Great Interview Questions

Have you ever left an interview with a candidate wondering what you talked about and whether you learnt anything about the candidate to make an effective hiring decision?

Try Behaviour-based Interviewing...BBI interviews provide a more objective set of facts to make employment decisions than other interviewing methods. Traditional interview questions ask general questions such as "Tell me about yourself." The process of BBI is much more probing and works very differently.

Employers use the BBI technique to evaluate a candidate's experiences and behaviours so they can determine the candidate's potential for success. The interviewer identifies job-related experiences, behaviours, knowledge, skills and abilities that the company has decided are desirable in a particular position. For example, some of the characteristics most sought after into today's work cultures:

- Ability to operate and work effectively in a team environment.
- Technical knowledge of the function.
- Critical thinking
- Willingness to learn

As the Hiring Manager, it is paramount that you structure very pointed questions to elicit detailed responses aimed at determining if the candidate you're interviewing possesses the desired characteristics. Questions (often not even frames as a question) typically start with: "Tell me about a time..." or "Describe a situation..."

How to prepare for behaviour-based interviews?

The best way to prepare for this type of interview is to equip yourself with a small list of questions that relate to the job you are hiring for, yet will elicit stories from the candidates you interview. It's OK if the candidate uses examples from internships, classes, projects, activities, team participation, community service and previous work experience: you're seeking examples of past behaviour. Behavioural questions should try to get at how a candidate responded to negative or positive situations in their past.

10 Sample Behaviour Based Interview Questions:

1. Give an example of how you applied knowledge from a previous "XYZ" project to a current project?
2. Tell me of a time when you worked with a colleague who was not completing their share of the work. How did you approach this individual?
3. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done
4. Describe a situation in which you found that your results were not up to your supervisor’s expectations. What happened? What action did you take?
5. Intuition, innovation and creativity are winning attributes of any organization. Can you share an example of when you had to create a leading edge initiative or system in order to simplify a process? What were the steps you took?
6. Providing constructive feedback to team members is sometimes difficult. Can you think of a time when you had to share difficult feedback or information that you knew was not going to be received well? How did you present the message in order to gain acceptance?
7. Tell me about a time when you had to gain support for an idea or initiative? Whose support did you solicit? How did you gain their support? What was the outcome?
8. I'm sure there are some highlights and successes in your career history. Can you think of a recent situation that resulted in a significant professional accomplishment that either benefited the project, a financial return or a colleague?
9. Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks?
10. Outline a situation where you had to present an unpopular point of view. How did you deliver the message? What was the outcome?

Effective BBI Tips:

• To ensure questions are from the relevant past, ask candidate's to provide you with the most recent examples. E.g. "Tell me about a time during your last job when..." or "Give me an example from last year when you..."
• To ensure candidate's have multiple examples of the same skill, ask candidates how often their example would occur. E.g. "During the last year how often would this situation occur? or "How many times did you have to speak with them about this issue?"
• Assist candidate's to avoid generalizations, by making the question as specific as possible. E.g. "Tell me what your role was in...".

Assessing the Candidate from a BBI:

Ask yourself the following questions when you are assessing the candidate’s responses:

• Is the example relevant? Does it relate to the criteria for the position?
• Is the example recent?
• Does the example typify the candidate's beahviour or is it an atypical example?
• Is the example a good match to your company's culture and values?
• How does this example compare to other candidates applying for this position?