What Questions Should I Ask When Interviewing Someone

Can You Tell Me About A Time When You Had A Disagreement With A Boss Or Colleague And How You Handled The Situation

This is one of the best questions to ask an interviewee because youll get a sense of their conflict resolution abilities. What tone does the person use when talking about the other people involved? Were they able to handle the situation described appropriately? Did they find common ground? Emotional intelligence is keenly needed in almost every job.

Work Experience Questions To Ask Job Candidates:

• What types of jobs have you held in the past?
• What was your title at your current/previous/last job?
• What were your duties in that position?
• What did you like most/least about the position?
• Why are you leaving your present employer?
• Whats the most important thing you learned in school and/or at your last job?
• Why did you choose your major?
• If selected for this position, can you describe your strategy for the first 90 days?
• What is your understanding of the skills necessary to perform this job?
• What special training have you completed that qualifies you for this job?
• What certifications do you hold?
• Can you describe how to _____________ ?
• This job requires the ability to _____________ . Can you give me an example of a time that you have had to _____________ ?

Why Are You Looking For A New Job

The answer the candidate gives to this manager interview question helps you evaluate whether he or she would fit in well with your company culture.

Listen for answers that express a desire for roles that are more challenging and opportunities to satisfy work-related goals and passions.

If the candidate is leaving their current job because of issues that are common to every business, they might not be the right choice for your company.

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Why Are You The Right Fit To Succeed In This Role

You should use the interview as an opportunity to say something interesting about your skills and experiences that relate back to the role at hand. Remember that interviewers will be looking for you to demonstrate key skills that match the job and behaviour that align with the organisation’s culture, so prepare examples in advance that you can call on when required.

Examples of the key attributes employers look for include:

• Project management skills

How Many Questions Should I Ask

Prepare at least 4 or 5 questions to ask the interviewer. Just remember that those questions might be answered throughout the interview. Also, questions may come up during the interview. Thats great! You want to try and turn the interview into a conversation between peers, so asking questions on the fly is a good tactic too. You dont have to always wait till the end.

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Research The Hell Out Of Your Guest

We spend a couple hours researching our guests, their work, industry, history, culture, clients, Tweets, etc. before we interview them. We find and read all the interviews theyve already done. We read what Wikipedia has to say. We read whatever theyve written themselves. We do everything short of stalking them at their local grocery store.

When beginning to write your questions, write down every question you have about your guest. As you research, eliminate the questions you find answers to. Get as much information as you can and then think about what you still want to know. This is what helps you ask great questions. It also helps you avoid questions theyve already been asked. Eliminating those questions is your goal because 1. Your audience can or has already read about it elsewhere 2. Your guest has already said all they can say about it .

With almost every interview Ive done, Im asked a question I could easily answer by linking to another interview or article I wrote. I can see why this happens people know you have an opinion on that subject so they want you to speak about it on their platform, whether or not youve already said it before. But even if you do want to discuss a topic someone often speaks about, try to find a fresh angle. Your guest and audience will thank you for it.

How Did You Hear About The Role

While seemingly innocuous, this question serves an important purpose. Your company is probably spending significant budget every year on employer branding, advertising and candidate attraction. It’s important to understand what is working!

You need to know whether the messaging your company is investing in is resonating with the right candidates. Make a note of the answers to see whether specific trends emerge. For example, maybe high quality candidates all come across your brand on Twitter, therefore you should invest more in that medium.

It’s true that you can rely on analytics, providing you have them in place, to tell you where traffic is coming from and that many applications have a ‘how did you hear about us’ section, but sometimes, hearing it directly from the horse’s mouth give you more context.

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‘what Type Of Employee Tends To Succeed Here What Qualities Are The Most Important For Doing Well And Advancing’

This question shows the interviewer that you care about your future at the company, and it will also help you decide if you’re a good fit for the position, Oliver wrote. “Once the interviewer tells you what she’s looking for in a candidate, picture that person in your mind’s eye,” she said. “She or he should look a lot like you.”

What Are Your Salary Expectations

At this point in the interview process, the candidate shouldnt answer with a specific number. Rather, you want to hear that the individual is focused on finding the best fit for their skills and abilities.

Talking dollars should come at the end of the face-to-face interview or even in a second interview if thats what it takes.

