How great would it be to know all of the most important questions you need to ask as a hiring manager?
Asking the right questions matters a lot and it’s one of the primary reasons you’ll uncover more solutions to all of the mysteries you are trying to uncover. However, it’s important to ask questions that nobody else is asking. After all, only 2% of people who apply for a job out of all candidates are invited for an interview.
Well, let’s not wait any further because in this article, we’ll learn more about what are the right questions you should be asking for uncovering top talents this year.
Let’s dive right in.
1. Tell me more about yourself questions
This is a general question and probably one of the most common questions a hiring manager asks. This question is asked at the beginning of an interview. This is the moment someone gains an understanding of someone’s background. Their resume can show you a few things, but the way a candidate communicates is a whole different story.
When you ask someone to tell you about themselves, you can either interpret this question in a personal or professional manner. During a job interview, the personality of a candidate does matter, but their professional background matters even more. From this point, you start to get a clear picture of whether the candidate is a good fit for your position or not.
However, keep in mind that before you ask this question, make sure to clarify what kind of personality you are looking for from the beginning.
2. Problem-solving questions
Problem-solving interview questions can be asked in many different forms. To get the most out of them, you should follow these tips:
- Ask for more than one logical answer. Problem-solving questions aren’t only determined if the candidate can answer the right question or not, but to identify how they came up with that answer or not.
- Don’t use the same questions. This might not always be an effective method for maintaining consistency and objectivity. Before you begin the interview, try to identify if their answers were good enough or not.
- Try to use example problems associated with the role. Ask questions that have to do with the role and not ones that include mathematics, or any other topic that doesn’t have to do with the role. You want to put your candidate in a real-job case scenario, so they can visualize how it’ll look like.
To help clarify a few questions, let us provide you with a few questions you can use to your advantage.
- What happened when you didn’t meet a deadline? If the candidate worked in a fast-paced environment, this question helps you clarify how candidates find solutions to their time-sensitive issues and how good their time-management skills are.
- How do you prioritize client needs? This question reveals how candidates prioritize their time, customer service, and how well they execute strategies that are connected to it.
- Was there any time you had to change plans? This is a powerful question and shows how quickly candidates can manage stressful situations.
- What was the biggest problem you had to solve at the workplace? This shows how the candidate comes up with solutions at work and how they can approach work-related issues. The type of responses you get will show you how much pressure candidates can handle and if they’re the proper match for the role or not.
- What do you do when you can’t find a solution to your problems? Nobody can solve problems all the time, but it’s enough to see a candidate’s problem-solving skills and determine if the candidate is a good fit or not. After all, you want problem solvers at your business and not people who only do what you tell them.
3. Business development questions
You are talking about business here, so business development is crucial. It’s never a bad idea to hire a candidate that has business contacts and these are usually the ones in the business development field. This can directly impact all industries regardless of the position you are hiring. Here are some popular questions that you can ask:
- What kind of experience do you have in business development? Gives you a broader understanding of what the client is all about and how experienced they are in the business development field.
- What kind of business development strategies do you have? If a candidate has enough experience in business development, they’ll most likely have strategies in place too. Business development can bring in new clients and help the business grow. If the candidate knows how to do this, it’s an excellent start.
- What kind of sales methods do you use? Identifying the sales methods a candidate uses is excellent for assessing the candidate’s sales skills. You will know what methods the candidate will use and if they have enough experience with them. This question matters and shows the candidate’s confidence and experience.
- What do you think makes a successful business developer? Here, you are assessing the creativity of the candidate and their self-awareness level.
4. Stress management related questions
If you want to test a candidate out, check out how they handle stress. Stress is a part of our every life and surprisingly, more than 90% of workers feel stressed at work, so it’s a part of our life and something we need to adjust to over time.
The recruiter’s job is to find out if the candidate can effectively handle stress because if they can’t, there might be mistakes made in the hiring process. Nevertheless, you should always inform candidates of the level of stress they’ll be dealing with in the business.
A good question you can ask is “What are the primary factors that contribute to your stress levels during work?”
5. The reason they applied to the company questions
Of course, if a candidate applied to your open position, it means they must have seen something special about your business and prioritized it over the rest. Common questions you can ask include:
- Why do you want to work at this company?
- What do you like about this company that made you apply?
After all, candidates who have an answer to these questions mean that they took the job seriously, did enough research, like the company and know the entire reason why they are applying to your position.
Let’s not forget that candidates who don’t have a reason why they applied will most likely not consider your company too special and consider the role easily replaceable.
6. Relocation related questions
After the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies shifted to a remote working environment. Right now, roughly 16% of companies worldwide work remotely. Ages ago, rarely any company worked remotely and promoted it. Now, it’s a new normal and asking candidates and letting them know whether you work remotely or on-site is necessary.
Therefore, it’s important to let the candidate know and to find out if they accept working at an office, or relocating to another country, city, or continent. It’s a big commitment, so you want to clarify everything from the beginning to avoid any confusion later on.
Common relocation related questions include:
- Are you willing to relocate?
- Have you ever relocated before?
- What do you think about on-site and remote work?
- Are you more productive at home or the office?
7. Career related questions
Before you hire someone, a golden question you can ask them is how your job opening will impact their career. If you want to hire top talents, you need to find ones who are passionate about working at your company. Anybody can work at a normal job, but it’s a passion that drives people to do more.
Typical questions you can ask about career-related positions include the following:
- Why do you want this job?
- How will this job impact your career?
- What kind of changes can this job make to your career?
These questions are great for finding out what drives your candidate and when they show you they are someone with passion, it’ll help you distinguish who’s the right fit and who isn’t.
The final cutdown
Interviews are a big part of the hiring process and need to be taken seriously. The interview questions are even more important and when you can’t ask the right questions or don’t know how to, it can cause a lot of issues in the hiring phase.
Therefore, regardless of which position you are trying to fill in, always come up with the right interview questions to learn more about your interviewee. If you have one chance to make a good first impression, try to make it as good as possible.
Tony Ademi
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