How Does This Company Measure Performance And Determine Salary Increases
Similarly, you should ask how a company measures performance so that you know the key performance indicators you should look out for, Woodruff-Santos says. Some companies have quarterly reviews while others do biannually and some just do once a year, and its worthwhile to know how often youll have an opportunity to discuss your growth and progress.
Many companies no longer rely on annual performance reviews to measure performance and also have metrics for salary increases, Salemi adds.
Ask how annual salary increases are determined and when, Salemi tells SELF. If you start a position in November and salaries are adjusted every January 1 for the new fiscal year, then you are probably starting during the annual salary review process and likely wont get an increase until the following January, so its key to ask about timing.
What One Skill Makes You The Most Qualified For This Position
While things like culture fit are important, your focus first and foremost is to find someone who possesses those necessary cut-and-dried qualifications to fill that open position.
Thats why a question like this one is so important. Not only do you get to hear more detail about what that candidate considers to be his core competencies, but its also a chance to confirm that he has the appropriate understanding of everything the role entails.
For example, if he touts a skill thats impressivebut totally irrelevantthats a red flag that youre not on the same page about the major duties of that job.
What Career Accomplishment Makes You Most Proud
Career accomplishments can give you a better idea of what a candidates strengths are, whether that achievement was the successful completion of a project, a certification, or an award. This question also gives the candidate a chance to brag a little bit, which can help someone who appears a bit nervous at the beginning of the interview.
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When Did You Make A Bad Decision
Tell me about the time when you had to make an independent decision, which ended up being the wrong one getting you in hot water with the boss?
This question tells me a lot about the candidates ego and whether they take responsibility for their actions or if they become really defensive.
Poor answers to this question include vague situations like:
Oh yes, I made independent decisions all the time, and some were right, some were wrong, but I cant remember exact details right this moment > Candidate has clearly never made any independent decisions.
I made a decision to start working with a new client, but I made a mistake and didnt sign the Terms and Conditions before accepting the work, which caused a lot of problems. I had a stern talk down from the manager, and since then, I insist that I am made aware of when Im doing something wrong because I dont know it otherwise > This particular answer simply shifts the blame onto someone else rather than taking responsibility for own actions.
Good answers:
I once had to take over the department while my manager was dealing with a personal issue. I was dealing with a lot of responsibility and made a huge accounting mistake. I realized the mistake and owned up to it. When the boss returned, I accepted the harsh criticism because it was my mistake after all. But since then, Ive made sure to triple-check everything to ensure the mistake never happens again.
Deeyana Angelo, Managing Director of Blahtech and
How Do You Report To Managers Who Are From Different Backgrounds From You
What they are asking: Give me an example of how you could make a direct report feel a sense of inclusion and respect.
Along with growing diversity in the workforce, the overdue shift to focusing on equity and inclusion in the workplace includes increasing the representation of all backgrounds and perspectives in leadership. This means women, people of color, skilled professionals of all abilities, and more are at long last climbing the corporate and closing DEI gaps.Gone are the days of exclusively answering to middle-aged white male managers as you advance through your career. While this is an exciting time for people of all races and genders, it needs to be recognized as a normal aspect of the workforce. Interviewers want to know you respect the position and the person rather than feel youre forced to adapt and overcome your unconscious biases.With that said, managers and other team leaders are frequently excluded from team camaraderie and outings. You may want to show you are empathetic to direct reports and while you can show them the appropriate professional courtesy in the office, you would also do your best to connect with them as a person, just like any other member of the team.
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Top Strategic Situational Questions You Can Ask Your Candidates
What would you do if you were almost finished with a project that you had worked hard on when suddenly the goals or priorities were changed?
The response you are looking for to this question depends on the role the candidate is interviewing for.
For example, if this is for a lower-level position, youll mainly want the candidate to show that they are flexible and are willing to work hard to get the job done.
If the candidate is interviewing for a higher-level position, you may want someone who is able to use their problem-solving skills to come up with a way that they can meet those priorities without redoing the entire project.
