One of the most critical areas in recruiting new employees is the job interview. This is the first in depth encounter an HR personnel will have with an applicant. If done effectively, the interview process can land you the perfect match for a position you need to fill.
Deciding whom to hire among a number of equally qualified applicants can be difficult. Looking at their resumes, you may have two to three seemingly highly competent applicants to choose from, so where do you go from there? How do you decide who the best fit is?
In recruiting new employees, HR experts use what they call behavioral interview questions. It allows HR managers to peek into how the person will most likely behave in certain situations based on how they did in the past. The questions couldn’t be easily answered based on simple logic and memorized facts, as the questions are mostly situational.
The logic behind it is that past behavior may predict a person’s future behavior.
Ask yourself, “What common decision-making situations will the applicant face if hired for the position?” Use these questions to find how the applicant reacted in a similar scenario in the past, and thus reveal how he or she is likely to behave when faced with a similar situation in your team.
Given this method in recruiting new employees, your interview questions need to be strategic and of course, not too obvious.
Begin with the applicant’s first job experience, moving towards the most recent; this will help you create an orderly flow and recognize critical behavioral trends. Choose a specific highlight in the applicant’s career background and explore that.
Below are example questions to ask:
- “How were you able to manage your financial deadlines in Project X?”
- “How did you manage all those staff under you during Project X?”
- “Why did you decide on pushing through with decision X?”
- “How did you come about with the presentation that closed X deal with Z company?”
- “What was the worst customer complaint you got? How did you react to it?”
- “Walk me through how you set up the organizational system”
- “Walk me through how you were able to build partnerships with company X”
- “How did you break the news of a layoff to your staff?”
In recruiting new employees, your questions should be designed with the purpose of allowing the person to describe in detail how they behaved in these specific situations, and why they made certain decisions.
The way the applicant reacted in the past, will be evident when he or she answers your question, so watch out for the facial expressions and body language as well. If they look uncomfortable or are fidgeting and stuttering while answering your questions, that should alert you! Could it be that things didn’t go as they said it did? Or perhaps they’re not as organized or confident as they portray themselves to be?
If you feel like most of the past decisions the applicant made does not fit well with your organization’s culture and goals, this will give you a heads up before it is too late.
Recruiting new employees may prove to be time consuming and very costly if not done properly and strategically. Instead of relying on typical interview questions, which applicants are already expecting, use situational questions that will put them on the spot and give you a better glimpse of what they can really do for your company.
© 2013 Incedo Group, LLC
