# Draft interview questions: prompt chain Turn a job description into one set of job-related interview questions that every candidate gets, each tied to a duty, with what a good answer includes and a check that no question touches a protected topic. **Made for:** Anyone who plans or runs interviews, such as an HR generalist, a hiring manager, a recruiter or a panel member at a small organization. ## Before you start Have these ready: - **The job description** (required): Paste the job description, or at least the duties and the must-have requirements. The questions are built only from this text. - **How many questions** (optional): A whole number from 4 to 10. Leave empty for 6. **How to use this chain** 1. Open a new chat in any AI assistant. 2. Copy the Step 1 prompt, replace every [PASTE HERE: ...] slot with your material, and send it. 3. Keep each answer: later steps ask you to paste it in. Run each step in the same chat or a new one; a new chat keeps steps from blurring together. 4. After a step that has a check, run the check before you move on. ## Step 1: List what the job needs Pick out each duty and must-have from the job description, quoted word for word, as the list the questions will cover. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an experienced HR interviewer who plans questions from the job itself. Your task is to list what this job needs, using the job description below. The job description: [PASTE HERE: The job description] Rules: - List each duty and each must-have requirement. Leave out nice-to-have items. - Quote each one from the text word for word, as short as you can. Do not correct it and do not reword it. - One row for each, in the order the text gives them. Do not merge two items and do not add one the text does not have. - Do not add qualities that jobs like this one usually ask for, such as "team player" or "fast learner", unless the text says them. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | What the job needs (quote) | ```` **You get back:** A numbered table of the duties and must-haves, each quoted from the job description. **Check after Step 1: Every item is quoted word for word from the job description** Check by eye: Each quote in the What the job needs (quote) column appears in the job description, with shortened fragments in the same order. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: Draft one question for each area Write job-related questions, each tied to one item on the list, with what a good answer includes. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an interview designer who writes fair, job-related questions. Your task is to draft interview questions from the list of what the job needs. The job description: [PASTE HERE: The job description] What the job needs: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (List what the job needs)] How many questions (if this is empty, write 6): [PASTE HERE: How many questions] Rules: - Write the number of questions asked for, from 4 to 10. If the number is outside that range, write 6. If the list has fewer items than the number, write fewer questions. Do not write two questions for one item unless the number asks for more than the list has. - Each question tests one item on the list. Give the item's number in the Item # column. - Type must be exactly one of: past experience, work sample, situation. Past experience asks what the person has done. Work sample asks the person to do or explain a small piece of the job now. Situation asks what the person would do in a case the job could bring. - Write each question so that any candidate can answer from their own work, study, volunteering or daily life. Do not ask about a past employer, a school or a tool by name unless the job description names it. - In the Good answer includes column, write two or three short points, drawn only from the job description, that a strong answer would show. Separate the points with semicolons. - Do not ask about age, family, children, plans for children, pregnancy, marriage, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, health, disability, injuries, past sick leave or workers' compensation claims, family medical history, religion, race, ethnic background, nationality, citizenship, accent, where the person grew up, union membership, arrests or convictions, current or past pay, or any other personal trait. You may ask whether the person can do a listed task, with or without a reasonable accommodation, and whether they are allowed to work in the US. Do not ask a question only some candidates could answer. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Item # | Question | Type | Good answer includes | ```` **You get back:** A table of questions, each tied to an item, with a type and what a good answer includes. **Check after Step 2: Each type is one of the three allowed words** Check by eye: Every row of the table has one of "past experience", "work sample" or "situation" in the Type column. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 3: Screen every question for protected topics Test each question for a protected topic and for a link to the job, and give a safe replacement for any that fail. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a fair-hiring reviewer who reads interview questions the way a candidate and a regulator would. Your task is to screen each question below for a protected topic and for a link to the job. The job description: [PASTE HERE: The job description] The questions: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Draft one question for each area)] Rules: - One row for each question, in the same order. Do not skip a question and do not add one. - In the Question # column, give the number from the questions table. - In the Touches column, write exactly one of: age, family or marital status, pregnancy, religion, race or ethnicity, nationality or origin, disability or health, gender or identity, other protected topic, none. Write none only if the question asks about nothing but the work. - In the Duty it tests column, quote the words from the job description that the question tests, word for word, as short as you can. If no words in the job description are tested, write the single word none. - In the Replacement column, write a safe question that tests the same duty when Touches is not none or the duty is none. Otherwise write keep. - Do not accept a question because it sounds friendly. Judge what it asks, not how it sounds. - A question about whether the person can do a listed task, with or without a reasonable accommodation, is about the work: write none. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Question # | Touches | Duty it tests (quote) | Replacement | ```` **You get back:** A table that screens each question, with the duty it tests and a replacement where needed. **Check after Step 3: Each topic is one of the allowed words** Check by eye: Every row of the table has one of "age", "family or marital status", "pregnancy", "religion", "race or ethnicity", "nationality or origin", "disability or health", "gender or identity", "other protected topic" or "none" in the Touches column. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 4: Write the interview guide Put the cleared questions into one guide that every candidate gets, with fixed follow-ups and a place to note evidence. