The 70 Best Icebreaker Interview Questions to Lighten the Mood

Interviews can be stressful, both for candidates and interviewers.

That’s where icebreaker questions come in.

In this article, we’ll guide you through 70 icebreaker questions that truly work.

How to Icreabreak in an Interview The Right Way

Icebreaker questions ar great to lower the tension inherent to any interview and to build rapport early with the candidate. However, they are some precautions to take.

Intrusive or overly personal questions can make candidates uncomfortable, leading to awkward silences or defensive answers.

How to use icebreakers the right way:

1. Stick to legal questions : as you know, there are certain questions that you can't ask for risk of discrimination.
2. Prioritize inclusivity: Choose questions that are neutral and accessible to candidates from all walks of life. For example, “What’s a hobby you’ve recently enjoyed?” invites a broad range of answers without assuming specific experiences..‍
3. Match the context: Tailor questions to the setting—whether in-person or virtual. In remote interviews, for example, asking about their work-from-home setup can be both practical and engaging.
4. Don't infer any conclusion : icebreakers are just meant to start the interview in a fun and relaxed tone, not to evaluate the candidate.

10 Hobbies Interview Questions

Hobbies provide a glimpse into a candidate’s passions, personality, and how they spend their time outside of work. Here are 10 hobbies-related questions to consider:

1. What hobby or activity do you enjoy the most in your free time?
2. Have you recently started any new hobbies or revisited old ones?
3. How has your favorite hobby influenced your personal or professional growth?
4. Do you prefer solo hobbies or activities in a group setting? Why?
5. What’s a hobby you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?
6. Do you think your hobbies reflect your personality? How so?
7. Have you ever turned a hobby into a side hustle or business venture?
8. What’s the most challenging aspect of your favorite hobby?
9. How do your hobbies help you manage stress or recharge?
10. Have you ever used skills from your hobbies in a professional setting?

10 Fun Interview Questions

Fun interview questions can be a great way to lighten the mood and gauge a candidate’s creativity, adaptability, and quick thinking. Here are 10 fun questions to consider:

1. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
2. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?
3. If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?
4. Describe your dream vacation—where would you go, and what would you do?
5. If you could only bring three items to a deserted island, what would they be?
6. What’s your go-to karaoke song?
7. If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?
8. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
9. If you were an animal, which one would you be and why?
10. What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?

10 Personality Interview Questions

Personality questions can help get a more human pictures of the candidate. Here are 10 questions designed for this:

1. What book, movie, or podcast has had the biggest impact on your life and why?
2. If you could spend a year anywhere in the world, where would it be and what would you do?
3. How do you like to spend your weekends or time off?
4. What is something you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t had the chance to yet?
5. If you won the lottery tomorrow, what’s the first thing you would do?
6. What’s a personal accomplishment you’re most proud of outside of work?
7. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
8. What’s a tradition or habit you’ve carried with you from childhood?
9. If you could have dinner with anyone—alive or dead—who would it be and why?
10. What’s your favorite way to unwind after a long day?

Location-Based Interview Questions

Location-based interview questions are an excellent way to talk about a topic that is familiar for the candidate. Here are 10 thoughtful location-based questions to consider:

1. What do you enjoy most about living in your current city or town?
2. Have you ever relocated for work? How did you handle the transition?
3. How familiar are you with [specific location or region relevant to the role]?
4. What are your thoughts on commuting or traveling regularly for work?
5. If you could live anywhere for this role, where would you choose and why?
6. Have you ever worked in a remote or hybrid setup? What challenges did you face?
7. What cultural or regional aspects do you think would impact your work in [specific location]?
8. What do you find most exciting about potentially working in [specific location]?
9. Are there any logistical concerns you’d have about relocating or traveling for this position?
10. How do you typically explore or get to know a new city or region?

Travel Interview Questions

Travel interview questions can help talk about fun memories. Here are 10 travel-related questions to include:

1. What do you enjoy most about living in your current city or town?
2. If you could visit any city or country, where would you go and why?
3. What are your favorite activities to do in a new place when you travel?
4. Do you consider yourself someone who thrives in familiar surroundings or in new, unknown places? Why?
5. Have you ever attended a festival or event unique to a specific location? What was the experience like?
6. What place, whether near or far, has left the biggest impression on you and why?
7. Do you have a favorite type of scenery—mountains, beaches, cities, or countryside?
8. If you had to move somewhere completely different, what’s the first thing you would explore?
9. What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve learned about a place you visited or lived?
10. How do you decide where to go when you have free time to explore a new area?

Routine Interview Questions

Routine interview questions can help get out of work-related topics for a moment to relieves stress. Here are 10 thoughtful routine-based questions to consider:

1. ‍What does a typical morning routine look like for you?
2. How do you like to start your day on a positive note?
3. What’s your favorite way to relax or unwind after a busy day?
4. Do you have any daily habits or rituals that you can’t go without? How do you like to organize your time during weekends or days off?
5. What’s one small thing you do every day that makes you feel accomplished?
6. Do you prefer a structured routine, or do you thrive on spontaneity?
7. How do you reset when you feel overwhelmed by your day-to-day tasks?
8. What’s a personal routine or habit you’ve picked up recently that you love?
9. Do you have any non-work-related goals you try to incorporate into your daily life?
   

Noota: Get the Right Takeaways from Your Interviews

Conducting interviews can be challenging, especially when it comes to capturing all the details and evaluating the responses consistently. Noota helps simplify this process by providing the tools you need to make the most of each interview :

• Record and Transcribe Your Interviews Automatically : Taking detailed notes during an interview can be difficult while also staying fully engaged with the candidate. With Noota, you can record and transcribe your nterviews automatically. This allows you to focus on the conversation without worrying about missing important details.
• Generate Structured Summaries : Once the interview is over, reviewing hours of recorded material can be time-consuming. Noota solves this by generating structured summaries that highlight the key points of each interview.
• Seamless Team Collaboration : Hiring decisions are rarely made by just one person. With Noota, you can easily share interview recordings, transcripts, and summaries with your hiring team. This ensures that everyone involved in the decision-making process has access to the same information, enabling mSharing insights efficiently helps your team make consistent decisions and ensures that the best cultural fit is identified.
• Evaluate Consistently with Custom Templates : Noota also allows you to create custom evaluation templates that align with your company’s core values. You can use these templates to assess candidate responses systematically, ensuring that all interviewers are evaluating cultural fit based on the same criteria.

Want to avoid missing any key details in your interviews ? Try Noota for free.