I have held positions in several companies where I had to make hiring decisions. This includes Square (Block), Weebly and FutureFund, free fundraising platform for the K-12 school groups I founded. All of these businesses require talent with specialized skills and experience, but you might be surprised at how few questions I ask during interviews.

In fact, after committing INTERVIEWS with more than 2,000 candidates for various positions over the course of my career, I've learned that there are only two questions that really matter. And if you're listening to the answers, they'll tell you everything you need to know if you should hire the person who gives them.

Here's what they are and why.

Related: The 4 keys to asking better questions

“What have you been working on?”

This may seem too obvious, but that's actually the point. You let people keep theirs answers on rails when you are very specific with your questions. But when you ask a question like this, their mind goes to places you didn't direct them to.

Most people—especially in tech—have more than one or two projects on the go at any given moment. Ask what they're working on and they'll have to narrow down all the possible answers they can give at the right moment to tell you about what looms large on their minds.

At that point, you will learn a lot about their real priorities.

But that's not all. Candidates may even surprise themselves. It's not just that they haven't had time to think about what the most diplomatic or people-pleasing response is—their subconscious priorities may not align with what they've told themselves is most important to share.

Look and listen carefully after asking this question, and you'll learn more than just what kind of work your potential candidate is most interested in doing. You can also learn how aware they are of their interests, which can tell you a lot about their interests. future credibility in your workplace.

The second question works the same way. But it can teach you even more.

“What do you want to do?”

If you have just finished searching candidate what they have been working on, this question may seem redundant. You've already formed a picture of their priorities through the last answer they gave, so why are you asking?

Simple: you're listening to see how well their answers match. If what the candidate wants to do is different than what they've been doing, you know there's something they don't like or something they're trying to change.

This helps you understand why they left their last job, what they are looking for and what they hope to get out of it. It's much more instructive than asking “why are you leaving” which will probably just get them to lie.

Related: 5 Lessons Nonprofit Leaders Can Learn from Big Tech

Closing the interview

These two questions also give you all the ammunition you need to close a candidate you want to hire. I had a candidate tell me they were leaving their last job because of them work-life balance. Did I promise them a better work-life balance if they came to work for me?

Although I was reasonably confident that I could provide just that, there was no need to explicitly outline and offer it – which would have forced me to start negotiations from a position of powerlessness. Instead, I just steered the conversation to my daughter's softball games and casually mentioned that I never missed one.

The candidate read between the lines and took it from there.

Listening is the most important skill you can develop as an interviewer, and if your candidates are worth it, they will listen just as carefully to how you answer their questions. So remember: don't treat people the way you want to be treated; treat them as they should be treated.

Telling someone about the idea of ​​coming to work for you is like selling them a house. They should be able to see themselves living and growing up there. That's why you need to tell them a good story and then give them the tools to keep writing it.

The interview is the beginning of that story. If you listen carefully, they will tell you exactly where they want to go. From there, it's a simple matter of choosing if that's the story you want to help them tell.

Related: Are you really listening? 7 obstacles to effective listening