Page 22 - Boost Your Hiring

8 Boost Your Hiring IQ

ANSWERS
The Strongest Question
(B) This question is the strongest because it is will often provide
you with the most telling answer. It is an open-ended question
that allows the candidate to say whatever he or she wants to
focus on. Here is your chance to listen to where the candidate’s
information focuses. Is the answer succinct, or does it tend to
ramble off in different directions?
Does the answer sound like something out of a book and re-
hearsed, or conversational and natural?
The information you obtain from the answer to this ques-
tion will be a good source for probes now or later in the inter-
view. If the candidate claims to have saved his or her last
company money, you could probe by asking a question such as,
“Tell me more about the time you saved the company money.”
Ideally this answer should give you a good summary or image
of the person you are interviewing. If not, that is a clue that the
candidate is either not prepared or the candidate doesn’t know
what he or she can bring to the job.Your job is to probe for more
information.

The Mediocre Question
(C) This is a mediocre question as it stands. It becomes stronger if
you probe and ask for an example of the words used to describe
the person. For example, if the candidate claims to be “organ-
ized,” you can ask for an example of the last time he or she or-
ganized a complete project or event and how he or she
logistically planned and organized the project.

The Weakest Question
(A) This is the weakest question because it is information you can
get by reading through the résumé. There is little or no new
information received from the answer. Résumé writers do a
great job of putting out excellent résumés. If all a candidate has
to do is walk you through the text, there is not much real in-
formation gained from the question.

RATE YOURSELF
If you chose question (B), give yourself 5 points.
If you chose question (C), give yourself 3 points.
If you chose question (A), give yourself 0 points. _____