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Getting a bit bored of asking the same old questions in interviews?
Sometimes, you just need to stir things up a bit!
So this week I thought I’d put together a super-list of interview question inspiration just for you…
(You can even print off this page – for future reference)!
Hope you find it useful.
The Basics
The basics are those questions that you should try and squeeze into every recruitment process.
Not too challenging, they’re great for easing candidates into the interview, determining their genuine level of interest in the vacancy and figuring out whether they’re actually right for the role.
Question 1: How did you find out about our vacancy?
Question 2: Why do you want this particular job?
Question 3: Why are you leaving your current company?
Question 4: Tell me a bit about yourself.
Question 5: What makes you the right person for the job?
Question 6: What were your responsibilities at your last workplace?
Question 7: What’s your greatest weakness/strength?
Question 8: What do you know about the industry?
Question 9: What do you know about the company?
Question 10: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Great (prepared) candidates will evidence good knowledge of the company, industry and role and will be aware of their own strengths and weaknesses – whilst also actually being right for the job.
You can use these basic questions in all types of interviews, from telephone to panel.
Personality Questions
These questions will help you to delve a little deeper into the candidate’s personality, outside of work, which is important when assessing their ability to fit in with your team and company culture.
Question 11: How would your best friend describe you?
Question 12: How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Question 13: What book do you think everybody should read?
Question 14: What’s the last book you read? Or film you watched? Or event you attended?
Question 15: What has been your greatest personal achievement?
Question 16: Are you competitive outside of work?
Question 17: Do you have any other commitments outside of work, for example, voluntary positions?
Question 18: Tell me something about yourself that I don’t know from your CV.
Question 19: What are your favourite/least favourite things in life?
Question 20: Do you have any pets?
Be on the lookout for interests and traits the candidate might have in common with your current staff.
Professional Personality Questions
These personality questions are a little different because they’re aimed at revealing a candidate’s professional persona.
How do they like to be managed? What are their motivators? In what environment will they flourish?
Question 21: What do you like most about your job and why?
Question 22: What do you like least about your job and why?
Question 23: How do you like to be managed?
Question 24: Who is the biggest influence on your career?
Question 25: What do you do to get ‘in the zone’?
Question 26: What motivates you?
Question 27: What kind of counter-offer would you accept from your current employers?
Question 28: Do you prefer working as part of a team or individually?
Question 29: What’s the most important thing you look for in a job?
Question 30: What’s the environment like at your current place? Do you like it?
You should be on the lookout for signs that a candidate will (or won’t) fit in with your management style, team and company culture in general.
Competency Questions
You can use competency questions to assess a variety of different skills and attributes.
Most, prepared candidates will be ready to answer these questions using the STAR method and will be able to give clear, honest examples…
Question 31: Tell me about a project you successfully completed as part of a team.
Question 32: Can you tell me about a situation when you personally had to solve a problem at work?
Question 33: Tell me about a time you had to solve a conflict at work.
Question 34: Can you give me an example of when you exhibited great communication skills?
Question 35: Tell me about a time when you successfully took on a leadership role.
Question 36: When’s the last time you learnt something outside of work?
Question 37: When’s the last time you had to persuade someone?
Question 38: Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a complaint from a customer.
Question 39: When was the last time you had to really think on your feet?
Question 40: What do you do to refresh yourself after a tough day at the office?
Left-field Questions
If you want to be even crueller, then you could throw in some tough and bizarre left-field questions.
Your candidates (probably) won’t be expecting these which means you’ll get a more natural response and insights into their true personality.
Question 41: How would you improve our company?
Question 42: What’s your dream job?
Question 43: If you could be a superhero, which would you be and why?
Question 44: What is your least favourite thing about humanity?
Question 45: Are you a lucky person? With examples…
I’d only ever recommend using these if your interview is going a little too well and is perhaps a little too rehearsed – and only ever use one or two maximum.
They’re very off-putting and pretty intense, especially for less confident candidates.
Brainteasers
The same goes for these tricky little brainteasers!
They are great for assessing critical reasoning skills and performance under pressure – but they are incredibly intense.
Question 46: An apple costs 40p, a banana costs 60p, a grapefruit costs 80p. How much does a pear cost?
Question 47: How many potatoes (in kg) does McDonald’s sell in a year in the UK?
Question 48: You get shrunk to the size of a penny and then thrown into an empty blender. You’ve got 60 seconds before the blades start to turn… what do you do?
Question 49: You have a 3-Litre jug, a 5-Litre jug, and an unlimited supply of mulled wine. How do you get exactly 4 Litres of mulled wine without estimating?
Question 50: Tracy’s mother had 4 children. The first child was named April, the second was named May, the third June. What was the 4th child called?
They’re definitely fun though, right?
Feeling inspired?
I do hope that this blog post has given you a few things to think about – and some inspiration for your next round of interviews.
Good luck.
The post 50 Great Interview Questions You Could Ask Your Candidates appeared first on Online Recruitment Blog.