Just My E-pinion
We recently asked readers to send in the best—and worst—interview questions they have encountered (or used). In a recent column we shared the “horror questions.” (Go here to see them.) Today we turn the tables and showcase readers’ favorite interview questions.
“Tell me about a recent professional (or academic) accomplishment that you are particularly proud of and tell me why you picked this example.”
This is my favorite question to ask candidates on an initial phone screen. It seems to get people talking and lends insight into what motivates them and how they operate.
“What would you want written in your epitaph?”
I suspect that my recommended question is legal, but it might be considered less than tasteful.
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“Tell me about your sense of humor.”
A manager I work with gets some very helpful responses from this question. Let’s face it—a good sense of humor is a basic survival skill.
“Tell me a little about yourself.”
It is a safe question and candidates usually share a raft of information about their personal life and work history willingly. [However, as the Advisor pointed out in a previous issue, you may not want a raft of information about the candidate’s personal life. It’s too likely to be information relating to protected status.]
“Describe what animal you are most like.”
Answers to this question are amazingly thoughtful and give us insight into another side of our candidates!
“What will you not do in your next job?”
This question seems to get a strange facial expression each time, but yields interesting answers.
“How would you rate your computer skills—beginning, intermediate, or advanced—and why would you categorize them that way?”
This is the toughest interview question I have ever been asked.
“What makes a good supervisor?”
This question gives perspective on the experiences that the candidate has had with previous supervisors/managers and what his or her expectations are. For example, if the position’s supervisor is a no-nonsense, direct person, an applicant who prefers a relationship-type supervisor would likely have difficultly.
“Tell me about a time when you were surprised by your boss’s reaction to something you did.”
Here’s an opportunity for candidates to toot their own horns and show an example of above and beyond performance. In some cases, candidates discuss situations in which their supervisor was not pleased. This can also be revealing.
“Looking for a better way is not always productive. Tell me about a time that you made a mistake by trying to improve something.”
This question shows how the candidates handle themselves when the inevitable goof occurs. Let’s face it—it is going to happen.
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“Give me an example of how you have dealt with a major change in your work environment.”
My company is constantly changing and evolving. This question helps me to explore the flexibility of the candidates and whether they can adapt as necessary.
“Do you consider yourself to be an optimist, pessimist, or realist? Explain why.”
Hopefully this doesn’t fall into the category of a forbidden question.
Reference Check Special
“If you could whisper advice in the ear of [candidate’s name]’s next supervisor, what would you tell them?”
I use this question not in interviews but in reference checks. It has often intrigued former employers enough to elicit more information than they intended to give me.
Thanks to all who helped with our search for the best—and the worst—interview questions!
I’m a private EEO training consultant and have worked with managers for 30 years in the selection process. I’ve also coached people to prepare for interviews. I thought some of the questions were excellent – behavior based and job-related. However, here are my comments on others that I thought are not helpful in gaining useful information about applicants, are not job-related, and I would not recommend managers using them.
“Describe what animal you are most like.” How is this question job-related? The candidate is trying to guess what animal the interviewer is looking for. As the interviewer, if you don’t like hippos, but the applicant chooses hippos, most likely the interviewer will have a bias about the animal and the applicant.
“Looking for a better way is not always productive. Tell me about a time that you made a mistake by trying to improve something.” What are you really asking? Very confusing question. Instead ask, “Give me an example of when you made a mistake by trying to improve a job task or process. What did you learn from that experience?” My sense is the interviewer wants to convey the importance of learning from one’s mistakes. Right? Don’t you want employees who look for better ways to improve, and how they learn from their mistakes?
“What will you not do in your next job?” This is another example of having the applicant guess what answer the interviewer is looking for. So, let’s get specific. Ask, “What is one thing you learned from your current job that was not helpful for you in performing your job or in working with others. How might this learning experience apply to this job you’re being considered for?”
“Do you consider yourself to be an optimist, pessimist, or realist? Explain why.” Here we go again – the guessing game. Most applicants already know NOT to pick pessimist. So, what are we wanting to know by this question? Ask instead, “Give me an example of when you were an optimist in your job. What impact did that have in your job? “Give me an example of when you were a pessimist in your job. What impact did that have in your job?” etc., etc.
I’ll stop there. My point is this – stay focused on job-related questions that will provide useful information about the applicants’ ability to perform the job, their ability to effectively work with co-workers, and to provide great customer service. Don’t play guessing games with applicants.