You want someone who can meet the expectations of the company while also being resourceful.
What would you do if you were assigned to work with a colleague on a project, but you two just couldnt seem to agree on anything?
This question allows you to see your candidates conflict resolution skills working in real-time.
Youll want to hire someone that tries to see the situation from their colleagues point of view and who would try to talk it out with them first.
Open communication is key, so you want the interviewee to demonstrate that they would be able to openly discuss the issues in a solution-oriented way, as opposed to getting defensive or emotional.
How would you handle an instance of receiving criticism from a superior?
Youll want your candidate to view criticism as an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
To Date What Professional Achievement Are You Most Proud Of
Candidates show up to interviews with a goal of impressing you. So, chances are, that applicant is armed and ready with a few major accomplishments up her sleeve.
Whether its an award, a certification, or a big project that went exceptionally well, asking the interviewee what in her professional history shes proudest of will give you a better sense of where her strengths really lie.
Plus, this question offers the chance for her to expand on something she feels good aboutwhich can ease her nerves and help to boost her confidence going into the rest of the interview.
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Ask The Right Questions
A major component of a successful job interview is knowing which questions to ask. There are several different types of interview questions you can use however, the specific questions you ask should be based on the job and the information you wish to learn about your candidate. The following are a few of the most common types of interview questions:
- Situational/hypothetical questions
Questions To Ask So You Know What Happens Next
Now, ask the 5 essential MUST-ASK next step in the interview process questions so that you will understand how their process works, when you can expect to hear from them, what happens next, and who will be your contact. If you dont ask these questions, you will have no idea when you will hear from them next or where they are in their process which will be very stressful for you.
If you dont ask those questions, you also risk being in contact with the wrong person at the wrong time, looking either desperate or annoying.
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What Cause Are You Passionate About
What cause are you passionate about, and how do you take action on it?
We want to understand if the candidate is not only a role fit but if theyre a culture fit. As a social enterprise, were not for profit, but for a purpose therefore, if they arent actively passionate about a specific cause, then they will lack the motivation of our bottom line. You can have the strongest salesperson or the most detail-orientated operations manager, but if you dont find the right culture fit, then we know that they wont be interested in going the extra mile.
Lauren Ott, Chief Kits Officer: Kits for a Cause
Teamwork Behavioral Interview Questions
1. Describe a time when you had to work with a difficult coworker. How were you able to handle interactions with that person?
2. Give an example of when you needed information from a coworker who wasnt responsive? What did you do?
3. Describe a time when you worked as part of a team on a project. Explain your role within the team and the actions you took to contribute to the team.
4. Talk about a situation when your team members disagreed with you. How did you handle it?
5. Can you tell me about a time when a coworker was not doing their work on a difficult project? What did you do?
6. Describe a time when you and your team members were forced to compromise. Explain the results.
7. Have you ever been in a situation where you had to motivate others to take action to support a major reorganization? How did you handle that?
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What Really Drives Results In This Job
Employees are investments, and you expect every employee to generate a positive return on his or her salary.
In every job some activities make a bigger difference than others. You need your HR team to fill job openings, but what you really want is for them to find the right candidates, because that results in higher retention rates, lower training costs, and better overall productivity.
You need your service techs to perform effective repairs, but what you really want is for those techs to identify ways to solve problems and provide other benefits — in short, to build customer relationships and even generate additional sales.
Great candidates want to know what truly makes a difference and drives results, because they know helping the company succeed means they will succeed as well.
E Interview Questions For Managers
If youre hiring team leaders, you want to make sure they can answer well to the above types of interview questions. But, hiring for each managerial position will entail an additional set of questions specifically to judge the candidates management skills . Depending on the seniority of the managers role, there are different interview questions to ask managers:
- Whats your approach to delegating work to employees? How do you ensure that tasks are completed?
- How would you describe your management style?
