Research shows that 78% of job seeker lie in the resume. This shows how important the interview process is to find out who the candidate says he/she is.
Your conversation with a job candidate during the interview helps you determine whether a job candidate is a good fit for the position and the company in general.
The conversation you have with a job candidate during the interview may not reveal if the candidate is a great fit unless you ask the right questions. There are strategic questions that will reveal if a candidate is a good fit for the role.
On average, most interviews last between 45 minutes and a whole hour. (Top Echelon). Therefore, you have to take advantage of every minute to get the information you need to make your hiring decision by asking the right questions.
What kind of questions reveals a job candidate suitability?
These are the 15 strategic job interview questions you should ask candidates beyond the “tell me about yourself” question. Let us look at the strategic questions you should ask during your next sit-down with a potential hire.
1. What attracted you to apply for this position?
This question is important because it helps you know if the job candidate understands the position that they are applying for.
This question will help you find out if the candidate is enthusiastic about the position, company or if they just blindly applied for the position because they required a job.
2. What motivates you to work?
This question appears simple, but it requires the candidate to think deep to discover what motivates them to work.
This question will help you know what exactly will spur that particular candidate to give their best to the job. Different things motivate different employees’ asides from the “paycheck”.
3. Describe your ideal workspace
This kind of question will require the job candidate to explain and describe. Remember to let them talk without interrupting. Interrupting or asking questions in-between may influence the candidate’s response.
The main reason you are asking this question is to find out if your current workspace fits into the candidate’s description.
4. Tell me something about yourself that others may be surprised to know.
This is an open-end question thaat will require the candidate to respond to the question in any way they can. This question will help you learn something tangible about the candidate that you may not know when you ask other interview questions.
The question will allow you to get some information about the job candidate that they may not include in their CV.
5. What is your ideal position and why?
Sometimes job candidates may apply for a position, but they are more suitable for another position. This question offers the job candidate an opportunity to share their best skill set with you. This is something they may not have planned to do.
This question will allow you to know the candidates best skills (hard/technical skills) and their soft skills (transferable skills).
6. What excites you the most about this position?
Many things are learned. Skills can be taught, but enthusiasm cannot be taught. A candidate that is excited about your position will thrive if given the opportunity.
This question will help you discover the aspects of the position that the candidate is excited about. It will also help you know if you are about to hire an enthusiastic or laid-back person.
7. What do you like to do outside of work?
This may sound like one of the common questions that recruiters ask job seekers, you should always remember that you are not hiring a robot, but a human that has an encompassing life.
This question allows you to know what the candidate loves to do outside of work and also gives you an idea of what motivates him/her.
8. What one skill makes you the most qualified for this position?
We understand that getting someone that is a cultural fit is necessary, but getting someone that has that cutting-edge skill that is required to do the job is also important.
This question allows you to know the skills that the candidate considers to be his/her core skills. This will also make you understand what the candidate considers important for the role.
For example: if a candidate talks about a skill that is impressive, but does not have anything to do with the role, then it is a red flag that the candidate misunderstands the core duties of the role.
9. What career achievement are you most proud of?
This is one of the most important questions to ask job candidates during the interview. The truth is that job candidates prepare to impress you when they attend an interview. So they arm themselves with some achievements they think will impress you.
This question will allow you to know what the candidate considers as an achievement. It will also allow you to know what the candidate feels good about. This question can also be used to set a positive environment that can help the candidate feel confident.
10. If you are hired, what is the first thing you would love to work on?
This important question that can help you understand a job candidate’s problem-solving skill. Most times this kind of question is usually asked at the second or third stage of the interview.
This question allows you to know if the job candidate understands the duties and responsibilities of the position.
11. What one skill would you like to improve on and what is your plan for improvement?
This is one question that can help you know the areas where a candidate has some weaknesses. Most times, interviewers always ask candidates questions like; what are your greatest weaknesses? Candidates are used to this question, and they will hardly give you a sincere answer. This question can appear to be like asking a candidate to shoot themselves in the foot.
This question will help you understand the candidate’s weaknesses as regards the skills and competencies required to do the job.
12. Why are you leaving your current employer?
This question is considered an important question because it gives you an idea of the candidate’s job experience. You have to create a relaxed atmosphere when you are asking this question because the truth is – no candidate wants to appear as if they are bad-mouthing their employer.
This question helps you understand why the candidate is leaving his/her current employer. What the candidate considers as a deal-breaker, which will help you know how to thread with that candidate.
13. If there were something in your past you were able to go back and do differently, what would that be?
This question might appear not to be important, but you can get important information about a job candidate that will influence your hiring decision.
This question will help you know if the candidate keeps an open mind and is ready to learn. If there was something that the candidate would love to go back and change.
If the candidate is open to learning from their mistakes rather than pushing the blame to someone else.
14. Can you describe your favourite and least favourite supervisor and why?
One thing that this question does – is to help reduce the tension between both parties in the interview room. It also helps you start a conversation with the job candidate on a lighter note.
This question will help you understand the kind of environment that the candidate can succeed in easily and also the personality of the candidate.
You should never forget to ask a candidate this question. The job interview is a time for both the employer and the job candidate to learn more about each other before making a decision. Asking a candidate this question allows the candidate to get clarity on some things they may not seem to understand about the job and the company in general.