in your business, then asking the right internal job interview questions can help you find the right person, right in front of you. It can also highlight your focus on employee development to encourage engagement and talent retention. Even if you don’t hire the internal candidate, their answers to your interview questions can help with your future planning for their career.

In this guide, we’ll consider some of the best interview questions for internal candidates, some top tips for conducting an internal job interview and how BambooHR® can streamline your applicant-tracking process.

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Do I Need to Interview Internal Candidates and Ask Questions?

Yes, it’s important to interview internal candidates; and critical that you ask the right interview questions.

You may be tempted to overlook your internal candidates if you believe they don’t have the necessary skills for the job—but this would be a mistake. Don’t neglect internal applicants.

Our January Workforce Insights report reveals that while there’s been a 41% increase in job openings between December 2024 and January 2025, turnover has dropped to 2020 levels. This suggests that businesses are leaning more towards internal candidates.

Internal hiring can also be an effective way to reap the rewards of your employee development efforts. Promoting internal mobility, where staff move roles within a business, can bring a wealth of benefits, including:

Providing fair consideration for your employees can help you demonstrate your organization’s willingness to invest in employee development and recognize progress—whether or not the internal candidate gets the job.

The key is to narrow your internal interview questions to focus on the most important aspects required of the role and its career path.

30+ Internal Job Interview Questions

When selecting those important internal interview questions, we recommend that they focus on four key soft skills:

We’ve pulled together a list of internal job interview questions that cover these four core development areas. Each category will also include questions to help uncover the employee’s motivation for making the change and whether they will remain engaged if they don’t get the new position.

Take these considerations into account as you select your internal interview questions and find the perfect candidate for the job.

Internal Interview Tip

When conducting an interview, ensure you’re asking open-ended questions that require more than one-word answers. Give your candidate the opportunity to add detail where needed.

8 Internal Job Interview Questions About Leadership

Just because an internal candidate hasn’t had managerial titles doesn’t mean they haven’t shown leadership skills. Have they taken the lead on important projects? This can demonstrate that they have the trust of their managers and organization. Do they regularly offer constructive feedback to more junior team members? This reveals strong mentorship skills.

Find out more about their potential leadership style and thoughts on management with these questions:

  1. What traits do you think make someone a good leader?
  2. How would your teammates describe your leadership style? (Or—if they’re not in a leadership role—ask them to describe what their leadership style would be like.)
  3. Please describe a project where you took leadership responsibilities.
    • Who worked with you?
    • How did you distribute job responsibilities?
    • Did you work within a budget or allocate other resources?
    • What went well with this project?
    • What would you do differently?
  4. What are some areas where you can continue to improve your leadership skills?
  5. What do you enjoy about leadership responsibilities?
  6. What excites you about the challenges of leadership?
  7. What do you feel is the main benefit for you in a leadership role?
  8. What’s the first change you’d look to implement in this role as a leader?

Internal Interview Tip

While it’s important to compensate leaders appropriately for their efforts, compensation shouldn’t be the sole motivation to apply for a leadership position. Keep this in mind when asking your internal candidates questions. It’s also a good idea to consider whether increased compensation is only tied to leadership positions in your organization, and other paths for employees to progress.

Cultivating leadership in rank-and-file employees may also be important as workplace collaboration continues to evolve. Recognizing and developing leadership abilities can help your employees keep up.

8 Interview Questions for Internal Candidates About Communication

One of the benefits of hiring an internal candidate is that you’ll already have an idea about the way they communicate. But it’s always recommended that you ask further questions to discover their communication style and skills.

As you assess internal candidates’ communication skills, ask for examples of how your company values have influenced their communication patterns. If you value openness, for example, you could ask a question like “Describe a time when you needed to admit you were wrong. How did you go about it?”

Feature these questions in your interview to get an idea of your internal candidate’s communication skills:

  1. How would your teammates describe your communication style?
  2. What are your preferred methods for cross-department communication?
  3. Do you prefer written communication, verbal communication, or a combination of the two? Why do you prefer that way?
  4. How do you clarify directions when a task is unclear?
  5. Explain what you did when you had to clarify your specifications when your coworkers asked for further information.
  6. Can you describe how you’ve solved a communication issue with a team member?
  7. Tell me about a time when you’ve had to share your opinion in a meeting.
  8. Describe a time when your communication skills have helped you accomplish a task or project.

Internal Interview Tip

Communication is key in every role, and the benefit of hiring internally means you’ll have seen the candidate’s communication skills in action.

Take some time before the interview to speak to their manager or a colleague who has worked closely with them to better understand how they communicate. This is an effective way to find out if there are any pain points that may need rectifying if they were to secure the new role.

