The Most Important Interview Questions To Ask
Hiring new employees is a process that involves networking, posting a well written job description, screening candidates and then interviewing potential candidates. In order to ensure you hire the best possible candidate you want to make sure you are screening well during the interview process. As you prepare to interview potential candidates for your open position, here is a look at the most important interview questions to ask.
What skills and strengths do you bring to this position? You can read about a candidate’s strength and experience in their resume and cover letter, but asking this question gives them a chance to elaborate. You can also have them provide specific examples of times when these skills and strengths have been an asset to their company.
Why are you leaving your current job? Why they are leaving their current job can provide insight into how they may fit in with your company. If they are leaving to seek additional growth opportunities, that often means they are looking to grow and advance and will likely be interested in doing so with you. If they are leaving for negative reasons, this could be some insight into what might transpire if you hire them.
Where do you see yourself in five years? This helps you identify candidates with clearly defined goals and aspirations. If they are looking for career advancement and are interviewing with your company because they see that as a possibility, that indicates they are more likely to have long term success.
When is a time you have had to overcome a significant challenge? This gives you insight in a couple different ways. First this helps give you an idea of what they consider to be significant and if they will be able to handle the pressures and difficulties of your open position. This also provides insight into how they handle conflict and how they function under pressure.
What is one thing you want me to know about you that’s not on your resume, application or LinkedIn profile? Sometimes there is relevant information that just doesn’t fit into a question on an application or on a resume but may be helpful. This gives candidates an opportunity to share any other information about themselves.
Do you have any questions for me? This can help you understand how much research they have done as it relates to your company and the position they are applying to fill. Depending on how the interview has gone, they may have already had many of their questions answered so they may not have a long list of questions for you.
