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Hiring the right person for the right position can be
critical to an organizations success. Asking effective
questions during the interviewing process can be the single
biggest difference between success and disaster. When you
look at the complete cost of hiring the wrong person it can
make you procrastinate hiring anyone at all. There is no
magical one question that will tell you whether someone is
the right or wrong candidate for a position but there are
some questions that are better than others and can
significantly reduce your risk.
Here
are some great questions to ask the next time you are
interviewing someone. All of these questions can help you
learn more about a candidate and help you determine the
probability of them succeeding in a in a given role. These
questions cover the areas of suitability, employability,
capability, compatibility, credibility & affordability.
Suitability
-- "Tell me about yourself?" "So what brings you to our
company?" These questions are designed to see to what degree
the candidate can see the big picture. Is it their intent to
help your business, continue on a career path or just get a
job? Do they understand the big picture of business,
industries, and trends? Do they understand they are only as
valuable as the issues they resolve for your company? Can
they talk about their talents and skills from a high level?
Do they diagnose before they prescribe? How long do they
speak about themselves before they ask questions about the
position and the ideal candidate? Suitability questions help
you to see why they are in front of you and if from a high
level there is a reason for the interview to continue.
Employability
-- "Why are you leaving your current employer?"
Employability questions surround the candidate’s value in
the market and the need for their skills, talents and
abilities. Are they a diamond in the rough or a "meets
expectations?" Why are there so many jobs on their resume?
Why so long with one employer? Why do they want to work for
a small/large company? How has their performance been
through the ebbs and flows of business? Ask for specific
examples of their communication, leadership and
interpersonal skills?
Capability
-- These are your strengths and weakness questions. What are
their greatest achievements? If they could do anything in
their career differently, what would it be? These are your
resume competence questions. Latest skill developed? Biggest
asset? Training received? Most developed skill? What would
they be the "go to" person for?
Compatibility
-- Compatibility questions include "where do you want to be
5 years from now?" "What’s most important to you about your
next position?" What are your references going to say about
you? What would your colleagues say are your greatest
assets/liabilities? Why this industry? Why this position?
Why us? Why now? How would you handle a boss you didn’t
like? How well do you work alone or in a team environment?
How would you go about laying off a group of people that
worked for you? In this area you want to make sure they are
compatible with the skills and experience needed as well as
with the values and culture of the company.
Credibility
-- Who are your references? Why have you chosen them? How
long have you known them? Here you are looking for honesty
and integrity. Ask for a time when they were 100% wrong
about something and what they did about it? Ask for a time
when they lost a client and how they handled it? Biggest
success/failure and what made it successful/fail? Although
this is very hard to do we ultimately in the credibility
area are looking to see if they are who they say they are.
Affordability
-- Money does matter so ask them where they would like to
be? What are their money objectives for the next 5 years?
Where would they like to be now? What is their income
history?
Here
are some other great interviewing questions that will help
you find the right match.
How
does this job match with their values?
We
have all been on interviews and its not a time where most
people, even though it should be, are at their best. If you
have any concerns about hiring a candidate give them a
chance to address it. If you guess and you were wrong you
have wasted everyone’s time and potentially the right
candidate. They have invested their time; energy and
probably some paid time off to be in front of you. The least
you can do is be straightforward with them.
Changing jobs is a significant event in all of our lives and interviewing can be one game after another. My advice is don’t ask trick questions or play games with your candidates. Each question you ask should be directed at finding the right candidate for the position and nothing more. The more direct, honest and open you are the more direct, honest and open your candidates will be and the greater your chances of hiring the best. Steve McClatchy is the president of Alleer Training & Consulting a provider of training, consulting and speaking services in the areas of Consultative Selling, Time Management and Leadership. If you would like to publish this article in your trade journal, magazine or newspaper or if you would like to learn more about the ways Alleer can be a resource to your organization email Steve.McClatchy@Alleer.com or call 1-800-860-1171. | |
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