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Favorite HR Interview questions

3,525 Views | 23 Replies | Last: 3 mo ago by Ryan the Temp
Kool
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I am unfortunately going to need to hire a new manager, as my current manager of 7 years is going to need to travel frequently across the Pond to help care for aging in-laws. What are favorite questions that those who do a lot of interviewing frequently use? My current manager will be screening people, but I will need to make final interviews and make the final decision. Interviewing isn't one of my favorite jobs, and unfortunately there is nobody within the organization suitable for the promotion. Thanks in advance.
Avoid the rush. Start hating Socialism now.
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AgCPA95
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I few that I keep asking that I have found useful over the years:

If you could go back and get one do-over during your time at (prior employer) what would it be?
(They may ask follow ups on this to get clarification....don't give them any....let them pick....just respond with "any area, any do-over, your choice" and then see where they go. This can help give some insight into self awareness and whether they are learning from mistakes.

I always end with:

Is there anything I should have asked you about, but didn't?


Kool
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AgCPA95 said:

I few that I keep asking that I have found useful over the years:

If you could go back and get one do-over during your time at (prior employer) what would it be?
(They may ask follow ups on this to get clarification....don't give them any....let them pick....just respond with "any area, any do-over, your choice" and then see where they go. This can help give some insight into self awareness and whether they are learning from mistakes.

I always end with:

Is there anything I should have asked you about, but didn't?




Love those. Thanks.
Avoid the rush. Start hating Socialism now.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
I bleed maroon
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If I really like a candidate, and the interview has gone really well, I usually end with "if we offered you the job, what could keep you from taking it", to see what their knee-jerk reaction is for what's most important to them.
Fireman
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These are some of my favorites:

How do you determine the best communication channel to use, such as email, phone-call, face-to-face meetings, when communicating with your co-workers and other third parties, such as our auditors?

Tell us about a time you worked with a difficult person, what made that person difficult, and how did you deal with it?

Tell us about a time you made a mistake, when did you recognize it, and who did you communicate with if anyone?

How do you get your news each day and stay up to speed on current events (i.e, newspaper, TV, internet, cell phone, etc.)?

The last one is my all-time favorite and generally expands into a brief discussion on a current situation in the news. It's nice to get the candidates perspective on newsworthy events, to find out their intelligence level and if they are paying attention to the world around them.
Eliminatus
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Fireman said:

These are some of my favorites:

How do you determine the best communication channel to use, such as email, phone-call, face-to-face meetings, when communicating with your co-workers and other third parties, such as our auditors?

Tell us about a time you worked with a difficult person, what made that person difficult, and how did you deal with it?

Tell us about a time you made a mistake, when did you recognize it, and who did you communicate with if anyone?

How do you get your news each day and stay up to speed on current events (i.e, newspaper, TV, internet, cell phone, etc.)?

The last one is my all-time favorite and generally expands into a brief discussion on a current situation in the news. It's nice to get the candidates perspective on newsworthy events, to find out their intelligence level and if they are paying attention to the world around them.


Truly curious, how does the last question have to do with the application or even intelligence. Because if anything, that question would probably be a red flag to me as an applicant. I would figure it would mean there is political bias in the workplace to at least some extent and I would clam up immediately. Which is not how I would want to finish the interview. I'm trying to learn these types of questions myself and genuinely want to know if there is something I'm missing here.
Madagascar
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Sounds like a great way to screen out TDS.
YouBet
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My interviews are essentially conversations. Right or wrong, I do not ask traditional "interview questions". I get a feel for the person through the conversation about the role and I'll pick stuff off their resume that intrigues me and basically give them an open ended question to tell me about this part on your resume. If the conversation leads me to ask more specific questions, then it happens then but I don't go into an interview with a list of questions.
Stat Monitor Repairman
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"You mentioned earlier that you looking for someone that can 'hit the ground running'

How far behind are you?"
BenTheGoodAg
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I think questions related to the needs and vision of the group/position are important.

The last manager I hired had to take some employees from various groups and start a new organization with a new focus area for us. So some questions about how you establish capability and relationships in new areas, give me examples of where you had to act outside of your comfort zone or building something new, etc.