This kind of trick question can tell you a lot about whether the candidate is right for your company.

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What Does Your Wife Think About Being A Pastors Wife Or What Does Your Husband Think About Being Married To A Pastor

Finally, another significant reason why pastors leave the ministry is due to family issues.

Hereâs the deal:

Every family has their struggles.

There are times when a family is dealing with normal day-to-day stress, and there are other times when a family may be walking through a prolonged period of pressure. But this isnât the point of these questions.

With this question, you want to know if the pastoral candidate and his or her spouse is in unity. In other words, do they support their calling? Or do you sense thereâs tension between the two?

Pursing pastoral ministry is rewarding, but it is a challenging vocation.

From working 50 hours or more per week, being on call 24/7, and battling stress over their finances, serving as a pastor is not all roses. There are many burdens the carry , and, if there is division at home regarding their calling, then it will only be a matter of time until they decide to tap out.

B Illegal Interview Questions

This goes without saying. Using one of these illegal interview questions to ask the interviewee can damage your employer brand at best and, at worst, you might actually run afoul of the law or even get sued.

The problem with illegal questions is that they often crop up in an interview without the interviewer being aware that theyre illegal. But, often, these questions are also personal and not job-related, so its easy to learn to steer clear of them. Here are some examples of illegal questions:

• How old are you?
• Are you a native English speaker?
• Do you plan to have children?
• Are you married or plan to get married soon?
• Have you ever been arrested?
• Have you ever used any drugs?
• When did you graduate?

These interview questions have the potential of illegally disadvantaging a protected group. For example, in the United States, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warns against making decisions based on arrest records because this may cause you to unwittingly discriminate against protected groups. Similarly, in the UK, age is one of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010. This means that a direct question about age, or even an indirect one might get you in trouble.

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What Is The Most Important Thing A New Hire Can Do In Their First 30 Days At The Company

Starting a new job can be stressful, particularly if youre onboarding employees in a fully remote environment. The first 30 days in a new role primarily consist of onboarding and getting to know the office culture, and it can take anywhere from six months to a year to feel fully onboarded. Accordingly, most answers here would likely pertain to soft skills like being prepared, demonstrating a good attitude, and showing a desire to learn.

As Carla notes in her post, asking this question allows the candidate to show that theyre already thinking of ways they can contribute to the team and make a positive impact right from the start.

But it also gives you the opportunity to communicate what you and your team will be looking for in their work early on, which is especially helpful to know if there is any sort of employment probationary period. Aligning on these expectations during the interview process can be instrumental for candidates seeking to set personal goals before they begin.

Your answer to this question can also speak to your organizational culture of internal mobility by showing what you look for in high-performing employees.

‘is This A New Position If Not Why Did The Person Before Me Leave This Role’

This might be uncomfortable to ask, but Harrison said it’s not uncommon to ask and that it shows you are being smart and analytical by wanting to know why someone may have been unhappy in this role previously.

If you found out they left the role because they were promoted, that’s also useful information.

“It’s helpful to know if the last person quit, if the business is growing, or if there’s some other driver at play,” Angela Copeland, career coach at Copeland Coaching, told Business Insider.

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Give Me The Characteristics Of Someone Who Would Not Do Well In This Company

The hiring process is all about finding the right fit for both the company and the candidate. A candidate should ask this question, Carla says, to gain insights into what qualities employers dont value while learning what behaviors candidates should avoid as a new employee.

But since candidates are leading the current job market, try to frame your answer around what your company does value, likeflexibility or diversity and inclusion. From the candidates perspective, your answer can serve as a litmus test for whether your company will give them what theyre looking for. Genuine, thoughtful answers that truly reflect your company culture can help instill a sense of trust and respect between you and the candidate, whether the role ends up being a good match or not.

What One Skill Would You Like To Improve And Whats Your Plan For Doing So

If youve previously been relying on that cliché what’s your biggest weakness question, give this one a try instead.

Rather than asking an interviewee to point out her flaws and poke holes in her own candidacy, you can turn the tables by focusing on areas of improvement.

Additionally, the second half of this question gives that applicant a chance to redeem herself, so to speak, by explaining what action plan she has for continuing to grow and develop within her own field.

