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Interview Questions - (1 Viewer)

Binky The Doormat said:
What is your education background?

ETA:  I know you aren't operating under the belief that all business situations have a known and exact answer/outcome.  How do you think a question should be asked that provides some insight as to how you work under those circumstances?   
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Simply ask it differently.

Ignorantia mentioned about rolling out a new product/service. That's fine. Build off of that. Ask what factors the candidate would think would influence sales. Why? Is there a chance the new product/service could bomb? Why? 

Obviously, what the business does will steer the question but you get the point. Keep the question open ended with no exact correct answer. 

 
I'm interviewing somebody for a manager position on Friday (same role I have just started in so this is a little odd to me, but whatever).

Any good questions for a managerial candidate besides the obvious type ones?

 
Poke_4_Life said:
I think I said this wrong, the interviewer must have declared the ball heavier or lighter.  He asked me another one about light bulbs that I didn't get.  
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I was going to ask you to post your answer to the balance question knowing full well that there isn't one. 

Light bulb answer was probably something to do with feeling which one was warm.

 
eoMMan said:
That's the thing though...the examples given such as how many hot dogs sold at Fenway, how many home Depot stores, etc....all have EXACT answers. There is no need to waste time thinking about how to get the answer when it's readily available. You're not projecting anything with these types of questions.  

Then as a good interviewer, you should make the question where it's impossible to Google or find an exact answer from another readily available source. 
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Except the questions that are going to be asked are likely too knowledge dependent for an interview.

I'm hiring a junior analyst. If I ask them to project 12 week sell through of a 3-light metal cut vanity, I'm going to get a blank stare. I want to know they can go the first step in the mile to get to where I need them to be. That's asking a question they don't know the answer to measure their thought processes.

 
times were that what it took was a good work ethic and a willingness to learn because hey the guys there were supposed to train you i am pretty sad to see now it is apparently about trying to trick guys and make up riddles for questions about lightbulbs and how many places sell pizza maybe that says more about the guys doing the interviewing not having enough to do but hey thats just me take that to the bank brohans

 
SWC said:
times were that what it took was a good work ethic and a willingness to learn because hey the guys there were supposed to train you i am pretty sad to see now it is apparently about trying to trick guys and make up riddles for questions about lightbulbs and how many places sell pizza maybe that says more about the guys doing the interviewing not having enough to do but hey thats just me take that to the bank brohans
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How many lightbulbs does Menards sell in the average month?

 
kutta said:
I like to give them a real issue we are facing and ask how they would solve it. Sometimes it's a spreadsheet that doesn't balance. Sometimes it's code that doesn't compile. Sometimes it's just talking through a design issue. But I let them interact with whoever is trying to solve the problem and just see how it goes. 
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I do the same thing, but don't involve other people.  I present to them actual challenges that they would face on the job.

 
eoMMan said:
Ignorantia mentioned about rolling out a new product/service. That's fine. Build off of that. Ask what factors the candidate would think would influence sales. Why? Is there a chance the new product/service could bomb? Why? 

Obviously, what the business does will steer the question but you get the point. Keep the question open ended with no exact correct answer. 
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Many of the people I interview don't get hired, and some of them probably go on to interview at my competitors.  I don't necessarily want to tell a bunch of candidates what our actual plans are for future product launches.  So I ask them a question like those types of questions, but about something else that they're more familiar with, like diapers or baseball games.  

There's no "exact correct answer" to any of these questions.  When I ask how many hot dogs are sold at Fenway, I obviously don't want to know specifically how many were sold on some particular day in the past, or something similarly mundane.  The spirit of the question is clear to most candidates.  Occasionally someone takes it too literally, and they're an obvious no-hire.  Again, the question serves it's intended purpose.  

 
Ignoratio Elenchi said:
Many of the people I interview don't get hired, and some of them probably go on to interview at my competitors.  I don't necessarily want to tell a bunch of candidates what our actual plans are for future product launches.  So I ask them a question like those types of questions, but about something else that they're more familiar with, like diapers or baseball games.  

There's no "exact correct answer" to any of these questions.  When I ask how many hot dogs are sold at Fenway, I obviously don't want to know specifically how many were sold on some particular day in the past, or something similarly mundane.  The spirit of the question is clear to most candidates.  Occasionally someone takes it too literally, and they're an obvious no-hire.  Again, the question serves it's intended purpose.  
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No need to tell them of exact product launches....make it hypothetical  (if we were to launch....).

Again, your questions asking for answers to questions that have no relevance to the actual business being done and where there is indeed an exact answer, just to see how the candidate will figure out the answer, is silly and bad interviewing....imo. 

 
eoMMan said:
silly and bad interviewing....imo. 
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I mean, as I've pointed out multiple times, it does exactly what I want it to do. My goal isn't to make you happy with the questions, it's to assemble a team of people who have a set of qualities I'm looking for and weed out people who don't, and I've been very successful doing that.  The fact you'd construe it as "silly and bad interviewing" almost proves the point that it isn't. :shrug:

 
Knowing how to think is much more important than knowing the right buzzwords for a particular industry. Big fan of IE's style.

 
eoMMan said:
Sigh. Nevermind.

Enjoy your day.
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Interviewing people is one of many things I have to do, and it's not particularly high on my list. One of the goals is to efficiently weed out bad fits. If you interviewed with me and I had you try to answer that type of question, we'd quickly establish that you don't want to work for me, and I don't want you to work for me. That's perfect. Because you don't like the question doesn't mean it's a bad one. That means it's a good one, because it lets me differentiate between different types of candidates.  

