Lauren LevineA job interview is important for a hiring manager, as it gives you time to get a real sense of what a potential employee is about and how they’ll contribute to your office. However, when you’re doing a lot of interviews back to back, it’s easy to fall into a routine where you ask the same uninspired interview questions of your candidates. Instead, dig a little deeper and try asking some of these more thought-provoking interview questions:
What qualities bother you most in your co-workers? What qualities do you appreciate?
Instead of the overused and awkward “What’s your worst trait?” these interview questions give the candidate a chance to speak to qualities they admire or hope to avoid without forcing them to brag or put themselves down.
How do you take advantage of your strengths? How do you mitigate your weaknesses?
If you do want to touch on a candidate’s strengths or weaknesses, this is a good way to frame it so that they’re not uncomfortable.
How do you go about making decisions?
Understanding a potential employee’s decision-making process is important, as it gives you good insight into how they operate on a daily basis.
Describe a time you were given a task that you weren’t formally trained on doing. How did you handle this?
Though you may have a great training program in place, inevitably there’s going to be a time when an employee is given a task to do that they simply haven’t been trained to accomplish. You’ll want to know that they’ll be able to handle this request without getting overwhelmed or making a careless decision. Hearing them talk through this process before they’re in the situation is helpful.
What type of boss would get the highest quality work from you?
You may have the smartest, most dedicated employee in the world, but if they don’t blend in well in your office you’re going to regret your hire. This question helps to show what type of person the individual enjoys working for, and how they would fit in at your office.
What concerns you about this opportunity?
If the candidate has any hesitations, this is the time to address them head on. This allows the two of you to start with a clean slate, and it enables you to be aware of any potential problems before they develop.
These unique interview questions enable you to get the information you need about a candidate, but in a way that’s anything but boring and cliché. Plus, the questions’ unique nature forces a candidate to truly analyze the inquiries, instead of giving standard answers that they may have become accustomed to delivering in interviews over the years.
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