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8 Internal Job Interview Questions About Collaboration

Collaboration is pivotal in the workplace, so delving deeper into the candidate’s collaboration skills is essential. As the old saying goes, “teamwork makes the dream work,” so collaboration should be at the top of your considerations when looking to hire for a new role. Below, we’ve featured some internal interview questions to raise:

  1. What is your ideal team structure?
  2. How would you manage collaborative communication on projects?
  3. Which members of your department have you worked with directly? In what capacity?
  4. Have you worked with other departments in the organization before?
  5. What do you do when a project doesn’t go smoothly? How do you collaborate with team members to address issues?
  6. What are the signs of collaboration breaking down, and how would you rectify this?
  7. What experience have you had in collaborating with partners outside of the business?
  8. How would you go about setting up a new process to enhance team collaboration?

Internal Interview Tip

One key aspect of collaboration is recognizing each team member’s strengths and using them to achieve specific goals. This concept should be at the forefront of your questioning when interviewing an internal candidate.

These strengths aren’t tied to a single personality type—an introverted writer may be just the person to dive deep into research for an extroverted product marketer to present. An effective collaborator will recognize their own strengths and the strengths of others as they make recommendations for roles and responsibilities.

As you process internal interview questions and answers in your applicant tracking system, make sure that you evaluate the strengths of all your candidates based on the needs of the position rather than an existing employee’s example. Which will benefit the team more: adding new strengths or doubling up on existing strengths?

8 Internal Interview Questions About Time Management

It’s no secret that remote work has affected how we manage and prioritize our time. With many businesses now adopting a flexible approach to being in the office, it’s more crucial than ever for business leaders to recognize the importance of time management.

In 2022, the concept of the ‘triple peak day’ was coined based on data from Microsoft Teams, which highlighted when people were using the application more. Many workers are now finding themselves most productive in the morning, mid-afternoon and in the evening, working around home commitments then jumping back online to pick things up when the day quietens down.

Effective time management in our new hybrid work approach is essential. It can bring a wealth of benefits, not only for a business but also for an employee’s work-life balance.

Consider asking these internal interview questions if the role requires strong time management skills:

  1. What process do you use to determine time requirements for your projects?
  1. How do you handle situations where you know you will miss a deadline?
  2. What method do you use to prioritize your projects for the day? Week? Quarter?
  3. How do you track actual time spent on tasks?
  4. As a leader, how would you monitor the time spent on tasks across your team?
  5. How would you encourage good time management on your team if you were in a leadership position?
  6. How do you manage your time working within our flexible working model?
  7. What was the most challenging project that you’ve worked on in terms of time management? What would you change in how it was run to make it less challenging?

Internal Interview Tip

Time management is just another way of framing priority management. Does the team with the open role deal with hard deadlines, soft deadlines, or a mixture of both? Will the successful applicant have to choose what to do first, or will the job require a steady stream of predictable performance?

With internal candidates, you’ll already have a record of how they manage their time and priorities—so it’s easier to match their strengths to a position that suits them.

Pro Tip: How to Conclude an Internal Interview

After going through these four core development areas, you want to end your interview on a high note before you go and assess their answers. No matter the outcome of this search, you’ll continue to see your internal candidates regularly, so it’s crucial to leave a positive impression.

Some best practices to incorporate as you approach the conclusion of your interview are:

8 Internal Interview Questions to Ask the Interviewer

So far, we’ve explored how interviewers can best prepare for an internal interview. Let’s switch things around and consider the person who’s applied for the role.

At the end of an internal interview, the interviewer will likely ask the candidate (you) if they have any questions. This is a great opportunity to show how interested you are in the role.

As this is an internal interview, it’s likely you’ll be familiar with the business, but there’s always more to learn about a position you’re applying for. So, use these questions as an opportunity to learn more about the role and your potential for growth.

Some questions you could ask include:

  1. What would you like to see me achieve within the first three months in the role?
  2. What is the opportunity for career growth?
  3. What do you like about this department?
  4. How will my performance be measured?
  5. Can you tell me about the team I will be working with?
  6. Will the team be expanding further this year?
  7. Are there any aspects of the job you feel I haven’t had experience in yet?
  8. What training will be provided to help me transition into this role?

Internal Interview Tip for the Applicant

Even if you already work for the company, it’s always a good idea to brush up on your knowledge before your interview. If it’s a new area of the business, speak to the team you’re looking to join to find out more about them. Ask to shadow someone to get insight into how they work or read up on the latest developments and updates the internal marketing team has shared. Being prepared will put you ahead of others competing for the same role.

Oh, and don’t forget to dress to impress!

Keep Internal Candidates Focused on Development

Your best employees are often focused on development. Effective internal job interview questions can reinforce how their current position has contributed to their development in these four areas, whether the internal candidates end up in new positions or not.

Look out for them by being mindful of these components and the way you conclude your interview. There may be potential opportunities on the horizon that can further enhance their career.

Use BambooHR’s applicant tracking system to make your internal candidate interview process as smooth as possible. Create job advertisements, monitor communication with applicants, and send out offer letters all on one easy platform.

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https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/benefits-of-internal-recruiting
https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/how-to-assess-candidates
https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/how-to-create-great-candidate-experiences
https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/5-powerful-interview-questions-a2