4 Vital Interview Questions to Ask
Most candidates can hack your interview questions to tell you what you want to hear. But if you approach it right, not these.
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Most job candidates feel interview questions can be decoded and
hacked, letting them respond to those questions with "perfect" answers.
And they're right, especially if you insist on asking opinion-based job interview questions.
(Quick aside: Is there really a perfect answer to a question like,
"What do you feel is your biggest weakness?" I think there is: "If
that's the kind of question you typically ask, I don't want to work for
you.")
Asking opinion-based questions is a complete waste of time. Every
candidate comes prepared to answer general questions about teamwork,
initiative, interpersonal skills, and leadership.
That's why you should ask interview questions that elicit facts
instead of opinions. Why? I can never rely on what you claim you will
do, but I can learn a lot from what you have already done.
Where employee behavior and attitude are concerned, the past is a fairly reliable indication of the future.
How do you get to the facts? Ask. Ask an initial question. Then
follow up: Dig deeper to fully understand the situation described,
determine exactly what the candidate did (and did not do), and find out
how things turned out. Follow-up questions don't have to be complicated.
"Really?" "Wow... so what did he do?" "What did she say?" "What
happened next?" "How did that work out?"
All you have to do is keep the conversation going. At its best, an interview is really just a conversation.
Here are my four favorite behavioral interview questions:
1. "Tell me about the last time a customer or co-worker got mad at you."
Purpose: Evaluate the candidate's interpersonal skills and ability to deal with conflict.
Make sure you find out why the customer or co-worker was mad, what
the interviewee did in response, and how the situation turned out both
in the short- and long-term.
Warning sign: The interviewee pushes all the blame and responsibility for rectifying the situation on the other person.
Decent sign: The interviewee focuses on how they addressed and fixed the problem, not on who was to blame.
Great sign: The interviewee admits they caused the other
person to be upset, took responsibility, and worked to make a bad
situation better. Great employees are willing to admit when they are
wrong, take responsibility for fixing their mistakes, and learn from
experience.
Remember, every mistake is really just training in disguise... as
long as the same mistake isn't repeated over and over again, of course.
2. "Tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last six months."
Purpose: Evaluate the candidate's reasoning ability, problem
solving skills, judgment, and possibly even willingness to take
intelligent risks.
Warning sign: No answer. Everyone makes tough decisions,
regardless of their position. My daughter works part-time as a server at
a local restaurant and makes difficult decisions all the time - like
the best way to deal with a regular customer whose behavior constitutes
borderline harassment.
Decent sign: Made a difficult analytical or reasoning-based
decision. For example, wading through reams of data to determine the
best solution to a problem.
Great sign: Made a difficult interpersonal decision, or better
yet a difficult data-driven decision that included interpersonal
considerations and ramifications.
Making decisions based on data is important, but almost every
decision has an impact on people as well. The best candidates naturally
weigh all sides of an issue, not just the business or human side
exclusively.
3. "Tell me about a time you knew you were right but still had to follow directions or guidelines."
Purpose: Evaluate the candidate's ability to follow, and possibly to lead.
Warning sign: Found a way to circumvent guidelines "...
because I know I was right," or followed the rules but allowed their
performance to suffer.
Believe it or not, if you ask enough questions some candidates will
tell you they were angry or felt stifled and didn't work hard as a
result, especially when they think you empathize with their "plight."
Good sign: Did what needed to be done, especially in a
time-critical situation, then found an appropriate time and place to
raise issues and work to improve the status quo.
Great sign: Not only did what needed to be done, but also stayed motivated and helped motivate others as well.
In a peer setting, an employee who is able to say, "Hey, I'm not sure
this makes sense either, but for now let's just do our best and get it
done..." is priceless.
In a supervisory setting, good leaders are able to debate and argue
behind closed doors and then fully support a decision in public - even
if they privately disagree with that decision.
4. "Tell me about the last time your workday ended before you were able to get everything done."
Purpose: Evaluate commitment, ability to prioritize, and ability to communicate effectively.
Warning sign: "I just do what I have to do and get out. I keep telling my boss I can only do so much but he won't listen.... "
Good sign: Stayed a few minutes late to finish a critical
task, or prioritized before the end of the workday to ensure critical
tasks were completed.
You shouldn't expect heroic efforts every day, but some level of dedication is important.
Great sign: Stayed late and/or prioritized - but most
importantly communicated early on that deadlines were in jeopardy. Good
employees take care of things. Great employees take care of things and
make sure others are aware of potential problems ahead of time just in
case proactive decisions may help.
Obviously there are a number of good and great answers to this
question. "I stayed until midnight to get it done," can sometimes be a
great answer, but doing so night after night indicates there are other
organizational or productivity issues the employee should raise. I may
sometimes be glad you stayed late, but I will always be glad when you
help me spot chronic problems and bottlenecks.
Like with any other question, always evaluate a candidate's answers
to this question based on your company's culture and organizational
needs.
Few candidates can bluff their way through more than one or two
follow-up questions. Turning the interview into a fact-based
conversations helps you identify potential disconnects between the
candidate's resume and their actual experience, qualifications, and
accomplishments.
And you'll have a much better chance of identifying a potentially
great employee, because a great employee will almost always shine during
a fact-based interview.
Emily is a Staff Attorney and Case Coordinator with the Oregon Humane Society. She was also featured in ALDF’s 
Lewis
is a third-year law student at Yale University and winner of the
Hogan/Smoger Access to Justice Essay Contest (sponsored by Public
Justice) for his essay “Ag-Gag: The Unconstitutionality of Laws Restricting Undercover Investigations on Farms.”
Matthew Liebman is a 
Alexis Fox is the Massachusetts State Director of the Humane Society of the United States and was featured in ALDF’s 
