Interviewing potential candidates gives you information you won’t get from a resume or application alone. You can dive deeper into a person’s skills, abilities, interests and personality. Finding top talent goes beyond the hard skills they possess. You also need to consider whether they will excel in the position and environment in which they are working.
To help get to the bottom of these concerns, here are three questions designed to give you more information than you may have initially realized.
1. Describe Your Ideal Workplace and Supervisor
While this is more of a prompt than a question, it can provide significant insight into how the candidate prefers to work. The answer can cover information about their preference for working as part of a team or individual, the amount of direct supervision they prefer and other cultural or environmental clues that can help determine whether they are an ideal fit.
For example, if the employee prefers more direct supervision, they might not flourish in an environment that promotes employee empowerment.
Often, there is no specific right or wrong answer to this question. It just provides an avenue to understanding how the applicant views working in the position and how well that matches the reality of the work.
2. How Do Your Skills Further the Company Goal and Mission?
This question serves two purposes. First, it allows the candidate to discuss their skills openly along with how they intend to apply those skills if they are selected for the position. Second, it allows you to see if the candidate reviewed any information about your company prior to their interview.
Since basic information about your organization is readily available online, there is little reason for a candidate to not review this content prior to their arrival. Additionally, it provides insight regarding how they see themselves fitting into this larger objective. It demonstrates a basic level of interest and consideration when related to the position, and may help separate the most passionate candidates from those who are less concerned about taking these simple steps to prepare.
3. Why Are You Looking for a New Opportunity?
This question can be adjusted to address candidates who are or are not currently employed. While normally serving as a test of the candidate’s overall attitude, it can also speak volumes about their career-related priorities.
For example, a currently employed applicant who cites an interest in additional training and advancement opportunities is interested in learning and progressing in the field. However, those who specifically speak negatively of their current employer may not have an ideal attitude for your organization.
Unemployed candidates can also reveal much about what is important to them with this question. While the primary reason for applying to the position may be they need a job, they will often add additional information about what sort of job they are hoping to find. This allows you to consider how their career goals match the position, and whether a good fit exists.
By looking beyond the hard skills that an applicant possesses, you increase your odds of finding top talent who will exceed expectations at your company. If you are looking for your ideal employee, contact Resolution Technologies today. Their experience and expertise can help create a more efficient hiring process, letting you find the best talent available faster than ever.
