So, you’re about to start interviewing for that new position. You’ve checked the CVs and got a shortlist of people that you’re sure will be of benefit to the company, as long as they get through this short interview OK.
You get through the normal bits of the interview, than ask the inevitable question, “Do you want to ask me anything?” or “Is there anything you wanted to know?”
Have you really prepared for the questions you might be asked by the interviewee? With the plethora of books, magazine articles and websites out there devoted to helping people get their dream job, you need to be prepared for them to ask questions you haven’t encountered before, or at least will raise your eyebrows.
Mashable.com came up with a series of hard-hitting questions that interviewees are now asking prospective employers. See how you would get on with some of them.
1. How receptive are you to feedback from your employees when do you do something they disagree with?
A good question from a person who shows they don’t fear conflict
2. As a manager, what frustrates you about the people that work for you?
This enables the person to find out what they need to steer clear of.
3. Is there a project your department is working on now? If so, how are you interacting with your staff on it?
This helps the person to determine your management style and seeks out if you love to micro-manage or delegate responsibility to their staff
4. Can you give me an example of how you work collaboratively with other departments?
This helps them check if the working environment is compatible with their values and goals
5. Does the company welcome celebrating special occasions in employees’ lives? What was the last occasion your department celebrated?
This helps the person see if there is a celebratory nature about the department, or if it’s a really drab and dour place to work.
6. What would be the three things that your team would say you do extremely well?
This gets the person a good idea of how humble/stuck up/creative/big-headed you are
7. I understand the company has a formal recognition program; what type of recognition have you recently given to one of your staff?
This shows whether your company really does what it says it does when it comes to rewarding staff.
8. Has anyone on your staff been promoted over the last couple of years? If so, what was the reason why this person was promoted?
The person wants to know what the promotional prospects would be if they joined. It makes them appear to be a person looking to develop and improve.
9. What are the three main factors you will be using to determine the right person for this job?
This helps the person check if the values and criteria they will be judging the job by are compatible with yours.
10. What have been the main characteristics of your best employees?
This enables the person to determine what they will have to do to be in your ‘good books’.
11. What was the company’s most strategic decision made in the last year? Could you describe how they came to this decision?
This enables the person to see the future goals of the company and department, and whether they are a good strategic fit with you.
12. Can you give me an example of how and why one of your staff made a major mistake, and what was your response to it?
They will want to know what the risk-management strategies are for the company, and whether they are able to cope with those strategies.
All these questions are aimed at giving the interviewee the necessary information to see if yours is the company that is compatible with what they want for their future. Make sure you have good answers for each of these questions, as you would look embarrassed if you couldn’t be clear in your response to them. You also might want to see this blog to check for alternatives to interviews for choosing your next team member.
