Identifying strategic interview questions to ask candidates
Making the wrong hiring decision can be a costly exercise, especially when it leads to the new hire leaving soon after their appointment, as is often the case. Then, on top of the productivity loss associated with an inappropriate fit, you end up having to go through the whole procedure again, anyway.
Time. Energy. Money. They are all on the line when choosing a candidate. It is therefore of vital importance to ensure that your selection process is as rigorous as possible. An essential part of this process is, of course, the interview.
Asking the right questions can be the difference between discovering a great candidate and passing them over in favour of someone unsuitable. Yet, preparing for an interview is in itself a tricky problem.
You can expect that most candidates will have passed through the process at least several times before in their life and be accustomed to all of the usual questions. In the face of the standard lines, it can be all too easy to present a pre-rehearsed, inauthentic façade that won’t be revealed until it’s too late.
So how can you ensure your interview provides an accurate profile of your candidate? What are the best interview questions to ask candidates and how can you come up with them?
Preparation
It should go without saying that executing an effective interview requires some preparation. Yet, it’s too often the case that we find ourselves rushing into an interview, glancing at the candidate’s resume for the first time just as we head in the door.
Interview preparation time is simply not prioritised in enough hiring managers’ calendars. But it can be. Make it an automatic practice, whenever an interview is put into your schedule, to also pencil in a 15-to-30-minute slot earlier in the day to give yourself the necessary time to review the particulars and decide how you’re going to approach the interview.
A different approach?
The very first thing you will want to decide, even before you have a resume in your inbox, is what kind of interview process is most appropriate for the position. Standard, sit-down conversations are not the only way to conduct an interview. Consider whether designing an experiential interview with practical tasks might not be a better way to assess a candidate’s suitability. You might even decide on a hybrid model, containing a sit-down component, as well as some activities related to the job.
Who’s your ideal candidate?
Your interview questions should be aimed at revealing the desired traits and competencies of an ideal candidate. So, it makes sense to have thought through exactly what those traits and competencies are. An ideal candidate profile might include:
- preferred and undesirable personality traits
- skills and competencies
- previous experience
- culture fit
- future performance and aspirations.
Of course, you will have done something like this when designing your job description (Indeed also has a library of templates to draw inspiration from), but the list you come up with for your own use in interviews may be a little different. As well as containing more varied criteria, it can also be more detailed and specific to the tasks that will need to be performed.
Work backwards from the criteria you are looking for to the questions to ask candidates in the interview that might reveal those criteria. Think especially about what things may not be mentioned on a CV to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the person sitting before you.
Customise your questions
Having a generic question list can be useful in an interview. For one, it saves preparation time. It also ensures greater consistency across interviews and between different hiring staff, especially when there are many candidates to consider. The answers given to generic questions can also be collected and later cross-referenced with employee performance in order to reveal patterns.
But it’s also important to come up with questions specific to each candidate to fill in any gaps in their CV or to clear up any doubts you might have during the interview. As you read over a candidate’s CV, ask yourself what pieces of information you might like to confirm or find out more about. Also consider what information is not communicated and design some questions accordingly.
Finding the sweet spot
Finally, consider the difficulty and complexity of your questions. As was said at the outset, having a set of easily predictable questions will result in rehearsed, potentially inauthentic answers. On the other hand, firing off questions that are too complex, demanding or unexpected can be intimidating, and may just result in your candidate crumbling under the pressure.
Interviews can be a daunting prospect, and nobody is served by ratcheting up the tension unnecessarily. Try to strike a balance between the two sides to allow your candidate to naturally, spontaneously and authentically represent themselves.
Seven strategic interview questions to ask candidates
Consider adapting some of the below questions for use in your future interviews to get the most accurate picture possible of just who you might be hiring:
What was it about this company specifically that interested you?
A nice ice-breaker and a good way to see how much preparation the candidate has done – by researching, for example, the company and its staff.
What is one of your strengths and one of your weaknesses?
This is a good question to assess not only the content of the candidate’s answer, but also the manner in which they answer it. You can consider whether the expressed weakness is a deal-breaker for the position and also gauge how open and self-reflective the candidate is. A good thing to observe is whether the candidate tries to spin their weakness into a positive – for example, by saying something like ‘sometimes I’m just too much of a perfectionist – I really want to do the best job I can all of the time’. Pairing a strength and a weakness together is also a good way to encourage a candidate to be more honest.
What’s one experience that’s not on your CV that would help you be successful in this role?
As recommended by Indeed’s Director of Employer Brand, Bryan Chaney, this question will help fill in the gaps or potentially resolve questions you might have about a candidate’s CV.
Tell me about a mistake you made in a previous role and what you learned from it
This is another way to examine not only the candidate’s answer, but also their attitude to answering. Look for candidates who answer fully and frankly about something that went (not too badly) wrong, and follow up with an example of having taken accountability and developed insight as a result.
This question utilises the STAR methodology, which is a great way to focus your questions on actual past events (called competency-based questions) rather than general opinions or hypothetical scenarios (called situational questions).
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, and describes the four pieces of information you are looking for in a candidate’s answer. STAR questions often start with:
- Tell me about a time when…
- Have you ever…
- Give me an example of…
- Describe when you…
Recently, our company faced X situation. It was handled like this. What do you think of our response? How would you have handled it and why?
This is a great way not only to compare the effectiveness of the candidate’s response with your knowledge of the real situation, but also to gauge their cultural fit. Does your candidate recognise the logic of the company’s response or, better yet, do they identify some flaws in your reasoning? And how do they approach explaining this to you? Are they diplomatic, blunt or even sycophantic?
How do you think [a reference listed on the CV] might describe you?
Another good way to check the candidate’s self-reflectivity and openness with you, and therefore to measure the accuracy of all of the statements they have given.
How do you keep organised?
It’s best to keep this question open, so the candidate has the opportunity to describe their personal life organisation, as well as their professional life. This can be a revealing indicator of suitability for a management or administrative position.
Final thoughts
These are just a few of the interview questions to ask candidates. You can find even more at ‘Underrated interview questions: Why ask them and what the answers can tell you’.
And don’t forget – coming up with a list of questions is just one part of the recruitment puzzle. Take some time to consider how to approach your interviews to ensure candidates are given the best opportunity to showcase their talents.
Nailing the interview process is an absolutely crucial step to building effective teams. It can be a tricky process, but by taking the appropriate time to prepare, you can increase your chances of securing the best outcome possible.
