I had another interview today with a candidate who is applying for the role of Business Configuration Manager that I currently hold as a consultant.
Interviews have their limitations, and phone interviews in particular are limited in what we're able to glean from the candidates. Without body language, we can only rely on the responses, which are only as good as the questions we ask. The moral of the story is to ask good questions.
What makes a good interview question? Well, I don't like questions in which I can predict the answers.
What are your strengths/weaknesses?
Lame.
Here's an example of a softball question I like to use:
Explain how you schedule and facilitate a meeting.
The danger with this question is that someone will tell us the "right" answer rather than how they actually handle meetings. Still, I like to hear someone's thought process on this specific topic.
Here's one of my favorite ones we are using for the management candidates:
One of your employees asks you for advice on how to be more productive while working from home. What do you tell them?
This is such a great question and much better than the standard "tell us about your management style." This question gives us a sense of how the candidate views productivity AND it gives us a sense of how the candidate would interact with someone on his/her team.
Here's another one I like:
Tell us about a time when led by example.
This is a hard question to fake. The example and how it shows your leadership can be a make-or-break moment for a management candidate.
Bottom line, if you are going to be interviewed by me, prepare to bring your A-game.
Interviews have their limitations, and phone interviews in particular are limited in what we're able to glean from the candidates. Without body language, we can only rely on the responses, which are only as good as the questions we ask. The moral of the story is to ask good questions.
What makes a good interview question? Well, I don't like questions in which I can predict the answers.
What are your strengths/weaknesses?
Lame.
Here's an example of a softball question I like to use:
Explain how you schedule and facilitate a meeting.
The danger with this question is that someone will tell us the "right" answer rather than how they actually handle meetings. Still, I like to hear someone's thought process on this specific topic.
Here's one of my favorite ones we are using for the management candidates:
One of your employees asks you for advice on how to be more productive while working from home. What do you tell them?
This is such a great question and much better than the standard "tell us about your management style." This question gives us a sense of how the candidate views productivity AND it gives us a sense of how the candidate would interact with someone on his/her team.
Here's another one I like:
Tell us about a time when led by example.
This is a hard question to fake. The example and how it shows your leadership can be a make-or-break moment for a management candidate.
Bottom line, if you are going to be interviewed by me, prepare to bring your A-game.
