20 Questions to Ask Your Candidate

20 Questions to Ask Your Candidate

When qualifying a candidate for the positions we recruit for, we ask detailed background and skill set questions. However, we also like to go deeper into the psyche of our candidates on behalf of our clients to help us with our overall qualifying process. Just because a candidate has the right background and right skill set doesn't always make him or her the right fit. Here are 20 questions we recommend that you ask your candidates during the interview.

20 questions (other than background/position specific) we are using with our candidates

•   Can you give me a short synopsis about yourself? (a better way of asking, "Tell me about yourself?")

•   What are the first 3 things you would do if you got this position?

•   What are the 3 biggest strengths you bring to this firm/position?

•   Why are you here?

•   What are the professional accomplishments you are most proud of?

•   Why should I hire you?

•   What is some of the best advice anyone has ever given you?

•   Think of someone in your career that you have had issues with that you would never use as a reference. What would they say about you?

•   What are the 2 business/career decisions you have made that you most regret?

•   Tell me about a time when you worked in a team situation and you had a conflict with one of the members of the team. How did you handle it?

•   How would you define success in this position?

•   What is some of the best advice anyone has ever given you?

•   Have you ever been fired? What did you learn from it?

•   How would you describe your work style?

•   What do you think of your previous boss/employer?

•   What is your greatest fear?

•   What would you do if you won the lottery?

•   From what you know so far, how would you compare our firm to our competitors?

•   What aspects of a corporate culture are most important to you?

•   What is your personal mission statement?

A factor that should also be considered by an interviewer during an interview is the questioning style employed. Behavioral questioning has been popular for a while. Here are the some styles we most often utilize:

•   Behavioral

•   Situational

•   Current events

•   Position specific

•   Background focused

•   Open ended

•   Role play

We use, and recommend to our clients to use, a mixture of these styles to get the most truthful, informed and revealing answers from your candidates.