Page 66 - Boost Your Hiring

52 Boost Your Hiring IQ

ANSWERS
The Strongest Question
(C) This question is a great follow-up question to, “What are your
goals?” The purpose of this question is to find out what the
candidates are planning for their future careers and whether
they plan to stay beyond a specific time period. This would be
a good time to watch for red flags regarding how long this can-
didate plans to stay at the job. An example of a red flag answer
is a goal that is very specific such as, “I want to be a director in
charge of a department within five years.”
That’s a good answer only if it is realistic. The candidate has
provided you with information that you need to process. “Can
we realistically expect this goal to be realized?” “Is it possible
for this candidate to rise to that level in that amount of time?”
If the answer is no, you and the candidate should discuss the
fact that your company has no plans to promote to that level in
the next five years.

The Mediocre Question
(A) This question can help determine whether the candidate knows
anything about the company’s goals, but it doesn’t tell you
much about how long the candidate plans to stay with you.
There is no excuse for someone coming to an interview without
first doing research on the company. The Internet has many
sources of information about companies, including annual
earnings, founder’s information, and the Web site. Some candi-
dates may request an annual report before the interview. It will
be your job to determine how much research about the com-
pany and position the candidate has done.
The Weakest Question
(B) This is the weakest question because it asks, “What do you
think?” rather than, “What research have you done?” While
the question is relevant, at this point you should be more in-
terested in the candidate’s skills than his or her opinions. A
stronger approach would be to ask a direct question, such as,
“What attracted you to this posting/company?”

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

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