What are the best interview questions to ask a potential employee?
I am thinking about hiring some help for my latest venture; what should I be asking candidates?
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Feb 12, 2014
Hi Jen,
Probably important to note what NOT to ask candidates as well. Some very good feedback on here regarding questions that will help you identify the right candidate, but if you are new to handling the recruitment processes, you may want to research questions you want to steer clear from. I always throw this out there for the entrepreneur who may ask what seems the most innocent of questions that can turn into a disaster both legally an financially. Best advice from someone with HR compliance always on the brain.
Jan 20, 2014
One of the recent interview questions that I was asked was: "What in your experience and background has led you to believe that you're ready for a position such as this?" Now, while we may ask that exact same question in many, many ways this was the most direct way in which I have ever been asked. I liked because it provided some insight into the interviewer and their personality as well. Hope that helps!
Jan 19, 2014
Many of the respondents on here talked about looking for go-getters. Frankly, if you need people that will do what you need done, they might not have an adventurous spirit. Many great workers like to have expectations they match and if that's what you need (followers) make sure to look for those qualities.
Sorry to seem like a wet blanket, but not everyone in an organization needs to be Type A personalities.
Jan 17, 2014
It all depends on what you are asking them to do. For example f you are hiring a telemarketer the two main criteria are: is the person flexible (and you test for this) and, are they bothered by rejection? The founder of Southwest Airlines hired only on the basis of the person having an outgoing enthusiastic personality, without considering anything else.
Jan 16, 2014
I have a question I've developed over the years: what are your "four buckets" at work? By that I mean:
1. What do you love doing whether you get paid for it or not?
2. What are you happy doing and you get paid for it so it's a bonus?
3. What are you willing to do because you're getting paid?
4. What are you not willing to do even if you get paid?
I find that if they have taken any time to think about things like this, they will know themselves and their capabilities a bit better and will be able to better align their skill set and passion with the position.
I just wish it hadn't take me so long to figure out my buckets!
Jan 13, 2014
I love interviewing people, and I love asking them questions that have no 'right' answer, such as:
* What talents would you bring to this organisation that would add value to us (this tests whether they have done any research about the company at all)
* If I was to ask the person closest to you what is your most irritating trait, what would they tell me. (always gets an interesting reaction) ann
Jan 13, 2014
One key component that I have discovered with interviewing over the last 10 years is you have to be willing to probe or dig deeper within the initial answer. I agree with doing Skill/Behavioral assessments but these are people you are interviewing not just numbers, and with that you still want to get an overview of the candidate to determine whether he or she is a good fit. You can even use the assessment to ask further questions on their skills/behaviors but surely shouldn't be the core foundation.
It's essential to get a clear understanding of your ideal candidate.
What qualities would you like for them to have? How much experience? and as one of the gentleman stated use that as your benchmark in which you frame your questions as well as your job description. I particularly like "Tell me about a time..." or "How would you handle..." Once again depends on what characteristics your desiring to uncover that frames your questions.
Jan 13, 2014
Hi Jen,
Your question is a bit vague. A lot depends on what type of role you're hiring for. Do you have a job description and are you clear on what key competencies you'd like these individuals to have? When interviewing you should never ask "closed" questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no" answer as it leaves you no room to probe deeper into the answer. Your questions should be aligned to the key requirements you are looking for for the position. There are websites that will help you with job descriptions and interview questions or you can contact an HR consultant who can help you with this. The better prepared you are for the interviews the higher probability that you'll find the right people for your business.
Jan 12, 2014
Hi Jen,
My experience has been that finding a candidate
who shares your culture, is at least equally important
as finding some one with the right skills and experience set.
Many candidates are expert interviewees, and can
confidently answer questions related to skills and experience.
In order to get an idea of who the real person is, their values
and emotional intelligence, I have found it useful to ask a
non-traditional but relevant question like, "Who is your
favourite hero, and why".
The answers cannot have been rehearsed and they provide an opportunity to see behind any facade.
Hope this helps,
Ian
Jan 12, 2014
What type of characteristics are you looking for in the help? Are you looking for someone who knows another language, has a keen eye for detail, or is highly organized? Create questions around those characteristics and the job description and you will be fine. I do ask a question that turns heads...I ask, "Tell me about the current book you are reading." I know this is outside of the normal questions asked; however it provide insight into the candidate.
Jan 12, 2014
The questions you're asking need to be modeled around the behaviors needed to achieve the goals of your venture. There are no 'standard' questions that can cover every organisation, and if your questions are specifically tailored to the outputs you require, your interviewing success rate will be a lot higher.
