A question bank is usually organised by competency, role family or seniority, with each question paired with follow-up prompts and examples of what weak, solid and strong answers look like. Interviewers and recruiters pick from it when building an interview guide, rather than writing questions from scratch. A bank might hold, for instance, five approved questions on handling customer complaints for frontline roles, each linked to the same rating scale.
Reusing tested questions makes interviews more consistent across interviewers and hiring rounds, and makes it easier to compare candidates fairly. A bank also reduces the risk of off-limits questions, such as ones touching on family plans or age. It needs upkeep: questions that no longer separate strong and weak candidates, or that have been widely shared online, should be retired and replaced.