Interview Questions: Reading Between the Lines

You’ve shifted through the resumes, picked a handful of well-qualified applicants, and extended the invitation for the interview. But now that it’s time for the interview, what are some good interview questions to ask? How can you deem if the applicants ‘great’ answer is the truth? How many questions should you prepare?

Interviewing is a crucial step in hiring. What looks good on paper does not necessary mean the person entails those great customer service skills you are looking for, or it even may be that the applicant has skeletons in his work-closet like being habitually absent! Interviews are important in weeding out the wrong from the right, but it is only as effective as the questions you ask. So here are some gathered example questions and some hints to read between-the-lines of your candidate’s answer.

General Questions
Most interviews begin and end with general questions. A popular interview-opening question would be, ‘Tell me about yourself’. Some ending general questions are ‘What salary are you seeking?’ and ‘Do you have any questions about the company?’

Competency-based Behavioral Questions
Don’t be frightened by the long formal title! Competency-based Behavioral questioning is a new and growing trend that allows the employer to see if the applicant has the competency (knowledge, skills and attributes) to successfully get the job done. Unlike general questions that may have cookie-cutter answers easily found on the Internet, competency-based interview demands specific examples in the candidate’s past behavior and experience, which make it much harder to ‘wing it’ or give a cookie-cutter answer to. It is also a good predicator for future work behavior.

General/Introspective

• What do you feel are your weakest strengths?
• What do you feel are your greatest strengths?

Teamwork

• Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult team member.
• Tell me about a situation where you found it challenging to build a trusting relationship with another coworker and how it affected your work?

Decision Making/Problem Solving

• Tell me about a time when you failed to accomplish an objective.
• Tell me about a time that your boss asked you to do something that you did not totally agree with.

• Give me an example of a time you had to adapt to an uncomfortable situation.

Communication (written)

• Describe the most significant or important presentation or article you had to complete.

Continuous Learning and Development

• Where do you expect to be in 5 years time? What will you do if you are not successful in gaining this position?
• Aside from your formal academic education, can you think of something you have done to grow professionally in the recent past?

Hypothetical Questions
It is a good idea to throw in at least one hypothetical question, which can consist of a hypothetical scenario, brainteaser, or riddle. This shows the applicants’ ability to think quickly on their feet as well as to help measure the applicant’s analytic and problem-solving skills.

• Suppose you were going to miss an important business meeting due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., illness or family emergency).  What would you do?

• Imagine I am blind. Describe blue to me.
• If you see a bird sitting on a twig, how could you get the twig without disturbing the bird? (Wait till the bird flies away)
• What was given to you, belongs to you exclusively, and yet is used more by your friends than by yourself? (Your name)

Most interviews are 15-20 minutes long, with each question taking two minutes to ask and answer. Therefore, a maximum of ten interview questions should be prepared. Watch the candidate’s body language, and the specific details s/he uses when answering- these are key signs that the candidate is speaking from genuine experience. If you get a hunch that the candidate is creating false experiences and situations, always ask whom you can get in contact with to ask their side of the story. This is usually never expected or forethought, and will shake the candidate out to admitting the truth.