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S To Prepare For An Interview

1. Guest and Topic Research

When you invite a guest on your podcast, get started by researching.

Before you invite someone on your podcast, you should have a decent amount of knowledge around:

• Who they are
• How they can add value to your audience
• What theyre currently working / focused on

Knowing these things ahead of time will help you in guiding the conversation.

This is also a part of the process that could be delegated to a team member if you dont feel you have sufficient time to do thorough research on every potential guest.

2. Scheduler and Intake Form

Once youve done your research and found someone who you know will be a great guest, your next step is to send them a scheduler link so they can book a time for the interview.

You can do this with the help of a software like ScheduleOnce or Calendly.

Both of these programs allow you to share a link and have someone book a time with you, plus they help you gather all info you need ahead of time from you guest via an intake form.

So if a part of your interview will be sharing:

• your guests bio,
• a fun fact about their childhood,
• 5 bullet points that they can talk about during the interview, and
• an image for you to use for social media and your show notes

you can request ALL of this prior to the interview even taking place via an intake form!

3. Questions to ask

Weve got a list of 10 of the best questions to ask below, but be creative! This is your show and it should be unique to you.

4. Interview pre-chat

How Do You Set Goals Outline The Process

Most of your best employees will be highly goal-oriented and results driven, hardly surprising then that hiring managers want more of the same!

This interview question is great at ensuring that candidates are going to match up to the goals that you set them, and should show you whether they have sufficient initiative to set their own targets.

The best candidates will articulate their exact goal setting process. This should involve: how they select goals, how they split these lofty goals up into smaller tasks, how they plan to tackle these tasks, and ultimately how they measure success.

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Tell Me About A Time You Messed Up

This one is pops up in many of the most popular interview playbooks and guides, it’s a great test of humility and self awareness. No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is what happens next.

Does the candidate learn a valuable lesson and use it as a motivation for self improvement, or do they point the finger and blame colleagues.

The answer to this question should show whether a person is willing to take ownership of their work or will be quick to shirk responsibility when the going gets tough.

Now Consider These Factors To Help You Evaluate Candidates:

Now that you have a complete overview of the best interview questions to ask, theres one last thing to do: be prepared to answer common questions from candidates. Theyre interviewing you too, after all. That way, candidates can also get useful insight on whether your company is a good fit for their skillset and motivations and hopefully, youll get to convince the best among them to join your team. Happy interviewing!

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Questions About The Company Culture

Questions about the company’s culture show how well the hiring managers get along with the rest of their team members. The more positive responses they give about their coworkers, the more likely they have a close relationship with them.

• How would you depict the company’s culture?

• Do you believe that this organization has a collaborative work environment?

• What was the last company-wide team event you participated in?

• What was the result of that experience with the rest of the team?

• Do you have a favorite office event or tradition?

• How often do you have lunch with fellow employees?

• Do you meet up with employees outside of the office? If so, how often?

• Are there joint events with other companies in the area?

• Are there volunteering opportunities that employees can sign up for?

• In what ways has the company changed since you began your tenure?

What Single Project Or Task Would You Consider Your Most Significant Career Accomplishment To Date Walk Me Through The Plan How You Managed It How You Measured Success And What The Biggest Mistakes You Made Were

Lou Adler, one of the world’s foremost recruiting thinkers, has made no secret of his 10 year search for the perfect interview question. After all his research, this is the question that he landed upon. He believes it’s the best indicator of whether you should, or shouldn’t hire someone.

Interview questions like this are the whole package. Candidates have an opportunity to give you a behind the scenes tour of the professional accomplishment that they’re most proud of. You’ll get insights into how they plan and run projects, as well as how the bar they set for success.

Top candidates will also use the “biggest mistakes” part of the question to display a sense of ownership for any weak points in the project.

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Career Goal Questions To Ask Job Candidates:

• Why do you want this job?
• Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
• Why should we hire you?
• Why are you leaving your present job?
• What salary are you seeking?
• Whats your salary history?
• If I were to give you the salary you requested, but let you write your job description for the next year, what would it say?
• What are you looking for in terms of career development?
• How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?
• What kind of goals would you have in mind if you got this job?

Which questions do you think are most helpful when it comes to hiring new employees? Have you had better luck focusing on personality or work experience? Id love to hear your thoughts in the comments, or on Twitter