Nine stimulating questions to ask a candidate
When you bring a candidate in for an interview, you want the process to allow you to decide whether or not you should hire them. To get this result, you, of course, need to ask the right interview questions to give you a thorough insight into the candidate’s suitability for the role and your company, so what should you be asking?
Several of 360’s Business Managers have pooled together some awesome questions that have proven to work well for them when interviewing candidates, which we have listed for you below:
1) “If you could wave a magic wand and create the ideal role/company, what would it look like?”
This is to clarify whether or not the candidate genuinely wants to do the job they are interviewing for, i.e., if they have applied for a telesales role, but they detail their dream job as a non-sales Account Manager, it may be worth re-evaluating. Then, asking about what their ideal company would look like will give you an idea of their suitability for your business culture. For example, if you’re a small business in the early stages of perfecting processes and have a casual working environment, but the candidate describes their ideal company as a structured, process-driven, intense sales environment, then it might just not be right for them.
2) “Which five people would you most like to invite to a dinner party?”
This interview question provides insight into the interviewee’s personality. Whilst some will opt for safe options, others may be more risky and ‘left-field’. It therefore provides an opportunity to demonstrate intellect, cultural exposure, and humour, or closet interests!
3) “Which famous person would you most like to see play you in a film?”
This query provides great insight into the candidate’s confidence and self-analytical position, as well as providing a wonderful exploratory topic of conversation.
4) “What else?”
The use of this as a follow up question is a great way to open up a conversation, i.e., after asking “What do you want from your next career move?”, dig a little deeper with “What else?”
5) “What’s your favourite animal and why?”
While it may sound like a joke, this interview question is typically answered by the sub-conscious, and most people consider an animal they believe most accurately personifies them. It also becomes an excellent means of identifying personality traits.
6) “If you could be anyone else, who would it be?”
Aside from highlighting latent (or not so latent) extra-curricula interests, this question provides the opportunity for further analysis of personality traits and creativity.
7) “My partner and I are planning a holiday, where would you recommend?”
This, and dozens of other questions like it, allows the interviewee to escape from ‘interview mode’ and speak about a topic away from career or business, which can help break down barriers and explore the candidate’s non-interview personality. The choices will also give an insight into their private life, the importance they put on holidays, and you may also get some great tips!
8) “If you inherited an acre of land, what would you do with it?”
This is another question that provides a platform to explore the interviewee’s personality and creativity.
9) “Why do giraffes have such long necks?”
The factual truth behind this question is incidental, but it is a great way to explore the interviewee’s creativity, logical thought process or natural history knowledge! (Incidentally, there is conjecture over whether it’s for fighting/defensive advantages or to reach food)
360 Resourcing Solutions deliver fresh, bright and engaging recruitment services, specialising in the Retail, Hospitality, Leisure, Commercial, IT and Ecommerce sectors. We are one of the fastest growing recruitment service providers in the UK and pride ourselves on our levels of customer service, adaptability, passion and expertise in our sectors.
