How to Innovate the Interview: the Big
Questions You’re Not Asking
The time has come to revolutionise the interview process. An interview is, at its core,
a conversation – albeit a high-stakes one. But, it is becoming increasingly important
to change that conversation because altering the format of the interview process will
undoubtedly yield new results.
Tried and tested means of interviewing continue to produce adequate candidates –
but in order to find the most exceptional candidate for their team, interviewers must
ask equally exceptional questions. Exclusive understands how to get the very most
out of the interview process, which interview questions will provide the most
candidate insight – and, equally, which commonplace questions are more obtuse
than intuitive.
Interviewers should stop asking the classic questions. While these questions
have been an integral part of the interviewing process for decades, this proves as
much a hindrance as an endorsement. For example, asking a candidate to list their
weaknesses will no longer generate the desired results – this commonplace interview
question is one which your potential employee has had years to prepare for, so you
should expect a disingenuous and rehearsed response.
Similarly, just asking a candidate to tell you about themselves is a tired cliché which
should be avoided, as well as being an overly open-ended interview technique,
allowing them to respond with an equally tired and clichéd answer. It’s important to
remember that input is equal to output and your candidate’s replies will be only as
intelligent as the questions they’re asked.
Cotton wool questions do not invite concrete answers. Often interviewers
who consider themselves to be unconventional or off-the-wall are tempted to ask
hypothetical questions with minimal relevance to the position or even the workplace
in general. A recent group discussion on LinkedIn asked recruiters what they
believed to be the most outdated interview question. Popular suggestions included
the drastically overused “If you were a kind of tree, what kind of tree would you be?”
and other quasi-reflective regulars.
There is a great deal of stock put in these sorts of pseudo-introspective questions
which are readily believed to provide far greater insight into the character and
suitability of a candidate than old favourites. However, the recruitment experts at
Exclusive fully endorse the use of competency questions and understand their value
as an alternative method of sketching a potential employee’s appropriateness for the
position.
Asking a candidate to demonstrate when they have proven themselves to possess the
desired skills and competencies is a certain way of establishing they are fit for the
role in question. If the potential employee is able to provide a substantial, relevant
example without hesitation, they have illustrated both their suitability and
adaptability.
As an interviewer, you are discouraged from asking overly offbeat questions – as they
have the potential to undermine the interview process and steer away from the issues
at hand – but should be prepared to ask the unexpected. A candidate able to perform
under pressure and out of their comfort zone is a prospective employee.
The reason that competency questions prove so beneficial to the interviewer is that
they succeed in separating the adequate candidate from the optimal candidate. This
should be someone who is ideally suited to the position, rather than merely being an
enthusiastic jobseeker. The role of the interviewer is to find the best fit for the
position, so your interviewing technique should at all times seek to ensure this.