Page 52 - Boost Your Hiring

38 Boost Your Hiring IQ

ANSWERS
The Strongest Question
(B) Thisis thestrongestanswer,particularlybecauseithastwoparts.
The first part of the question—the percentage—could be an-
sweredwithoneword.Whenyouaddthesecondpartoftheques-
tion you are asking for a more specific answer. “How does that
percentage fit into the rest of your position?” In other words,
40 percent of your job may require answering the phone in a pro-
fessionalmanner.Thatmayimpressyouuntilyoufindoutthatthe
phone is the only communication the candidate has with people
beyondthat40percent.Thisisacceptableprovidedyourcandidate
does not need to have a broader range of communication skills.By
adding the second part of the question,you will find out about the
extent of the candidate’sinterface with othersas awhole.

The Mediocre Question
(C) This is not the strongest question, but it does ask for a specific
trait and is an excellent way to test how the candidate rates his
or her skills through the lens of a group of peers. Speaking
through others’ words is much easier for some candidates and
so they may be able to speak more freely than they would if
they had to use their own words.

The Weakest Question
(A) With a question like this one, you will not gather any valuable
information. It is unlikely that people are going to rate them-
selves average during the interview, even if they are.The candi-
date is there to impress and sell you. What decent salesperson
would ever say that his or her product was average?
You can strengthen this question by asking a follow-up such
as: Give me an example of a typical day in which you are using
your communication skills.

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. _____