It’s time to do a checkup on your company’s interviewing practices. At some point along the line interview questions became dull and boring and they just don’t tell you what you need to know about a person. If both the interviewee and the interviewer can both Google everything they are going to say in an interview, why have interviews to begin with?
Tell Me About Yourself
This is a question that is best answered by the resume you already had before your interviewee showed up. Most job candidates will tell you where they are from, where they went to college, what their major was, and where they worked before. What’s the point?
Q2 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
A better question to ask is what interested them about your company. This gives them an opportunity to show they did their homework on your company — that they know what you do and that they know what they would be able to contribute. It shows they are committed to your company and they didn’t just click send on a job posting.
Hire By Team, Not By One Person’s Opinion
When one person in an organization makes all the hiring decisions, it can lead to lack of diversity, less of a feeling of inclusion, and unpopular hires. Involving more members of the team in interviews gives everyone the opportunity to discover how a potential new hire will fit into the team and compliment their existing skills sets. It also keeps everyone accountable so that bias is less likely to come into play. Collaborative teams need collaborative interview processes.
It’s Important To Ask Better Questions
Generic questions fail to determine things like cultural fit, talent, and values. When building your company’s team, why rely on questions that have easily searchable answers? All that does is show you the person knows how to use Google. Ask questions that challenge creativity or force a candidate to think on their feet. This will help determine how well they will do in a position far better than ‘why did you leave your last job?’.
Better Interviews Build Better Teams
Determining things like communication style and how a candidate overcomes challenges are important steps toward building a better team. Asking open ended questions that look to the future can give you a sense of the candidate’s optimism instead of asking about the past, which is often best left in the past. Learn more about better interviewing practices from the infographic below.