Who’s hiring and who’s looking to be hired?
In the past two days, over 19,000 LinkedIn users have been looking at companies who are currently hiring in Canada. This means thousands of workers will be looking to join companies in the following weeks and months. From those looking to change their career path entirely following the Great Resignation of 2021, to those ready to return to an in-person setting, workers are sure to be heading your way for their next job interview very shortly. So, how will you make the most of this wave of workers who are potentially headed your way? How about asking them new questions to ensure you’re getting the best candidates out there? Or even, asking them questions that focus on them as an individual to show you care about their well-being and want them to succeed as much as they do?
Here are my top 5 questions you can ask in your next job interview (in no particular order)!
Questions to ask your candidates for better interviews
1. Tell me a bit about yourself
Although this is less of a question, this is an underrated favorite for getting to know a candidate and how they perceive themselves, from their strengths to what they highlight in their past. Getting to hear even a brief introduction of a candidate can tell you where their priorities are in their career. To integrate this into your current practice, start by restating a few points from their academic or employment history. Then, ask them to introduce themselves briefly. This way, they’ll know you’re not just looking for a summary of their resume. Instead, hopefully, they’ll offer you a bit more personal information that can better guide your hunch about how well they’d do in one position or another.
2. What are you looking for in this position that your last position couldn’t offer you?
This is one question that recruiters often forget to ask, especially when following up to the question “Why did you leave/are you leaving your most recent job?”. Frequently, candidates are looking for a change of pace, or a position that offers them more responsibility in exchange for more pay. But what else can you discover about this candidate in order to best match them with a position? Was there an environment conflict for this candidate? Did they not thrive in a team-oriented position? Are they looking for a new position all together, but may not know that they are? These are some crucial questions that, if not answered, can lead both of you astray and lead to an unhappy hire. Show your candidates you’re really looking for their opinion so you can find them exactly what they’re looking for. You might be surprised at what they offer you in return.
3. Do you have any questions about this position or the company?
Simply enough, this question is to encourage them to ask questions. The only red flag is the most common one: that they don’t have any questions at all. More often than not, candidates think that having no questions is the same as being easy-going or flexible. But often, when candidates don’t ask questions, they have been mass-applying to job postings online. In this case, they may not care at all about this position or this company in particular. They may just be playing their odds. And sometimes that is okay–some candidates want the job after all, regardless of going into their interview blind–but other times, they aren’t investing the time to dig into a company unless they’re really serious about accepting an offer.
4. Are you applying for other jobs?
This question is great for showing how honest candidates are, and how invested they are in this position. If they say ‘yes’, though, this doesn’t mean it’s the end of the line. It just means that you may need to negotiate with their future employer to ensure the candidate is happy and will accept their first offer. With that said, not only is this question good for seeing how to play your hand, it’s also good for seeing how much this candidate wants this job. So, even if they’re not suited for this position, it might be able to guide you and them into the right position after all.
The final question you should be asking in your job interviews
The final question we use time and time again in interviews is “Have you already taken Packfinder?”
And yes, I am biased. Packfinder is our very own soft-skill assessment that discovers a candidate’s potential success in various positions. But it’s the most effective way to ensure a candidate is going to be happy and up for the challenges that will arise in their new position. After all, it asks the most basic questions for you, so you can spend more time asking deeper questions.
Not only does Packfinder ask self-reflective questions that measure a candidate’s strengths and preferences, but it further asks questions that measure their accuracy in their responses. After all, some candidates feel like they need to respond to questions to please their employer. Packfinder does things a bit differently.
Instead of relying on a standard survey, Packfinder allows candidates to really discover their behavioral tendencies and preferences in the workplace, even unconscious ones. To do so, Packfinder asks a set number of questions, but phrases them in different contexts to examine a candidate’s consistency and confidence. These are the responses that may surprise you and even the candidate themselves!
Not only is Packfinder a great asset for you as a recruiter, it is further a life-long asset that can help job seekers find their natural abilities and tendencies in work environments. So, the next time you set up an interview with a candidate, ask them to try out Packfinder. It’s free, easy to use, and a life-long asset for the candidate to keep for their entire career.
Find out more about what Packfinder can offer you with your free Workwolf Business account.
