Effective Interview Questions – Purpose
Effective interview questions are those that obtain facts to help forecast a candidate’s successful behavior on the job.
Characteristics of effective interview questions: they are easy to answer, there is generally only one answer, and each has a specific planned purpose in mind.
5 Types of Effective Interview Questions
- Factual – Requires an answer with a distinct piece of information
- Candidate-specific – Personalized to the specific candidate and circumstances
- Action – Requires the candidate to describe how they accomplished past tasks
- Situations – Specific situations that are the same or similar to those the person will face on your job
- Probing – Follow-up, clarification, and detail questions designed to gain more information
Factual Examples: 1. How many prospects did you call on last week? 2. What percent did you lower accidents last year? 3. What CRM system do you use to manage clients? 4. What software are you certified in?
Candidate-specific Examples: 1. How did you manage the toughest deadline on the construction project? 2. How did you prepare for the presentation to your client? 3. How did you get up to speed on the AI technology at your company? 4. What was your specific responsibility in the warehouse?
Action Examples: 1. How did you build this year’s business plan? 2. How did you handle the last HR problem that was brought to you? 3. How did you get your last customer to add additional accessories? 4. How did you get all the team members to work together?
Situation Examples: 1. Explain in detail to me how you created the production plan. 2. How did you deal with the worst problem employee on your team? 3. How did you manage changes to the code during development? 4. How did you fit in the last company you went to work for?
Probing Examples: 1. How many people worked on that program with you? 2. How long did the program last? 3. Tell me your unique role on the program? 4. How did you achieve the key milestones of the program?
Using Effective Interview Questions
Remember the interview is the most telling part of the recruitment process. An interviewer using effective interview questions can gain insights about the candidate which can’t be gotten from a resume, application, tests, etc.
Use several types of effective interview questions to get a true sense for the applicant’s skill and personality through face-to-face contact.
Contact Flexicrew today to gain our expertise in questioning candidates to predict success for your open positions.