When you interview new employees, what questions do you typically ask?

[ChrisHasADog]

I was interviewing a new employee because HR had recently traveled. We are looking for an employee to promote our business for us on FB, reddit, day to day maintenance of clients, etc... (Of course this person should be working in our office, not on line part time.)

I asked the following questions.
1. Why in choosing this city to work. (Since she is not a local, I would like to know if her place of residence is stable.)

2, Previous work experience, she used to promote bikes on FB and sell them abroad. She told me the conversion rate wasn't good and people usually ignored her. She felt she should get a like from her target customer's homepage and then chat about topics of interest before promoting the bike. (To be honest I wasn't happy with her answer, but I like her and she told me the truth.)

Through the overall conversation, I felt she was a moldable young person. She is only 22 years old. But I don't have more time to help her grow. In the end we didn't hire her.

I actually prepared some questions: how much money you want to make in the future, your current relationship situation.... I want to know more things so I can get a sense of whether or not this person is stable emotionally and so on. But the questions made me look like a human rights violating asshole, so I didn't ask them....

And of course the usual questions: How do you deal with difficulties at work? Are you okay with working overtime? How do you handle coworker relationships?.... But I don't want to ask these questions, I don't see the point, what people say and what they do can be two different things

So I would like to ask you folks, when you are the interviewer, what questions do you ask and what is the significance of the questions? Feel free to share and I will be open to learn. Thx!

 

[back2form]

The First question & follows

Q. 1 .. Introduce yourself..
Q. 2.. How did you hear about this position?
Q. 3.. why do you want to work at this company?

​

 

[ChrisHasADog]

The First question:-

Introduce yourself..

Yep, I think that's the obligatory question, I didn't ask it, I'll keep it in mind, thanks.

 

[SilverClouds]

Yeah, don't ask these creepy things, please xD. If you want to know more about them can you maybe check their social media before the interview? Some people will post a lot of personal info online, you'll still know and won't have to ask?

 

[back2form]

Yep, I think that's the obligatory question, I didn't ask it, I'll keep it in mind, thanks.

Well, Don't Disappoint any Candidates..

They must be well prepared to answer Q.1

 

[ChrisHasADog]

Yeah, don't ask these creepy things, please xD. If you want to know more about them can you maybe check their social media before the interview? Some people will post a lot of personal info online, you'll still know and won't have to ask?

Oh, yeah, good idea, I can get some info ahead of time with the resume.

 

[1SEOWarrior]

I am embarrased while asked about my strong and weak points.

Trust me I was confused to answer it.

 

[PetraAnn]

And of course the usual questions: How do you deal with difficulties at work? Are you okay with working overtime? How do you handle coworker relationships?.... But I don't want to ask these questions, I don't see the point, what people say and what they do can be two different things

Try reframing the questions.

- how do you deal with challenges that may arise during the day/project?
- a due date is coming up on a project and it's not nearly done, how do you plan on handling it?

As far as co-worker relationships, maybe introduce them to some of the team beforehand. Have a cup of coffee. Then you can simply ask, "how do you like the team so far?"

Some other questions I've been asked over time that I really like is:

- what do you consider your super power in this market? (they'll tell you what they think they're really good at)
- what do you feel you still need to learn? (a way to frame "what is your weakness")
- talk about a time you faced and overcame a challenge. (problem solving skills)
- talk about X that you've seen others in the space do that you really liked/disliked (how observant they are of trends/competitors in your particular space)
- what made you apply for this position? (you'll find out if it's just a job, career change, dream job, etc)
- what qualities do you think you can bring to the team? (looking for those soft skills like team player, attention to detail, etc)
- if you noticed a colleague who's not on your direct team struggling with a task/project, what do you do? (see if they have any leadership qualities)

 

[roydan]

Honestly, when I hired people I asked tones of questions that I didn't care about, and one that was important:

"I'm currently facing this problem: {insert real problem here, ideally a real problem to be solved by your future employee}. What would you have done to solve it?"

If they know the answer, keep trying new problems until the candidate has no idea, and then say:
Let's try to figure it out together.

Then you get a chance to see how they react in face of a problem they never faced and need to solve, and you'll also know how it is to brainstorm and work with this person.

It never failed me.

 

[ChrisHasADog]

Then you get a chance to see how they react in face of a problem they never faced and need to solve, and you'll also know how it is to brainstorm and work with this person.

I love this, it's great to know more useful information quickly. Thx!

- what do you consider your super power in this market? (they'll tell you what they think they're really good at)
- what do you feel you still need to learn? (a way to frame "what is your weakness")
- talk about a time you faced and overcame a challenge. (problem solving skills)
- talk about X that you've seen others in the space do that you really liked/disliked (how observant they are of trends/competitors in your particular space)
- what made you apply for this position? (you'll find out if it's just a job, career change, dream job, etc)
- what qualities do you think you can bring to the team? (looking for those soft skills like team player, attention to detail, etc)
- if you noticed a colleague who's not on your direct team struggling with a task/project, what do you do? (see if they have any leadership qualities)

I made a note of it and it did work for me, It's given me a lot of inspiration. Thx!