What Attracted You To Apply For This Position
By asking this question you, as the interviewer, should be able to gauge if job seeker has an enthusiasm for the job opening or if they just applied blindly to the position.
You could also review the experience in their resume with the job opening and ask them how they would react to specific situations.
What Single Project Or Task Would You Consider Your Most Significant Career Accomplishment To Date
Lou Adler, author of The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired and Hire With Your Head, spent 10 years searching for the single best interview question that will reveal whether to hire or not hire a candidate — and this was the one.
A good answer to this question:
Candidates’ answers will tell you about their prior success and sense of ownership. A great answer will show they are confident in their work and professional choices while being humble enough to show they care about the company’s success. For example, if a candidate built a sales or marketing campaign they’re particularly proud of, listen for them to explain how the business benefited from it. Did it help the company sign a major client?
What Would You Do In A Difficult Work Situation
For my second question, What would you do in a difficult work situation? From the answer, I would expect to learn whether or not they will have patience, wisdom, and leadership skills in handling difficult questions. Some people answer nervously on the spot or might not be able to think of an answer, in which case, I can ask them to give me an example of where this might have happened, so they will be able to answer easier. I can then use that example as the substance for making my final decision. Character is so important.
A lot of people can be trained in certain positions at your workplace, so if their degree doesnt necessarily match what youre hiring for, that shouldnt be as big of a deal, depending on how intricate the job is. When hiring, finding someone with good character is like finding gold. Of course, you obviously want to factor in intelligence, as well. However, everything else, as far as job training, usually can fall into place with someone with good character and moral standards.
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Tell Me About The Toughest Negotiation Youve Ever Been In
Every job involves negotiation, and this question yields insight, not only in their direct negotiation skills, but also how the job seeker navigates difficult situations.
The best negotiators answer this great interview question by laying out both sides of the problem and then explaining how they aligned the issues or followed a process to a mutually-agreeable solution.
How Did You Involve Your Staff When An Important Company Strategy Decision Needed To Be Made
The candidates answer tells you whether a prospective manager is secure enough to involve others in strategic decision-making. Effective managers know how to delegate, but also have the confidence to make hard decisions themselves.
How the job seeker involves their staffvia written communication, one-on-one, or in a group settingtells you a lot about their management style.
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Can You Teach Me Something In 5 Minutes
A more technical interview question we ask is, teach us something in 5 minutes. It allows the applicant to demonstrate how quickly they can think on their feet while also giving us some insight into their knowledge base and whats at the forefront, so to speak. We find its a much better gauge of professional and personal interest lots of applicants have taught us some really cool things such as origami or a quick rundown of Gaussian distribution.
Michael Sheen, Hiring Manager: inteliKINECT
Describe The Best Boss You Ever Reported To
This is a great interview question because it tells you about past relationships. Because it highlights the personality and work types the applicant meshes with best, the hiring manager can gain greater insights into the candidates communication skills, work style, and potential cultural fit.
Follow up with questions about what made the relationship clickwas it personality, performance, or perhaps a cheerleader type of boss? Does the candidate prefer autonomy to handholding, or were they inspired by a mutual drive to achieve organizational goals?
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What Is Your Biggest Management Weakness
A candidate who acknowledges a weakness recognizes that theres an opportunity to improve. An answer to this manager interview question should reveal a trait that the candidate feels they can work on and perhaps how it has affected their work in the past.
Part of the answer should also indicate how the management candidate is working to improve.
What’s The Hardest Piece Of Feedback You’ve Received And What’s The Hardest Feedback You’ve Given
Jiaona Zhang of Webflow previously outlined her insights on the Review for building minimum lovable products that puts the user and their feedback at the center, and its still a favorite among our readers. Zhang puts a premium not just on the customers feedback she also wants to carefully excavate how comfortable a future manager is with criticism on both sides of the table. Heres what to look for in the answer to this question:
Theyve got a few examples on the tip of their tongue. Doling out feedback should be a consistent line item of any people managers to-do list.
They talk about their approach. Candid, hard feedback should never be delivered haphazardly. How did they take extra care to create the right conditions so that this feedback could be best received?
Who do they typically receive feedback from? If all the examples reference the manager receiving feedback from higher-ups, you may have a hard time getting through if youre trying to signal up the chain.
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Name A Work Accomplishment That Makes You Proud
With this line of interview questioning, you will learn about the job seeker in more depth and get a better idea of the types of work they have achieved from their previous and current company.
This also gives the interviewee an opportunity to showcase some of their strongest qualities and any leadership skills they may have.
What Interview Questions Should I Ask Candidates
The best interview questions to ask candidates depend on the role and the type of candidate you hope to attract. At minimum, you should ask the most common interview questions such as:
- Tell me about yourself
- Why do you want to work for this company?
- What are your greatest strengths?
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Why should we hire you?
Additional questions should evaluate whether the candidate is a good skill and culture fit for the position. Feel free to tailor your top interview questions to suit your organization and industry.
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Tell Me About Using Xyz
Your position requires XYZ, . Youre not looking for I did that at ABC Company. Ask how they used whatever it was in their work history. What did you code, where did you drive, whom did you oversee? Repeat the question for every one of your required skills
What their answers mean:
- Can speak fluently and with confidence about how theyve used the skill/requirement: qualified. Ask if theyve ever mentored or trained others to gain more information on their level of proficiency.
