If you could ask only 20 questions in a job interview, which should they be? BLR’s editorial mind weighs in with the answers.
Back in the day, there used to be a TV quiz show called “20 Questions.” The contestant had a secret in mind, and the panel was challenged to learn it in just 20 questions. If they could, the panel won. If not, the contestant walked away with the prize.
We’re still playing a version of that game today every time we interview a candidate for a job. A win for your company is substantial — a productive employee who will be with the organization for many years.
During the interview there are hundreds of questions that could be asked, but if we were limited to 20, which would elicit the responses most predictive of future job success? We’re not talking about routine stuff like “where did you work?” or “what did you do on your last job?” We’re talking about more probing questions that reveal the person sitting behind the smile and the handshake.
To help choose, we assembled several lists, starting with our own set of more than 100 general interview questions found on the subscription website HR.BLR.com. The site has a ton of interview resources.
HR.BLR.com has hundreds of prewritten interview questions, job descriptions, and virtually anything else you need in HR. Click here and see how good help with HR can get!
We then supplemented our own thinking with that of interview question creators on other sites, including Quintessential Careers, HRinterviews.blogspot, and About.com’s HR site; then narrowed our choices. Here are the 20 we chose, and the areas they explore:
Education:
1) What aspects of your training and education have most helped you on the job?
2) What skills or knowledge do you have not evident from your school records?
Work background/preferences:
3) What about your last job prepared you for this job?
4) What did you like most and least about your previous jobs?
5) What would your previous supervisor say if we asked him or her about what you are like as an employee?
6) What are your two greatest accomplishments on your previous jobs?
7) What are your two greatest disappointments on your previous jobs?
8) If you could design the ideal job for you, what would it be like?
9) Tell me what you know about our company and its competitors.
Workplace interaction
10) How do you resolve personal confrontations?
11) What have you done when you’ve received instructions with which you’ve disagreed?
12) What constructive criticism have you received, and what did you do about it?
13) Tell me about your experiences working on a team.
Leadership potential
14) What do you feel are the qualities required for good leadership?
15) Tell me about a group you had to lead that was difficult and how you got the members to achieve a goal.
Try HR.BLR.com at no cost or risk. Click here for info.
Behavior under stress
16) What do you do when you have too much work for a given period of time?
17) Tell me about the toughest decision you ever had to make.
Future Behaviors/Retention Possibilities
18) Where would you like to be careerwise in 5 years? In 10 years?
19) What are three things you will NOT do on your next job?
20) Are you lucky?
If you consider number 20 a bit strange, it has real potential, according to Daniel Pink, author of the best seller, “Free Agent Nation,” and a speaker at SHRM’s recent national conference. According to Pink, individuals who believe themselves lucky tend to be optimistic and work out well as collaborators, innovators, and providers of excellent customer service.
Are these the questions you would pick? Use the Share Your Comments button to agree or add to the list.
Complimentary Special Report
Special Offer: Examine BLR’s “everything you need in one place” website HR.BLR.com at no cost or risk, and we’ll send you a complimentary, yours to keep whatever you decide, download copy of our special report on the Top 100 FLSA Overtime Qs & As. It’s must-reading now that FLSA violations are the government’s number one enforcement target. Read more.
While I think these questions are solid (the list includes several open and behavior based questions) I notice the absence of hypothetical questioning (which allows an interviewer to assess an applicant’s reasoning ability.) Behavior based questions are designed to uncover past behaviors (which of course is the greatest predictor of future behavior.) Hypothetical questions are designed to uncover how a person would approach a situation they’ve never faced before. Can they work logically through the problem, or will they raise up their hands in exasperation and say “I don’t know! I’ve never done this before!”
In terms of the “Are you lucky?” question, I would be hesitant to ask this. I believe that many of us do not base our success on “luck” – rather, on a commitment and desire to achieve our goals. If I were asked this question, I would admit that sometimes luck does play a factor (being in the “right place at the right time” for example) but on the whole, a person must have specific goals in mind, a plan for achieving those goals and an unwavering commitment to do whatever it takes.
Tell me about the last book you read.