What questions should you ask candidates in an interview?
Once you’ve created your shortlist of suitable candidates, it’s time to prepare for the interviewing stage.?
Interview questions are an effective way to figure out the best fit for the role among a pool of candidates. With limited time to evaluate candidates, employers need to select questions that provide informative and valuable insights.?
Lay the groundwork?
“Tell me a bit about yourself…”?
This allows you to get a sense of your candidate’s personality, skills, and experience, which will determine whether they fit the needs of the role and your workplace culture. Well – prepared candidates should be able to succinctly sell their best qualities that appeal to your organisation. Candidates can highlight their hobbies, interests and what motivates them giving you a better idea of the individual behind the CV.?
“Why did you apply for the role?”?
This is a great opportunity to outline your candidate’s level of commitment and to assess whether they are suitable for this specific role. With this question, you’ll want to listen out for things that aren’t desirable to your company rather than what you would want to hear.?
If they mention salary or working hours, this may be an issue as they are more focused on the benefits offered rather than proving their enthusiasm and commitment towards the role. Some candidates may simply respond “Because I need a job” which only shows that they don’t have any interest beyond the income aspect of the position.?
It’s also useful to ask this question so you can ensure that the candidate has understood the role that they are applying for and that their reasons for applying for the role will be met by the work they will doing.?
Intermediate questions?
“What do you know about our company?”?
This essentially demonstrates how much preparation/ research your candidate has done. If they’re able to have a detailed discussion about your company’s competitors, values, and vision they should be considered for the role. This is also a great way to test their dedication and will allow you to identify which candidates are truly passionate about your business.??
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“How does this position align with your long-term career goals?”?
Use this question to evaluate their career aspirations and to determine whether their long-term goals align with yours. This also establishes, if the position they’re applying for matches their ideal career and if your company can offer the skills they need. You ideally want a candidate with high ambitions and drive as you want to avoid a short-term hire.??
Strategic questions?
“Why do you want to leave your current job?”?
This is a common question asked in most job interviews as it gives an indication of your candidate’s professional attitude. It’s important to understand the reasoning behind why they are leaving to ensure it’s for valid reasons rather than claiming they were “bored” or “overworked”.?
“What is your ideal working environment?”?
You can ask this question to establish whether your candidate will fit into your company’s workplace culture. It also gives you the opportunity to find out the style of manager, team, or business your candidate is looking for so, you can increase the likelihood of recruiting a long-term hire.??
“Describe a time you had to make a difficult decision.”?
This single question provides valuable insight into how your candidates works under pressure and analyses their decision-making skills. Difficult decisions are often made without prior planning, so you want to understand how well your candidate can work under stressful circumstances, and if they can use their problem-solving skills to secure a positive outcome.?
No matter what questions you decide to go with, to make the selection process easier try to make sure you ask the same questions to all candidates, that way when it comes to shortlisting this will make it easy to compare across all your candidates and to help you identify the right candidate for the role.???
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