- Hedge around the answer: little or no experience.
Why Did You Leave Your Last Position
By asking this question, you will have insight to the future of what the candidate will do in your company as well.
Some reasons are completely understandable and out of the candidates control. However, majority of answers should be put in comparison with your company. They may leave your company for the same reason they state.
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What Are The Top Questions To Ask An Interviewer
Be prepared to answer questions about the expectations and duties involved, as well as the company culture, day-to-day experience, and room for advancement. Have an idea of the salary and benefits offered and know whether you will be able to discuss compensation at this stage of the interview process.
Why Are You Interested In This Position
A hiring manager may ask this question to learn if a candidate is truly passionate about the position. This question can help them tell whether a candidate researched the company and spent time thinking about the role. A quality answer may include specific details about the company, what qualifications a candidate has for this role and personal interests this job could fulfill for the candidate.
Example:”I am interested in this position because I have always wanted to work for a company that gives back to its community. Upon researching your company, I quickly discovered how much you do for your local food pantry. In college, I actually became a head volunteer for my town’s food pantry, so I have a lot of experience working in this kind of setting. I could add value to this volunteering initiative by conducting community outreach and helping coordinate food drives during holiday seasons.”
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Use Great Interview Questions To Hire The Best Employees
Interviewing is both an art and a science, and with enough preparation you can reap the rewards in the form of an awesome new hire whos eager to join your team. But having the right questions only helps if you first have the right applicants. As you look to fill your next position, post your job for free and get your hiring process off on the right track.
What Interests You The Most About This Position
Jokes aside, here is the perfect opportunity to understand why the candidate applied for this position. Did they do their homework and research your company? Do they have the skill-set and feel very confident about it?
Bottom line, confidence sells. If they did their research about your company and theyre very confident in the job requirements, they may be a good fit for the position.
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When I Contact Your Last Supervisor And Ask Which Area Of Your Work Needs The Most Improvement What Will I Learn
This is one of those questions that is most likely to garner an honest response from the candidate. No amount of finesse will influence this answer because the candidate knows the truth will come out anyway when the supervisor is brought into the conversation.
Essentially, its the same question as what is your biggest weakness? phrased in a way that lets them know they need to keep their answer real. Its also a great way to gauge whether they have a growth mindset and are receptive to critical feedback.
What Do You Know About Our Business
The candidates answer to this question should indicate some prior knowledge about your business. They may have conducted research to find the information they need. They may have first-hand experience as a customer, client, or even competitor.
Either way, any detailed response reveals that the potential managerial hire likes what your business has to offer and is motivated to be a part of it.
If they know nothing about your company, other than that they want a job, they havent done their due diligence and shouldnt be high on your shortlist of possible hires.
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What Do You Consider To Be Your Biggest Professional Achievement
Here’s an interview question that definitely requires an answer relevant to the job. If you say your biggest achievement was improving throughput by 18 percent in six months but you’re interviewing for a leadership role in human resources, that answer is interesting but ultimately irrelevant.
Instead, talk about an underperforming employee you “rescued,” or how you overcame infighting between departments, or how so many of your direct reports have been promoted.
The goal is to share achievements that let the interviewer imagine you in the position — and see you succeeding.
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 Percentage Of Employees Was Brought In By Current Employees
Employees who love their jobs naturally recommend their company to their friends and peers. The same is true for people in leadership positions — people naturally try to bring on board talented people they previously worked with. They’ve built relationships, developed trust, and shown a level of competence that made someone go out of their way to follow them to a new organization.
And all of that speaks incredibly well to the quality of the workplace and the culture.
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
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Best Interview Questions To Ask Candidates
When you interview a candidate, you have to gather as much information as possible in a short period. Gleaning enough about a candidate to determine whether theyre the best fit for a role is challenging but by asking good interview questions, you will not only get a clearer idea of their skills and experience, but also get a sense for their conversational skills, problem-solving skills, and ability to think quickly. The best way to adequately assess a candidate for both skill fit and culture fit is to ask questions that are specific to the company or role as well as broader questions that give the applicant an opportunity to show their personality and ability to think critically under pressure.
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Tell Me About The Last Time A Co
Conflict is inevitable when a company works hard to get things done. Mistakes happen. Sure, strengths come to the fore, but weaknesses also rear their heads. And that’s OK. No one is perfect.
But a person who tends to push the blame — and the responsibility for rectifying the situation — onto someone else is a candidate to avoid. Hiring managers would much rather choose candidates who focus not on blame but on addressing and fixing the problem.
Every business needs employees who willingly admit when they are wrong, step up to take ownership for fixing the problem, and, most important, learn from the experience.
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Good Questions To Ask During A Phone Interview
Tailor the phone interview questions below to suit your industry and the role youre hiring for. But consider, too, the candidates professional history, or lack thereof. A recent college graduate cant refer to their career successes, for example, but screening questions can be framed to allow candidates to draw on their experience in course seminars and team projects, as well as their volunteer work and self-taught skills. Leadership, drive, industriousness, talent and other valued qualities can be demonstrated in many ways.
Give the same consideration for candidates with a gap in their work history, such as a parent reentering the workforce after raising a couple of kids, or an out-of-work professional two months after a layoff. Follow this list of five phone interview tips:
Interview Questions To Ask
Ask some of these questions of your next job candidates to get a better sense of how qualified they are and how well theyd fit in with your business.
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