Questions to Ask, and Avoid Asking, Candidates
Posted December 10, 2013 & filed under Hiring Resources
Asking the right questions to candidates during the interview process can be a difference-maker. If you ask the right questions, you could get the right fit. If you ask the wrong questions, you could end up spending copious amounts of your time and resources searching for an ever elusive candidate.
The reason for this is because hiring managers and HR recruiters often get tied up in asking one-size-fits-all questions to every candidate they interview. Instead, you should be focusing on getting the candidate to open up on their personal experiences. Unless you want to hear the same rehearsed answers from almost every candidate that enters your office, let the potential hire take over the direction of the conversation.
You may find it better to act as a guide rather than an interrogator. In order to do so, make it a point to avoid these interview questions.
Don’t ask for information that you have right in front of you
You only have a small amount of time to get to know the potential candidate. Asking for general details on his or her skills and work experience is a nice way to waste time. You wouldn’t want a candidate asking what the company does, so don’t start with obvious questions yourself.
What to ask instead: Anything that expands on what you have in front of you
Focus your questions on expanding the preliminary information you have pulled from his or her resume and cover letter. Try asking something along the lines of: “I see that you have experience working in______. What kinds of projects were you working on there and how were you involved?”
Don’t ask cute questions to gauge personality
Asking a candidate what fruit, color, or animal he or she identifies most with will not tell you anything useful. Since you are trying to ascertain whether or not the candidate will fit in with the company, it would better serve you to inquire about something more relevant.
What to ask instead: Questions pertaining to real live experiences
It can take years to really get to know a person inside and out. You only have 15-30 minutes. Rather than having a candidate tell you they would be the color yellow because they have a bright personality, try asking a more in depth question like: “Tell me about a time when your personality clashed with someone you were working with. How did you succeed in collaborating to get the job done?”
Don’t Ask: Nonsensical questions
Most companies dream of becoming as successful as Google. Therefore, many try to employ the same interviewing tactics that have been made famous by the industry giant. “If you were shrunk down into the size of a pencil and dropped into a blender, how would you get out?” is one of the most famous examples.
Sure, these questions put candidates on their toes, but they don’t really tell you much about their problem-solving capabilities. In fact, Lazlo Bock, the senior VP of people operations at Google even admitted that they are a complete waste of time and do not predict anything.
What to ask instead: Questions that actually demonstrate problem solving skills
You want to focus in on how a candidate will solve problem that pertain to your company. Unless you are tasked with cleaning every window in New York, being able to predict how many there are will tell you little about the potential hire’s ability to do the job. Instead, ask highly specific questions that pertain to the work they will be doing for you. That is the only way you will be able to tell who the right fit for the job is.
By Kevin Withers
