You’ve selected the candidates you want to interview; what should you be looking to find out at this stage? Alistair Hardaker, a Content Writer for Portfolio CBR, (providers of compensation, benefits and rewards jobs throughout the UK) outlines the three most important questions to ask.
1. How will you measure your success if offered a role?
A take on the classic ‘What motivates you?’ question, this provides candidates with the opportunity to be more specific with their responses. When asked to name what drives them, candidates will typically give broad answers such as ‘success’ and ‘personal development’, which, whilst promising, rarely offers real insight. The phrasing of this question requires candidates to answer in a way which will provide you with a greater understanding of their knowledge, and might also reveal their level of independence. Junior candidates will likely give straight-forward answers – they will measure their success against the company standards. For more senior candidates, the company standards should be taken for granted, and the great candidates will measure their own success differently – this might include satisfied staff, company awards, or continually beating company standards.
2. How has your education or last job prepared you for your career?
This question should provide an enlightening range of answers, allowing you to see how your candidate thinks about their experience. While the content of their answer will provide insight, the direction in which they choose to take the answer can also reveal useful information.
Typically, candidates will focus on either their applicable academic or professional success in detail, or how the transferable skills gained have helped to make them a better employee.
Educational experience brings with it two major qualities. A candidate’s area of study can provide them with a strong knowledge base, while the process of academia itself is likely to have improved their capability of hard work, time management, and self discipline. Similarly, candidates with industry experience can be found to have a greater knowledge of the sector, along with broader professional skills. In a sense, there is no ‘wrong’ answer here. Instead, their answer should align with what you are looking for from educational or professional experience.
A candidate with highly applicable skills should be focussing on their industry knowledge. Someone with less relevant expertise should be aware that their knowledge is less relevant, but their broader skills are still transferable.
3. Describe the moment you decided you wanted to leave your last job?
This reframes the classic ‘Why did you leave your last role?’ question in a way that should help you to avoid broad or generic answers. It gives the candidate a chance to explain the unique circumstances which led to them deciding to leave. Asking a candidate for information on the specific point in time will tell you plenty about their temperament and what they are – and are not – looking for in a new role.
While a large majority of the workforce move for financial reasons, or for the benefit of their career, their stories may be far more specific. The more you can glean from this, the better placed you’ll be to decide whether a similar set of circumstances could arise in your workplace.