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an HR professional who prepares a structured interview guide for a panel. Your task is to write the interview guide from the questions and the screen. The questions: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Draft one question for each area)] The screen of each question: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Screen every question for protected topics)] Rules: - Use each question as written, except where the Replacement column holds a question. Then use the replacement and drop the original. - Number the questions in the order of the questions table. Under each, write Tests: with the duty quote from the screen, Good answer includes: with the points from the questions table, and Notes: with a blank line for the interviewer to write what the candidate actually said. - Open with a short section called How to use this guide. It must say: ask every candidate the same questions in the same order; use the same follow-ups for every candidate, such as "Can you say more about what you did?"; write down what the candidate said, not an impression; compare answers only to the points listed, not to other candidates. - Do not add a question, a follow-up that depends on the candidate's background, or a point the questions table does not have. - Do not use the word "fit" or "culture" as something to judge. - End with exactly this line: Check this guide with your HR or legal team before you use it. Return the guide in markdown and nothing else. ```` **You get back:** A structured interview guide that every candidate is asked in the same way. **Check after Step 4: The reminder to check the guide with your HR or legal team is in the final text** Check by eye: The answer contains the text fragment "Check this guide with your HR or legal team before you use it." (including inside a longer word). If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Final checks Run these on the finished result. **Final check 1: Every question has its good answer points filled in** Check by eye: Every row of the table has something written in "Question" and "Good answer includes" (a blank or a dash does not count). If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 2: Every question is tied to words in the job description** Check by eye: Each quote in the Duty it tests (quote) column appears in the job description, with shortened fragments in the same order. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 3: The number of questions matches what was asked for** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: The number of questions matches what was asked for Count the rows of the table in the answer. The number asked for was below; if it was empty or outside 4 to 10, the right number is 6, but fewer is fine when the list of items is shorter. Does the count match? Answer FAIL and give the count and the number asked for. The number asked for: [PASTE HERE: How many questions] The work to check (the answer from Step 2 (Draft one question for each area)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Draft one question for each area)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 4: No question in the guide touches a protected topic** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: No question in the guide touches a protected topic Read every question in the guide. Does any of them ask, or invite the candidate to talk, about age, family or children, marital status, pregnancy, religion, race or ethnicity, nationality or origin, accent, disability or health, gender or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, injuries or sick leave, family medical history, union membership, arrests or convictions, or current or past pay? Do any depend on a particular kind of school, employer or life? Answer FAIL and quote each such question or phrase. The work to check (the answer from Step 4 (Write the interview guide)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Write the interview guide)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 5: The guide asks every candidate the same questions in the same way** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: The guide asks every candidate the same questions in the same way Read the guide. Does it contain anything that changes the questions for a particular candidate, such as "if the candidate is a graduate, ask", a follow-up that depends on a person's background, or a question that is missing a Tests or Good answer includes line? Answer FAIL and quote each place. The work to check (the answer from Step 4 (Write the interview guide)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Write the interview guide)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 6: Every flagged question was replaced** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: Every flagged question was replaced Look at the table below. For each row where Replacement is not keep, is the original question gone from the guide and the replacement in its place? Answer FAIL and quote each original that is still there. The screen of each question: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Screen every question for protected topics)] The work to check (the answer from Step 4 (Write the interview guide)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Write the interview guide)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 7: A person who knows the job and the rules reads the guide before the interviews** Ask yourself: Read each question as a candidate from a very different background. Could they answer from their own life, or does it assume one kind of past? Ask a person who does or knows the job whether the good-answer points are the right ones. Make sure the whole panel uses the guide the same way, and have your HR or legal team check it against your own policy and local rules. Only a person can say what is fair in your setting. If it does not pass: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## What you end up with - A set of job-related interview questions, each tied to a duty or must-have. - What a good answer includes, for each question, taken from the job description. - A screen that shows which questions touched a protected topic and what replaced them. - A structured guide that every candidate is asked in the same way, with a place to note evidence. ## Changing this chain - This template builds a first draft of a structured interview. It does not tell you what the law allows where you hire, and the last line of the guide says so. Check the guide with your HR or legal team before you use it. - Paste only a job description your organization lets you put into an AI tool. Do not paste anything about a candidate. - To add a question the panel always asks, such as whether the candidate can work the hours the job lists, add it to the guide by hand and keep it the same for every candidate. - To change the question types, edit the allowed words in the questions step and in its check, both. - Run it again for a different role. Do not reuse a guide for a job with different duties. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.