Interviewing beyond the surface level

A common mistake with interviewing is that we focus on surface-level understanding of the applicants. The focus of the interview becomes how well they can provide the answer you want to hear, which may not reflect the reality of their values, how they work, their skills, motivations and aspirations, as well as who they generally are as a person and whether this fits the role-specific and cultural requirements of your organisation.

We miss a huge opportunity to gain insights into the candidate and for them to understand you and the organisation better.?

?"I want to be part of a great culture" is only good if you dig down into what a great culture is for them, and you can demonstrate and describe your own company culture. You may provide them with a great culture, but their primary motivators could be money, recognition, progress, or authority, which you don't address.

Here are some questions I've used over time that I've found valuable, consider adding some of these the next time you interview.

What's something you couldn't do a year ago that you can do now that you're proud of? Why did you learn? How did you learn? –?Get some insights into how they learn, what may motivate them to learn, and how engaged/passionate they are about their discovery.

If I gave you the option of 2 boxes of Lego, one has just the pieces you need and detailed instructions, and the other has 1000s of pieces, but no instructions, which would you be happiest playing with??How do they like to work and how you can keep them engaged, are they creative or procedural and task oriented? There's benefits of both ends, so this isn't designed to rule out candidates, but gives you insights into how they prefer to approach situations and work.

How would I, as a manager/leader, get the best out of you/help you to be your best??Show both an interest from you to develop and support them and gain an understanding of their expectations and preferences from management.

How do you deal with a client who is frustrating or difficult to work with??How people vent, seek support and address issues gives us an idea of how they may deal with difficult situations. This is an opportunity to reflect on how you'd deal with this with a team member and how you would support them. If you are doing so already, reassure them through the interview. Be aware that everyone has their own experiences they have been through, and if people haven't been supported in the past, they may be more hesitant to answer this.

What are the three most important personal values to you??Rather than reciting your company's values back to you, see what they hold important and whether there is a match. Ask why they value these things if the answers are unclear.

What are you looking to gain from your next role??See if there's a link in why they are leaving their current role if employed, understand what motivates them to stay and go, and reflect on whether you can fulfil this to save everyone time.

What is your career highlight that everyone should know about??What is something they've done that they are proud to talk about and are they able to explain it in a way that you can understand? What problem were they solving, and were they participants, leaders or contributors?

What is your biggest mistake in your career, and what did you learn from it??Are they able to admit mistakes and show humility? Do they take ownership of their mistakes and actions? Do they show self-reflection and the ability to learn from experiences?

What is one thing your current employee could do better??It gives insights into why they are leaving and how they deal with problems and opportunities. Integrity can shine through here; having awareness when interviewing a direct competitor, for instance. All organisations have negatives, and how the candidate explains this can show a lot about their character.?

There’s so much to cover with interviews. Are you asking follow up questions and clarifying? What questions are they asking you and what do they tell you? How are you getting insights into who they are as a person and what are you reflecting back?

There’s plenty of questions out there that you can readily search, and many of the default ones have value (tell me about yourself, strengths/weaknesses) but should be followed up with a "why?" or "how?" to understand. What are some questions that you ask or remember from interviews?