We all have
our favourite interview questions. The problem is that job applicants
are getting better and better prepared for interviews. They know
the answers to our favourite questions!
People now get training for interview skills at schools, through
government programs, books, magazines and the internet.
That means that we are often judging people’s interview
skills rather than their ability to do the job.
So how do you find out what applicants really know? What kind
of experience do they really have?
There are really only three rules:
1. Ask questions that directly relate to what the person will
need to know or do in the job.
(See Practice Makes Perfect
for some sample questions.)
Make a list of the key things the person will need to do on
the job and the skills and the attitude they need to have. (TIP:
Use the Work Description
as a guide.)
Beside each of the items on your list, write a question that
helps you find out whether the applicant knows how to do the
task and is going to have the right attitude for the job.
Skills needed
Questions to help you find out if the person has the skill
Needs to know how to classify a job on a given compensation
system
"Tell us how you would classify
a job for a recruitment specialist using this compensation
system."
"What aspects of the recruitment
specialist job would this system be likely to rate highly?"
2. Ask questions that tell you what the applicant has really
done in the past or what they would do in a situation they would
encounter in the job.
If you are hiring a receptionist, for example, you want someone
who is consistently polite and friendly.
Most people are polite and friendly most of the time -- they
tend to get cranky when they are dealing with more difficult
situations. Your question can focus on a difficult situation:
"Tell me about a time when you handled an especially difficult
person on the phone."
Notice that the question doesn’t tell the applicant the
answer you want. It is different than asking "Tell me about
a time when you were polite and friendly to an especially difficult
person." Also, the question is connected to what the applicant
does.
Another way to find out the same thing is to describe a situation
in which the receptionist would encounter a difficult person
and ask what the applicant would do. Wherever you can, focus
on actual situations the applicant has encountered. "What-if"
questions are fine, though, when you are interviewing people
who have not encountered the kind of situations you are talking
about.
3. Use your favourite interview questions -- but only if they
directly relate to the work.
To close the interview, give candidates a final chance to sum
up what they want you to know about themselves and why they
would be good for the position.