The manager before that was hired to take on a group that had a very well established history and scope, but would need to bring in some talent to fill a retirement cliff we would eventually hit. So questions about how you transition your top performers from doing the work to mentoring, how you separate good candidates that will be a good fit with the culture/group/skillset/etc.

Two totally different interviews above, and probably would have affected the selection if the candidate pools were swapped. IMO, understanding what you need from the candidate is probably the most important thing you can do in making a selection and can help you steer the interview conversation.
AgShaun00
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What are you most proud of that isn't on your resume?

You will see their soul,and if you don't something is off
FourAggies
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Tell me a career defining moment....one that shaped who you are at work. People have to think about it, but are really proud of something speciifc that impacted them. Tells me about how they handled challenges and what's important to them.

Tell me about a time you had to tell your boss some bad news. They better have an example, because we've all had to do it. It focuses on some negative event, how they handled it, when did they tell their boss, did they get themselves out of the problem, did they ask for help...

When did you know that you were good at ___ (whatever is the primary skill or role you're interviewing for)? I'm looking for confidence, but not arrogance. The question seems to evoke a time and place that is important to them.

I also look for people who have been through tough times. It's easy to be a salesperson in a rising market. I want to hear how they had to change to address changes in the market or work environment.
jwoodmd
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I've always considered interviews as an event where in many ways they are interviewing you and your group to see if they would want the job or find it interesting. You want the best people so you're trying to sell your organization. So I like to conduct interviews by asking questions that are questions. The example above of if we made you an offer what would be the biggest obstacles to you accepting. Or, what about us would you be looking for in terms of your career. See what's important to them by the questions they ask of me. If their questions are trivial or self centered, then they're not what I'm looking for.
CS78
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Avoid the convoluted brain gymnastics HR questions designed to catch people off guard and tangle them up. Dig into personality to look for any hints of nasty attitude. If they let any of it slip out, RUN! #1 attribute thats going to lead to a bad employee.
EclipseAg
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YouBet said:

My interviews are essentially conversations. Right or wrong, I do not ask traditional "interview questions". I get a feel for the person through the conversation about the role and I'll pick stuff off their resume that intrigues me and basically give them an open ended question to tell me about this part on your resume. If the conversation leads me to ask more specific questions, then it happens then but I don't go into an interview with a list of questions.
That's how I always did it.

I used to hire a lot of young people and we might spend 30 minutes talking about their job as a server, even though we weren't a restaurant. It gave me insight into their thinking and ability to communicate, and you often get very clear clues about people's personality and attitudes when they let their guard down and just start talking.

I always did the initial screen, then I'd choose the top three or four candidates for brief interviews with my team. Then we'd narrow it down to one and me and one other team member would take that person to lunch.

Had a great candidate once who was a slam dunk until his lunch, when he asked for water with no lemon and threw a massive tantrum at the waiter when his water showed up with lemon in it.
bmks270
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AgShaun00 said:

What are you most proud of that isn't on your resume?

You will see their soul,and if you don't something is off

This is a good one.
LOYAL AG
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"What do you do when you aren't working?"

You want someone with balance in their lives and interests that show a well rounded person. This will get them going in all kinds of directions. This is usually my first question then I follow the Your Bet model and take the conversation from there weaving in and out of their resume and history.
A fearful society is a compliant society. That's why Democrats and criminals prefer their victims to be unarmed. Gun Control is not about guns, it's about control.
bagger05
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Long response. This is assuming you're looking for a professional-level person. Hourly and line-worker folks are a little different, but I think the principles are the same.


1. Know who you're looking for.

Most of the time, crappy interviews start a long time before you sit down with someone. What does your ideal candidate look like? What are they good at? What do they like to do?

Earlier in my career I messed this up a bunch. I didn't know who I was looking for, and I ended up hiring people who were happy to work in a job that wasn't clear. We deserved each other. It didn't work out for anyone.


2. Ask for real world stories and listen to what they say (and don't say).

People are pretty good at figuring out what you want to hear. So get your mind right and decide that what you want to hear is an honest understanding of who this person is, what they naturally like to do, and what they're good at. Think of yourself as a matchmaker, not a hiring manager.

