How to Have 8 Million Unique Interviews!

Finding the right questions can be difficult, we want to make it easy.

There are countless interviews happening every day and most of them are not unique. It is easy to search for a list of interview questions online but hard to know when to ask or how to structure it.

One of the worst feelings is going to an interview unprepared, I'm speaking from personal experience. When I conducted my first interview as an interviewer, not an interviewee I was amazed at how inefficient my questions were at understanding the person in front of me. Through countless interviews with various companies, I finally developed an interviewing structure that works for me which I still use to this day.

The goal of a job interview is for the interviewer to understand who the interviewee is and if they are the right fit for the specific role and organization while the interviewee's goal is to know if the organization is the right fit for them. Instead of simply listing a long list of random questions for someone to read through and guess if it will pierce the veil to truly understand the interviewee, here we split the questions based on how an actual interview could be structured based on specific critical topics. This will allow you to develop an array of questions and have unique interviews as opposed to the same cookie-cutter interviews your organization may be having.

This structured interview technique will allow you to plug and play for your actual interview. If you select one question per critical topic that will lead to over 8,145,000 possible combinations! Do not limit yourself. After a few interviews, you will know what open-ended questions help you get the most relevant information from your interviewee. After running through all 8 million possibilities if you want more options then keep using the critical topics to structure your interview while changing out the questions with new ones.

With this process your 8 million unique interviews become infinite!

Introduction

1. Tell me a little about yourself.
2. Tell me something about yourself that isn’t on your resume.?
3. Where do you see yourself in five years?
4. What about our company’s mission resonates with you?
5. Why should we hire you?
6. What makes you the best candidate for this position??

Personality

1. How would other people describe you?
2. What makes you unique?
3. What are you looking to get out of this role?
4. What motivates you?
5. What are you most passionate about?
6. What makes you a good fit for our organization?
7. What are your greatest strengths?
8. What are your greatest weaknesses?

Personal Information

1. What led you to apply for this position?
2. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment in life so far?
3. What are you looking to get out of this role?
4. What interests you the most about this position?
5. Why do you want to work for this company?
6. What are your career goals?

Experience

1. Please describe how your experience related to the position.
2. What part of your resume are you most proud of?
3. Why did you leave or are leaving your current or previous position??
4. What is your greatest professional achievement?
5. What was your greatest professional failure?
6. Tell me about a challenge or conflict you’ve faced at work, how did you overcome it?
7. Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills.?
8. When did you disagree with a coworker or leader and how did you handle it?
9. What do you like most and least about your current or previous position?

Education

1. How would your education translate to the role?
2. Tell me about your educational path and why you chose it.
3. Do you plan on continuing your education??
4. Do you have the specific credentials required for this role??
5. Do you enjoy learning?
6. When was a time you learned something that has benefited you outside of a classroom setting?

Ending Questions

1. Do you have any questions for me?
2. Are you still interested in the position after learning more about it?
3. Do you think this position would be a good fit for you?
4. Do you think you are a good fit for the role?
5. How would you fit into the organization’s culture?
6. How can you help the company reach its mission?
7. How would this position help you meet your career goals?
8. What would you need to be successful in this role?
9. If you were selected what is the earliest you could begin working?
10. Give me your last elevator pitch in one minute or less.