Interview questions to ask potential candidates
lashefHR
23 Posts
Does anyone have some suggestions on questions we can ask candidates who are interviewing for a job where employees are going to go on strike in the coming months.
An example that I am looking for is something like "Have you ever worked in a Union before"
Thanks
Comments
See the attached document if it helps you in any way.
Thanks
Pawan
BACKGROUND
REVIEW
Application/Resume
The
following questions are designed to confirm the information on the
candidate’s resume. Verify the address and phone numbers with
information provided by Human Resource Services. If there are
changes, advise the candidate to update his or her resume in Human
Resource Services with the correct information.
Educational
Background
What
is the highest level of education you have received?
List
all degrees you have earned. Give the name of the institution from
which each degree was earned and the field of study of each degree.
List
any other education or training relevant to the (position title)
position.
Employment
Background
Who
is your present or most recent employer?
What
are/were your major responsibilities at (present/most recent job)?
Discuss/determine
skills and level of expertise related to (position title). (Insert
specific questions).
Which
skills have you acquired in your present or previous positions that
make you competitive for this position?
What
do/did you like best about that position? What do/did you like
least?
Which
accomplishments in your present position are you proud of and why?
Why
are you planning to/did you leave that position?
INITIATIVE
Following
is a list of sample questions designed to gather information about an
individual’s ability to identify tasks that need to be done without
specifically being told to do them.
Have
you found any ways to make your job easier or more rewarding?
What
do you do differently from other people in the same position?
Have
you ever recognized a problem before your boss or others in the
organization? How did you handle it?
What
do you do in your job that is not covered in your job description?
We’ve
all had occasions when we were working on something that just
“slipped through the cracks.” Can you give me some examples of
when this happened to you? Cause? Result?
In
your past experience, have you noticed any process or task that was
being done unsafely (incorrectly)? How did you discover it or come
to notice it?
Are
you doing a good job? How do you know?
Give
me some examples of doing more than required in your job?
Can
you think of some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that
were carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts?
What
new ideas or suggestions have you come up with at work?
This
job requires much time working alone. Tell me about a job or
project where you worked unsupervised and were given only general
guidelines for job/project completion.
Have
you found any ways to make other employees’ jobs easier or more
rewarding?
What
career accomplishments are you most proud of?
What
did you do to change the aspects of your job that you dislike?
STRESS
TOLERANCE
Following
is a list of questions designed to provide information relating to an
individual’s stability of performance under pressure. These
questions are not designed to rate a person’s stress level. They
are designed to give the interviewer an idea of how the applicant has
reacted to past stressful situations.
What
pressures do you feel in your job? How do you deal with them?
Describe
the highest pressure situations you have been under recently. How
did you cope with them?
Tell
me how you maintain constant performance while under time and work
load pressures.
Describe
times in the past year when you have been most upset with yourself
at work.
Describe
times in the past year when you have been most upset with someone
else at work.
Describe
the last time a person at work (customer, co-worker, boss) became
irritated or lost his/her temper. What did they do? How did you
respond? What was the outcome?
Tell
me about some situations in which you became frustrated or impatient
when dealing with (customers, co-workers, boss). What did you do?
In
your career, what has been your greatest disappointment?
We’ve
all lost our temper at one time or another. Describe for me the
last time you lost your temper. What had occurred? How did you
respond?
Give
me an example of when your ideas were strongly opposed by a
co-worker or supervisor. What was the situation? What was your
reaction? What was the result?
PLANNING
AND ORGANIZING
Following
is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
individual’s ability to schedule work and handle multiple tasks.
How
do you organize your day?
How
often is your time schedule upset by unforeseen circumstances? What
do you do when that happens? Tell me about a specific time.
Describe
a typical day ... a typical week. (Interviewer, listen for planning)
How
do you establish priorities in scheduling your time? Give examples.
What
is your procedure for keeping track of items requiring your
attention?
What
did you do to get ready for this interview?
We
have all had times when we just could not get everything done on
time. Tell me about a time that this happened to you. What did you
do?
Tell
me how you establish a course of action to accomplish specific
long-and-short term goals.
Do
you postpone things? What are good reasons to postpone things?
Give
me some examples of projects or tasks where you postponed immediate
action. Why?
How
do you catch up on an accumulated backlog of work after a vacation
or conference?
TECHNICAL
AND/OR POSITION SPECIFIC
Following
is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
individual’s past work experience, duties, and working conditions
which are similar to those of the position for which the individual
is being considered.
What
training have you received in ____________________?
Describe
how the process can best be performed. Have you discovered any
shortcuts? How do they work?
Describe
your experience with the following tools and equipment.
(Interviewer, list job related tool).
Walk
me through the procedures you would follow to_______________.
What
equipment have you been trained to operate? When/where did you
receive that training?
What
equipment did you operate in your job at ___________________?
Describe
your experience performing the following tasks. (Interviewer, list
job related tasks).
What
job experiences have you had that would help you in this position?
How
do you follow the prescribed standards of safety when performing
(task) _________________?
Have
you ever identified potential malfunctions of equipment? How did
you discover the potential malfunction? What did you do to correct
the problem?
Being
a ________________________ certainly requires a lot of technical
knowledge. How did you go about getting it? How long did it take
you?
Do
you consider your technical abilities basic, intermediate, or
advanced?
On
a scale of one to ten, ten being you are a perfect technical match
or this position, where would you rank yourself?
What
would you add to or subtract from your technical background to make
you more qualified for this position?
WORK
STANDARD
Following
is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
individual’s personal standard of performance.
What
are your standards of success in your job? What have you done to
meet these standards?