- Tell me about a time you had to deal with a team member who constantly opposed your ideas. How did you handle it?
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Questions About Experience And Background
These questions discuss the person’s education and work history:
- How did you get to this position?
- How long have you worked in this industry?
- What drew you to this field?
- Where did you go to school?
- What did you study?
- How long have you been with this company?
- Which has been more valuable in your career, your education or your experience?
- How does this company differ from others you’ve worked for?
- What are your hobbies?
- What was your first job?
- What skills did you develop early in your career?
Questions To Determine A Good Leader
If youre hiring for a management position, determine if the candidate has the appropriate leadership qualities essential for the job. However, even if its not a management position, you may still want to look for such leadership qualities in a candidate. It means that they may have the potential to progress to a leadership position within your company in the future. These questions can help you ascertain whether they have leadership skills or, at the very least, leadership potential:
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Testing Their Knowledge Of Your Organization
Finally, youll want to make sure that the candidate is serious about the position and that they are seeking a long-term position with your company. You can do this by asking them questions that test their knowledge of your organization. Candidates who arent able to answer satisfactorily probably didnt do enough research into your company. Not only does this show a lack of preparation, but it shows that they must not care that much. It means that this is just another job to them and nothing more.
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 _____________ ?
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What Is Your Definition Of Hard Work
Some organizations move at very different paces, and this question is an effective way to tell whether your candidate will be able to keep pace with the rest of the team. It also helps you identify someone who is a “hard worker in disguise,” meaning someone who might currently be at a slow-moving organization or in a role that is not well-suited to them, but wants to work somewhere where they can really get their hands dirty.
A good answer to this question:
A good answer doesn’t have to produce evidence of hard work — it should rather reveal if your candidate knows what it takes to get something done and solve the problems it was designed to solve.
Answers that talk about working hard by working smart are great, as well. Always listen for this — putting in the work to find the best way of doing something is often just as important as the task itself.
Make Natural Transitions Between Questions
Having a list of interview questions to ask is good practice, but it has an inherent difficulty: it might make the interview seem more robotic and inflexible.
For example, imagine youre listening to a candidates answer. When they finish talking, you may suddenly feel awkward, so you nod and say something akin to OK, interesting and then you move on to the next question. This isnt how a natural conversation would flow, and it might make the experience less pleasant for the candidate .
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Summary: 32 Strategic Interview Questions To Ask Candidates
Well, I hope that was useful if you liked this article or if you have any great questions of your own you would like to share, please leave a comment below.
Lastly, a huge thank you to all of the esteemed contributors to this article.
Now that you have hired the right person, take a look at our 13 Proven Ways To Get Your Employees To Like & Respect You.
What Was The Color Of The Receptionists Shirt
As simple as this question may seem, over 60% of candidates fail this question. The main aim of the question is to test a candidates attention to detail. In the nervousness leading to an interview, candidates tend to be surprisingly oblivious to their surroundings.
As any Candidate selected by my firm would very likely handle delicate engineering apparatuses, it is pertinent that they are able to pay attention to minute details.
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Tell Me About A Time You Failed To Reach Your Goal
I like to ask questions that uncover people with high potential, which is very important for our line of work.
What this question does is show whether the candidate is working from a victim mentality or whether they will do whatever needs to be done to keep going, even when things seem incredibly challenging.
Some examples of poor answers:
- It wasnt my fault
- I had to quit because family/life/job got in the way.
- I couldnt do it because of XYZ
All of these answers to me say that given enough obstacles, the person will quit before even attempting to find a new path.
Good answers are:
- Although I hit the wall, I still kept trying to find a solution.
- Everyone told me it couldnt be done, but I kept on going.
- I dont give up easily, and I am certain I will find a solution one day.
What Im really looking for when I ask this question is to see if the person is visibly uncomfortable, but they never resort to blaming other elements for the failure. This is a great indicator of high potential. These individuals also frequently never admit defeat but rather see the failure as a temporary obstacle that will be resolved at some point in the future.
