3 Interview Questions Every Job Candidate Should Answer Over and Over

Even if you're a great interviewer, interviewing job candidates is tough, especially since some people are a lot better at interviewing than they are at actually working. (Tell me you haven't hired at least one person who turned out to be like that.)

And most candidates are good at answering common questions -- or even some not so common questions.

Want a new approach? Here's a simple but extremely effective interview technique I learned from John Younger, the CEO of Accolo, a cloud recruiting solutions provider. (If you think you've conducted a lot of interviews, think again. John has interviewed thousands of people.)

Here's how you do it. Start at the beginning of the candidate's job history, ask the following three questions, and work your way through each subsequent job. Move quickly and don't ask for detail. And don't ask follow-up questions, at least not yet.

Just go through each job and ask the same three questions:

1. How did you find out about the job?

2. What did you like about the job before you started?

3. Why did you leave?

"What's amazing," Younger says, "is that after a few minutes you will always have learned something about the candidate -- whether positive or negative -- that you would never have learned otherwise."

Here's why.

"How did you find out about the job?"

Job boards, general postings, online listings, job fairs... most people find their first few jobs that way and that's certainly not a red flag.

But a candidate who continues to find each successive job from general postings probably hasn't figured out what she wants to do -- and where she would like to do it. She's just looking for a job; often any job.

And that probably means she isn't particularly eager to work for you. She just wants a job and yours will do until something else comes along.

"Plus, by the time you get to Job three, four, or five in your career and you haven't been pulled into a job by someone you previously worked for, that's a red flag," Younger says. "That shows you didn't build relationships, develop trust, and show a level of competence that made someone go out of their way to bring you into their organization."

On the flip side, having been pulled in by someone is the ultimate in professional references.

"What did you like about the job before you started?"

Interviewees should be able to describe the reason they took a particular job for more specific reasons than "great opportunity," "chance to learn about the industry," or "next step in my career."

Great employees don't work hard simply because of lofty titles or huge salaries. They also work hard because they appreciate their work environment and enjoy what they do. (Titles and salary are just icing on the fulfillment cake.)

That means great employees know the kind of environment they will thrive in, and they know the type of work that motivates and challenges them -- and not only can they describe those things, they actively seek those things when they look for a new job.

"Why did you leave?"

Sometimes people leave for a better opportunity. Sometimes they leave for more money.

Often, though, they leave because they think an employer is too demanding. Or they didn't get along with their boss. Or they didn't get along with co-workers.

When that is the case, don't be judgmental. Resist the temptation to ask for detail. Hang on to follow-up questions. Stick to the rhythm of the three questions. That makes it easy for candidates to be even more candid and open.

And in the process, many people will describe issues with management, or disagreements with other employees, or with taking personal responsibility... and will often tell you things they otherwise would never have shared.

So wait until you've worked through every job and then follow up on patterns that concern you.

"Finding out why a person left previous jobs can be a quick way to get to get to the heart of that person's sense of teamwork and responsibility," Younger says. "Some people never take ownership and see every problem as someone else's problem. And some candidates have consistently had problems with their bosses... which means they'll also have issues with you."

And a bonus question:

"How many people have you hired, and where did you find them?"

Say you're interviewing candidates for a leadership position. Want to know how their direct reports feel about them?

Don't look only for candidates who were brought into an organization by someone else; look for candidates who brought employees into their organizations. Great leaders build great relationships -- and that means great people want to keep working with them.

"Great employees go out of their way to work with great leaders," Younger says. "If you're tough but fair and you treat people well, they will go out of their way to work with you. The fact that employees changed jobs just so they could work for you speaks volumes for your leadership and people skills."

Now it's your turn: Any interview questions or approaches that work particularly well for you?

I also write for Inc.com:

• 5 Questions Great Job Candidates Ask
• 20 Things Remarkable People Think Every Day
• 10 Daily Habits of Exceptionally Happy People
• One Interview Question That Reveals A Superstar Job Candidate

(photo bigstockphoto.com)

If you liked this post, check out my book based on four years of personal and professional advice, TransForm: Dramatically Improve Your Career, Business, Relationships, and Life -- One Simple Step At a Time. (PDF version here, Kindle version here.)

While I could go all hyperbolic on you, here's the deal: If after 10 minutes you don't find at least 5 things you can do to make your life better I'll refund your money.

That way you have nothing to lose... and hopefully plenty to gain.