Just make sure they way that you're asking the questions draws out previous examples and explanations of behavior.
Jan 12, 2014
Jen
There are so many questions and much depends on the position level of who you are attempting to hire...i.e. manager, individual contributor, coordinator, project management, etc.
However, I will just mention a few of the questions you might ask. If you would like to contact me we could discuss in depth.
Some questions:
Why are you interested in this company and this position? What are your specific accomplishments that would lend themselves to this position? What would you supervisor, peers and subordinates say about you? What do you wish you would have done differently on previous projects and what would you you do now? What are your strengths, weaknesses and what have you done to overcome these weaknesses? How have you dealt with any issues you may have faced with other employees? What job challenges would you like face in the future? etc etc.
I also am a firm believer in finding out what "prompted" an individual to do something not just what they did. e.g. "What prompted you to: go to xyz school..to select your major..to drop out of college...to select your employer...your career objectives... leave a particular employer..work with a particular charitable organization.etc, etc, etc.
Again, there are so many questions to ask.
Jan 11, 2014
When we hire a new employee we ask the following questions:
1) What is your passion?
2) How does your passion relate to this business?
3) What does and doesn't motivate you?
Jan 11, 2014
I would start with writing a job description as your framework for developing questions in advance of the interview. Use the same questions for each candidate. I would focus on job related questions, and would start off with general, open ended questions, using probing questions to get more specific information where applicable.
I recommend going over the work history first, having the candidate explain their responsibilities (open ended questions) then get detail. Here you can find out why they accepted a position and why they left.
Then, ask for examples (tell me about a time when you...) of job related situations the person will likely encounter in the position with your company. For example, if it's a customer service position, one question might be "Tell me about a time you were faced with a very irate customer. Tell me how you handled it, including what you said, the customer's replies, from start to finish. Or, "tell me about a time you handled a tough situation with a customer very effectively" or "...and it didn't go the way you wanted it to" . There are lots of these types of questions (behavioral questions) you can ask;
Then ask "motivational" questions to find out what drives the person, generates their excitement about work. For instance, tell me about the best position you've had; or, tell me what you liked most about your last job; tell me about the ideal next position -- what it would include for responsibilities. What would the environment be like; what would your manager be like? Tell me about the best manager you ever reported to.
So you're asking about the work history, behavioral examples of situations the person might encounter at this job you have, and motivational questions so that you can find out where the person fits best.
I have trained lots of managers in interviewing so if you'd like a mini training or coaching session, let me know.
Good luck in your interviews!
Jan 10, 2014
It depends on the position you are hiring for and what specifically you need from the employee. There's really no one right question to ask.
Jan 10, 2014
1) First make sure you have a thorough job description including day to day responsibilities, key skills needed to undertake the task, what further responsibilities are they likely to have. What kind of career they can expect.
2) jot down the type of person you feel you can work with - personality type - will they fit in with a current team, what kind of culture are you looking at, think about whether you want an experienced person, or someone with a ton of ideas and ready to plunge into a new challenge. Create a picture of your ideal employee - drive, ambition, a hard worker, interests outside of work etc etc.
Once you have your outline of your ideal candidate then you can start digging and asking questions based on your needs.
Check them out on social media profiles - find out what they are into before you interview them.
Start with open ended questions to warm them up and get a feel of how they articulate themselves, ask out about their interests, ask about what they are looking for in a career, career goals and ambitions, what was their most favorite job...why? what do they find challenging. Keep this part fairly conversational to open them up.
I would then start going into specifics and have them talk you through their last couple of positions or if they are a grad - key projects they worked on and what their responsibilities were (do they match up with your criteria?
Go into more of the technicalities of the job, how much do they understand about the role and what they will be doing. KEY here at some point you must ask about what they know about you and your venture (check to see they have done their homework to see how interested they actually are at the opportunity - you want to weed out those who are just applying for anything and going to interview after interview (which may not be a problem with the current employment situation)
Ask questions to find out about problem solving, how would they deal with a situation that they couldn't manage on their own
If you want to chat further re interview techniques please feel free to email me mynetsol.inc@gmail.com
Good luck
Jan 10, 2014
Being a headhunter, I invariably ask for their mid to long-term goals, what direction they see their career taking in the next 3-5 years. I can then judge if the position my client is offering would fit in their grand professional scheme. The idea being that in this day and age of career-hopping, stability is harder and harder to get from a potential employee.