When you interview job candidates, you need to be sure that the
person’s work philosophy and style are compatible with those of
your organization. Once you know this, you can focus on whether
they have the skills, abilities, and expertise to fill the vacancy
for which you are recruiting.
How can you improve this part of the interviewing process?
Consider the issues that you want to address, and then develop
a few questions for each. For instance, you will want some measure
of the applicant’s abilities, their dedication to their work, and
supervisory needs and response to supervisory direction. I recall
an interview I conducted many years ago in which I asked each candidate
how much direction they expected. One candidate told me, “None.”
Then he elaborated, “I don’t like anyone to tell me what to do.”
Needless to say, that answer went far in disqualifying him for a
job in which the ability to take direction until corporate policies
and procedures were learned was critical.
Here are some 25 interviewing questions divided into three critical
job categories. Many of these questions may already be ones you
ask; others may be new to your interview question repertoire.
Ability:
This is often discernible based upon past experience (job
or otherwise with entry-level employees). For instance, you might
ask someone right out of school What achievements are you most proud
of? Likewise, you can ask someone who is looking for a job change,
What accomplishments in your last job are you proudest about?
Let’s look at some other questions related to ability:
Dedication: You want to gauge
a candidate’s motivational level or commitment to their work.
Here are some questions that will enable you to do this:
