Interviewing A to Z Part 2 (cont.)
The Effective Interview Stages
Stage Three: The Questions cont.
Question 5. Tell me why you decided to leave your last or current job. If something doesn't sound right, ask more questions. If they had a problem, look for patterns of problems. For example, if they left the job before having another, you need to ask why. There would be few good answers for this question from a responsible person!
Question 6. What suggestions did you make at your last job? Making suggestions is an indication of involvement and commitment. If they made none, they probably weren't very involved with their work or they were there for only a paycheck. You don't need people who won't give at least some commitment to their job.
Question 7. Tell me about the best boss you ever worked for. If the description sounds like you, great! If not, look for possible incompatibility.
Question 8. What would you say is your greatest strength as an employee? Do their strengths fit the position? "I love working with people," for example, is obviously a desirable strength. But beware! This is a stock answer. Ask them to give an example of why they "love" working with people. Also, this "greatest strength" question shows whether they have ever thought about it.
Question 9. In what areas would you like to improve? Everyone has areas that need development. This is an important question, mostly to determine whether their self‑esteem is high enough for them to accept that they need to constantly improve. If they won't admit it, it could also be that they're not confident in their ability to offset their developmental needs.
Question 10. What annoys you most about work? Answers that indicate the applicant is not a team player are danger signs; for example, "I don't like other people always asking for my help. I have my own job to do!" This is not what you want to hear from a management candidate or from someone who is to work side‑by‑side with peers while helping customers. Their "team playing" would be questionable.
Question 11. Tell me how you handled an upset customer before in your earlier work experience. The ability to give good service under pressure is a vital requirement!
There are many, many other questions that can be used but I won’t take the space here to offer them. Look for the list on this web site. Next Page...