Killer Interview Tips.com » Asking http://www.killerinterviewtips.com Underground Interviews Tips & Strategies That They Don't Teach You at School or University Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:54:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 How to Interview: The Art of Asking Questions http://www.killerinterviewtips.com/interview-preparation/how-to-interview-the-art-of-asking-questions-3/ http://www.killerinterviewtips.com/interview-preparation/how-to-interview-the-art-of-asking-questions-3/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 02:48:39 +0000 Killer Interview Tips http://www.killerinterviewtips.com/interview-preparation/how-to-interview-the-art-of-asking-questions-3/ > How to Interview: The Art of Asking Questions Get access to top career progression and interview strategies to boost your career prospects Click [...]]]>

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How to Interview: The Art of Asking Questions

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A complex and fascinating skill, an art that few people do exceptionally well, successful interviewing requires instruction and information. Here, famous interviewers offer sound advice in a highly readable entertaining style…. More >>

How to Interview: The Art of Asking Questions

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]]> http://www.killerinterviewtips.com/interview-preparation/how-to-interview-the-art-of-asking-questions-2/feed/ 0 Asking the Right Interview Questions http://www.killerinterviewtips.com/graduate-interviews-tips/asking-the-right-interview-questions/ http://www.killerinterviewtips.com/graduate-interviews-tips/asking-the-right-interview-questions/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:47:32 +0000 Killer Interview Tips http://www.killerinterviewtips.com/graduate-interviews-tips/asking-the-right-interview-questions/ “We know we have a problem bringing in the right people,” Bill told me, “I have two staff members who spend three-quarters of their time searching resume data-bases and culling through resumes that have been sent in. It’s a lot of work, and frankly I don’t think it’s very beneficial. Hiring the right person seems to be kind of hit or miss. We’ve brought in some great folks who haven’t lasted and some fairly mediocre candidates have turned into great employees. It seems to me the only way to handle this problem is to push as many people through the pipeline as we can.”

“Doesn’t that take up a lot of corporate resources?” I ask.

“Of course,” an exasperated Bill replies. “And I wish there were a better way. But nothing we’ve tried seems to make much difference.”

“What kinds of things have you tried?” I inquire (pretty sure I knew the answer).

“Well,” Bill says warming to the subject, “We’ve tried sourcing candidates from different areas like job search sites, job fairs, and posting positions. We’ve worked with and without recruiters. We’ve switched over to behavioral interviewing and we’ve taught all our managers what to look for in behavioral interviewing. We’ve expanded the number of people a candidate has to meet and we all meet after the interviews to discuss each candidate. And yet even when we all agree, we don’t seem to have a better success rate than we did before we went to such elaborate measures.”

Bill’s frustration is obvious as he describes his challenge. And Bill is by no means alone in his dissatisfaction with the hiring done at his company. All too often, managers find the perfect resume, love the candidate during the interview process, invest time and resources on-boarding the new hire, only to lose the person after a short period.

What’s wrong with my interview questions?

For the purposes of this article, let’s assume you’ve narrowed the candidate list down to the right people for the open position. How can you make the best use of the interview process?

First, let me ask a question: Why are you interviewing a candidate?

Most people interview candidates for a variety of reasons:

1. To be sure the candidate can work well with customers and potential customers. If the job requires interacting with the public or with customers on a regular basis, you want to be sure the person can interact well with the type of customers you sell to.

2. To get a sense of teamwork. If the position requires interacting in a team environment, you want to interview to get a sense of how he or she works with a team.

3. To get a sense of “fit.” How well will the candidate work in your environment?

4. To get to know the candidate’s background. Presumably you’ve read the candidate’s resume (more than once) and maybe even called references. The interview is a good place for more in-depth questions or follow-ups on issues raised by the resume or phone interview.

These are all good reasons to conduct an interview. I’d like to suggest a 5th reason: To understand the following: Will this person bring all of their best problem solving skills to the job every day? Does this person have the “passion potential” (a term coined by Peg Stookey, Founder of Legacy Connection) to become zealous about your product? Is the person capable of solving problems in a manner that suits the position?

Asking the right questions takes time. You simply cannot review a resume 30 seconds before the candidate appears and expect to do an adequate job with the interview. Fortunately, more and more managers are using interview guides to be sure the questions are well thought out and there are enough consistent questions to allow candidate to candidate comparisons.

How do you ask the right questions?

You have to be clear about what you want to know. Before you ask a question, you should be clear about what you are trying to learn. Is this question/answer combination moving you toward the ability to make a decision about whether this is the right candidate? If you need to know if a candidate can think on her feet, you need to ask questions that will startle the individual enough to make her think in a new way. If this is a position in which a person will need to make decisions based on incomplete data, you need to provide your candidate a situation in which to make a decision without all the information he might like to have.

Finally, set aside enough time in your schedule for the meeting and writing up your notes from the interview. Candidates will sense if you haven’t prepared or if your time together feels rushed. And you will be doing a disservice to your company by not giving your time and attention to the process.

Bringing people into your organization is one of the most important and costly decisions you make. Planning and focus will help make the process more effective and increase the probability of choosing the right candidate for your company.

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