Page 44 - Boost Your Hiring

30 Boost Your Hiring IQ

ANSWERS
The Strongest Question
(A) This is the strongest question because it requires introspection
from the candidate. Although it asks the basic question, “What
are your strengths?” it has a new twist because you ask for the
information through the words of others.
Does the answer focus on knowledge-based skills such as ed-
ucation or experience? Or are the words used focused more on
transferable traits that can be used in any job? A few examples
of transferable traits are communication, problem solving,
time management, and organizational skills.
Or are the words used in the answer focused on character
traits? These words would include shy, happy, easy-going, and
good sense of humor. The best answer will have a combination
of all types of traits. If that is not the case, it will be your job to
ask about each category and what others would say about the
candidate’s different traits.

The Mediocre Question
(B) What makes this question mediocre is that it is very trite. Al-
most every book on interviewing includes this question as one
of the top 10 interviewing questions. There are more creative
ways of asking for the same information, such as: What is the
strongest quality you could bring to this job?

The Weakest Question
(C) This question is very vague. “What can you bring?” The can-
didate will bring a number of things, but which is most rele-
vant to this job? If you do ask this question, be specific:

• After reading the job description, where do you think you are
the strongest match? Weakest match?
• When you compare this job with your past jobs, where are the
similarities in the jobs you performed?

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

If you chose question (C), give yourself 0 points. _____