Management Tips

7 rules to Select Interview Questions for Hiring Skilled Employees

Management Tips

Conventional methods of interviewing that have been around for ages are no longer effective. For example, there are no more sudden questions in interviews. Thanks to websites like Glasdoor.com candidates get to know the questions and their answers in advance. And using that information, candidates now regularly prepare and videotape their practice to make their answers, if not perfect, universally impressive.

Sudden questions are not just a thing of the past. A study by Google has shown that answering "brainstorming questions" can also lead to the wrong candidate, and if a candidate has faced more than four interviews, these questions will not help. Because of this many jobs do not expect to get good candidates regardless of grades, exam results or educational institutions.

So now is the time to focus on job related questions for interviews which are difficult to prepare or fake answers.

 

Skip easy practice questions

If you work for a large corporation, most of the questions your company's hiring managers ask are posted on Glassdoor.com with answers. So start with a brand new type of question, and keep aside the overused and non-innovative questions that can be easily mastered. You can ask "What are your unique strengths to do this job?" and "what areas do you aim to improve?" or "What makes you think you're the right match for this position?" and “What is your dream job?” or “Where do you want to see yourself five years from now?”

 

Stay away from work history questions

The types of questions that ask about the candidate's past work history, also known as "behavioral questions for etiquettes" (eg, "Tell me about a time when you led a team"), are out of step with the modern era, as alternatives to old methods are constantly emerging. A study by Professor Frank Schmidt and Jon Hunter found that the success rate of these questions was only 12 percent higher than a coin toss. Why? Because what a candidate did for one organization years ago, may not be profitable for another organization today in a different style. Also, in response to these questions, many storytellers fall into the trap of problem-solving stories that have little to do with their achievements.

 

Check problem solving skills

If you want to hire a chef, ask him to prepare a meal. To find the best candidates from the average candidates is one of the most effective ways to let them solve any work-related problems. Ask candidates to do something like this:

  • Identify the organization's problems: Say something like, "During the first week on the job, give me a detailed description of how you will identify the most important work-related problems or opportunities in the organization and how to solve them."

  • Solve a recent problem: Ability to solve contemporary problems is the biggest criteria for job eligibility. Picture them a problem on their first day on the job. Then I want to know how, step by step, they will best solve that problem. Make a list of important steps before the interview so that you can easily find what you need. Deduct some numbers if a step is omitted, such as collecting data, consulting with teams or customers, finding success criteria, etc.

  • Find out the flaws in our process: Describe current process flaws related to their work in a paper. And say the process checks three error locations to find where the problem is most likely to occur.

 

“Before the interview, make a list of major flaws.”

 

Assess how well they can plan or predict future events

To assess their ability to think strategically in a fast-changing world, ask these questions to see how well they plan for the future in an evolving environment.

Outline your strategy for this task. A capable officer plans before beginning a significant project or new task. Ask candidates to outline their work plan for the first 3 to 6 months, including key elements such as project objectives, consultants involved, validated data sources, communication with their own team, success metrics, and more.

Predict the future of your industry. It is important for organizations to be prepared for significant changes. Ask candidates to outline five possible ways that their workplace may change over the next three years as the business landscape changes. For new hires, understanding industry trends is important. Therefore, ask candidates about 3-5 key trends in their respective industries and ask them to predict how large companies will prepare themselves to adapt to those trends.

 

Assess how well the candidate acquires new skills, adapts to change, and creates original solutions.

Education: “Create a visual plan of the steps you would go through to improve an essential skill.”

Agility: "Explain the steps you will take to adapt to sudden, dramatic changes in technology or customer needs."

Innovation: “Describe what initiatives you will take within your team to encourage the practice of innovation to keep pace with competition or new technology”

 

Avoid duality

When selecting questions, avoid questions related to education and job description that have already been mentioned in a resume or phone interview.

 

Take the time to introduce about organization

A large portion of the interview time will be spent on evaluating the candidate but in addition to that, take some time to introduce yourself to the organization. Ask the interviewer, "What do you value when evaluating a job offer?". Share intriguing details and potential advantages about yourself and your company that directly match what they're seeking.