Let's say it's really important that this role provides highly personalized, thoughtful customer service. If you ask them to tell you about a time they've provided highly personalized customer service, they'll come up with something.

Instead, ask for a story about their previous experience and listen for whether the customer service they provided was highly personalized and thoughtful. If it was, that's probably how they like to roll. If it wasn't, it's probably a gap.


3. Listen for culture.

Whatever core values and cultural norms your company has, ask for stories where those values might show up and then listen for whether they're there (like the highly personalized/thoughtful example).

Make notes of which ones regularly show up and which ones don't.


4. Listen for demonstrated competency.

Similar to culture. Ask for stories about their experience and see if they've demonstrated competency in what you'll expect from them in the job. If they'll need to be great on the phone or provide presentations, just listen for whether they ever bring those things up. Again, this requires that you know what you're going to expect of this person.

Make notes of what shows up and what doesn't.


5. Listen for BS and dig deeper.

If the stories are vague or sound a little "too perfect" then ask follow ups. Get details. It's unlikely they're outright lying, but they still might be full of crap. And if they're going to BS you in the interview, they'll BS you (and your customers and their teammates) for as long as you work together. We're all smart enough to understand the line between painting something in a positive light and being full of it.

This is HIGHLY important when hiring salespeople.


6. Listen to THEIR questions.

Top performers have questions about the work. If they don't have meaningful questions about the job this is a huge red flag.

Occasionally you'll get "y'all answered all my questions." If you get that, ask them what questions they had coming in. And ask them why those questions were important.


7. Address whatever gaps you identified.

There are no perfect candidates. Whatever didn't show up (culture and competency), bring it up with them directly.

"Hey, for this job it'll be really important that you ______ and I didn't hear you really talk about that in your past experience."

Good candidates will be honest about whether it's a gap. Again, listen for BS. Make sure they understand the expectations. And if there's a gap, what closing it would look like.


8. Make sure they understand "what's the catch."

As the owner, I have a final interview with them and this is my job. I talk to them in depth about the company culture and values, and I make sure they understand why it's not a good fit for some people. On the surface it all sounds great, but there have been people who were a bad fit and it caused a lot of hassle and BS for everyone.

We all live in the real world. You know there are some things that would drive some people nuts about working at your company. The good fit folks love it, others find it super annoying. Be honest about it up front.
bagger05
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Some of my favorite prompts to get them talking.


If you retired right now, what would you consider the thing in your career that you're most proud of?

(Make them give you a SPECIFIC answer and tell the story behind it. If they say "the people I've led" then ask them for the ONE situation that they're most proud of).


Tell me about something that happened in your current (or most recent) job that exemplifies what you most appreciate about that role and company.

What about something that happened that exemplifies what you'd prefer was different about that role and company?

(Again, press them for SPECIFIC stories)


If we were here together having a conversation three years from now and we were reflecting back on that time: what would you want to have happened, personally and professionally, so that you'd feel really happy about your progress?

(I like this one because you're asking about their personal definition of "happy" and "progress" so I think it gives better answers than asking about their career aspirations. It also gives me a sense of whether/how I can help them)
beerad12man
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AgCPA95 said:

I few that I keep asking that I have found useful over the years:

If you could go back and get one do-over during your time at (prior employer) what would it be?
(They may ask follow ups on this to get clarification....don't give them any....let them pick....just respond with "any area, any do-over, your choice" and then see where they go. This can help give some insight into self awareness and whether they are learning from mistakes.

I always end with:

Is there anything I should have asked you about, but didn't?



The first question is a good question.

The last sentence/question is just being an a**hole.
northeastag
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Not exactly what you're looking for, OP. But the book "Knock 'Em Dead" is probably the best book on job seeking i'm ever read. It has a lot of interview questions in there.
oklaunion
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Ask 'em "how many ounces in a gallon?."
Camo
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You have a three gallon bucket and a five gallon bucket, infinite water, how do you measure to get exactly four gallons?
Ryan the Temp
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1. Have you ever had to fire anyone? If so, How did you feel about it and what was your approach?

2. Tell us about one of your biggest failures, either professionally or personally. How did you move forward from that failure and how has it shaped who you are today?
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