Bosses
sometimes are not satisfied with the way we do certain things or
complete certain projects. Can you give me some examples of when
this happened to you?
What
do you consider the most important contribution your department has
made to this organization? What was your role?
What
factors, other than pay, do you consider most important in
evaluating yourself or your success?
Everyone
has to bend or break the rules sometime. Can you give me some
examples of when you had to do this?
When
judging the performance of others, what factors or characteristics
are most important to you?
Describe
the time you worked the hardest and felt the greatest sense of
achievement.
Tell
me about a time when you weren’t very pleased with your work
performance. Why were you upset with your performance? What did you
do to turn around your performance?
We’ve
all had to work with people who are very difficult to get along
with. Give me an example of when this happened to you. Why was the
person difficult? How did you handle the person? What was the
result?
When
have you declined a work-related decision? Why?
TEAMWORK
Following
is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to a
person’s ability to work and get along with others.
We’ve
all had to work with someone who is very difficult to get along
with. Give me an example of when this happened to you. Why was
that person difficult? How did you handle that person?
When
dealing with individuals or groups, how do you determine when you
are pushing too hard? How do you determine when you should back
off? Give an example.
From
time to time, all of us are confronted by someone who wastes our
time at work. Tell me about some situations like that. What did you
do?
How
do you go about developing rapport (relationships) with individuals
at work?
Give
me some examples of when one of your ideas was opposed in a
discussion. How did you react?
Describe
a situation when you found yourself dealing with someone very
sensitive. What happened?
Describe
some situations when you wished you had acted differently with
someone at work.
Tell
me, specifically, what you have done to show you are a team player
at ______________.
We
all have ways of showing consideration for others. What are some
things you’ve done to show concern or consideration for a
co-worker?
When
did you last lose your temper at work? Describe the reasons. What
was the outcome?
How
do you keep your employees informed with what is going on in the
organization?
What
methods do you use to keep informed with what is going on in your
area?
COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
Following
is a list of sample questions designed to gather information relating
to an individual’s communication skills. This section also
includes observations to be made during the interview.
Interviewer’s
Observations
A.
Consider if the applicant is able to express himself/herself
effectively and in a well-organized manner.
B.
Observe whether the applicant has good eye contact.
C.
Consider whether the applicant’s grammar, sentence structure, etc.
are appropriate to the requirements of the position.
These
questions should be customized to fit your position. Normally, only
two or
three
questions would be used:
We’ve
all had occasions when we misinterpreted something that someone told
us (like a due date, complicated instructions, etc.) Give me a
specific example of when this happened to you. What was the
situation? Why was there a misinterpretation? What was the
outcome?
What
kind of reports/proposals have you written? Can you give me some
examples?
Give
an example of when you told someone to do something, and they did it
wrong. What was the outcome?
What
reports that you are currently preparing (or recently prepared) are
the most challenging and why?
What
kinds of presentations have you made? Can you give me some
examples? How many presentations do you make a year?
Give
me an example from your past working experience where you had to
rely on information given to you verbally to get the job done.
What
different approaches do you use in talking with different people?
How do you know you are getting your point across?
What
is the worst communication problem you have experienced? How did
you handle it?
LEADERSHIP
Following
is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
individual’s utilization of appropriate interpersonal styles and
methods in guiding individuals or a group toward task accomplishment.
Tell
me about a time you had to take a firm stand with a co-worker. What
was the situation? What was difficult about the co-worker? What
was the firm stand you had to take?
Describe
how you instruct someone to do something new. What were you
training them to do? Walk me through how you did it.
Tell
me about a time you had to win approval from your co-workers for a
new idea or plan of action.
Tell
me about a new idea or way of doing something that you came up with
which was agreed to by the boss. What did you do to get it to the
right person? What did you do to get the boss to agree? Be
specific.
Describe
any supervisory or leadership training, schooling, or work
experience you have had and its relevance to this position.
Give
a specific example of something you have done that demonstrates you
are a team player.
What
leadership skills and experience do you have that would qualify you
as an effective leader? Be specific.
What
are your long-and-short term plans for your department? Are they in
writing?
JOB
MOTIVATION
Following
is a list of questions designed to help identify an applicant’s
motivation to do the type of work the position requires. The intent
is not to see if they had good motivation/satisfaction in their
previous jobs, but to see if the types of things they enjoy doing
will be available in this position. For example, if a person said he
enjoyed his last job because he liked to work outside and with people
doing different things all of the time, a desk job in accounting
would probably not provide high satisfaction.
What
do you like best (least) about your job as a _______________________
?
What
were/are your reasons for leaving _________________________________?
Give
me some examples of experience in your job at ________________that
were satisfying? Dissatisfying? Why?
What
gave you the greatest feeling of achievement in your job at
______________? Why?
Give
me an example of when you worked the hardest and felt the greatest
sense of achievement.
All
jobs have their frustrations and problems. Describe specific job
conditions, tasks, or assignments that have been dissatisfying to
you. Why?
Give
me some examples of past working experience that you have found
personally satisfying.
What
are some recent responsibilities you have taken on? Why did you
assume these responsibilities?
Tell
me about the most boring job or task you have had. Why was it
boring? What did you do about it? How did you handle the boredom?
Tell
me about a time when the duties and responsibilities available in a
specific position overlapped with duties and responsibilities that
brought you personal satisfaction.
Why
do you want to be a _____________________________ (title of
position)?
Why
did you choose this (career, type of work)?
What
job values are important to you?
[quote user="KMoore1"]NLRA section 8(a)(3) makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate in hiring on the basis of a person’s union sympathies. So -- I would avoid any questions that pertain to unions.[/quote]
Bingo.