 
Well, for one who admits that interviewing isn't high on your list, you love talking about it and beating a dead horse.

Can we at least change the subject somewhat? 

What's your ideal number of interviewers to interviewees?  Are you more in favor of several back to back 1 on 1 interviews with different team members? 

 
I prefer this order of events:

screener / recruiter 

direct manager 

2-3 members of the team 

me (if needed or it's a big hire)

 
I like to ask about prior positions and what their favorite/least favorite things were and why, or if they could change one thing what would it have been etc.

Also I agree with IE. EO send to be taking this personally in an odd way.

 
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@Abraham

What are you looking for in the "if I offered you $100 to get up and leave and told you it had no bearing on whether or not you get the job, would you take it?" question?

 
cubd8 said:
I'm interviewing somebody for a manager position on Friday (same role I have just started in so this is a little odd to me, but whatever).

Any good questions for a managerial candidate besides the obvious type ones?
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Ask them to define leader and manager then once they do ask them to tell you which they are, why they say that and how they have shown that in the past. It will show a lot of how they will approach the position.

 
Chadstroma said:
Why direct manager before team members? Is the team members in a board interview?
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can go either way, I just think that the team interview can serve to support the directors decision and not the other way around. 

isually 2-3 people for 30-45 minutes. 

 
bananafish said:
If Ignoratio is getting the type of people he likes to work for his company I don't see how you can call into question his interviewing techniques. I mean, perhaps they can be improved upon (or maybe not), but at a bare minimum they are producing the desired outcome and therefore he must be using "good questions". I don't see how you can argue otherwise just from a strictly logical perspective.
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I think this is a good point. If your questions reflect, screen and/or help select people that are the best fit for the culture of the company then great. If you are off put by a question in an interview then there may be a good hint that you would not be happy at that organization. Why waste your time and the companies resources on going somewhere where you will not be happy and therefore most likely not successful?

Now, if your unemployed- you likely don't care and just want the job. But if you are just looking for a better job- you are interviewing the interviewer as much as they are you (or should be at least). Sure, a bad interview doesn't mean it is bad company just as much as a good interview for a prospective employee doesn't mean that they are a good employee but it should tell you something that you should be listening to.

 
MattFancy said:
In my previous job, I worked in HR. One of the Lead Business Analysts that would sit on the interview always had a question for other Analysts he was interviewing.

He would ask them, how many barbershops are in NYC? He had no clue what the answer was, but just liked to see how someone would work through in their mind how they got to answer.
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"What a stupid question.  How the #### should I know."

 
Two that I liked when interviewing at my current place:

"You know that sign at the registers that say "If you don't get a receipt, the meal is free!"? Why do you think they put that there" 

I also liked "If you hit the lottery with enough money to last generations, with stipulations that you still had to hold a job, and then got to pick whatever that job was, what would job would you then do for the rest of your life?"

 
The one question I always ask:

“Can you tell me about a time whereby you made a mistake or made a bad decision?  How did you go about fixing the situation?”

I want to know if they are self-aware and humble enough to acknowledge weakness.  Answers fall into 3 categories.  One is an immediate disqualification.  Two makes me very wary. Three almost always turns out to be a good hire.

1)[SIZE=7pt]      [/SIZE]If they think they have never made a mistake or can’t recall one, that is a big red flag for me.  Most positions will make dozens of small decisions everyday based on information that isn’t 100% complete.  They will get things wrong occasionally, and that’s ok.  This person is lying or is the type of person who is “never wrong.”  Yuck. 

2)[SIZE=7pt]      [/SIZE]If the candidate tells about a “mistake” that really wasn’t their own error and was really someone else’s fault and how they went about “correcting that other person’s mistake,” then that tells me they’re likely to push blame or responsibility onto others.  That isn’t acceptable in any role that will require teamwork and shared responsibilities. 

3)[SIZE=7pt]      [/SIZE]Ideally I want someone to tell me about a genuine error and what steps they took to rectify it.  That’s someone who isn’t afraid to admit they are wrong, will take responsibility for addressing and fixing the issue, and then will learn from the experience.  That almost always makes for an excellent teammate.

 
Wilk said:
The one question I always ask:

“Can you tell me about a time whereby you made a mistake or made a bad decision?  How did you go about fixing the situation?”

I want to know if they are self-aware and humble enough to acknowledge weakness.  Answers fall into 3 categories.  One is an immediate disqualification.  Two makes me very wary. Three almost always turns out to be a good hire.

1)      If they think they have never made a mistake or can’t recall one, that is a big red flag for me.  Most positions will make dozens of small decisions everyday based on information that isn’t 100% complete.  They will get things wrong occasionally, and that’s ok.  This person is lying or is the type of person who is “never wrong.”  Yuck. 

2)      If the candidate tells about a “mistake” that really wasn’t their own error and was really someone else’s fault and how they went about “correcting that other person’s mistake,” then that tells me they’re likely to push blame or responsibility onto others.  That isn’t acceptable in any role that will require teamwork and shared responsibilities. 

3)      Ideally I want someone to tell me about a genuine error and what steps they took to rectify it.  That’s someone who isn’t afraid to admit they are wrong, will take responsibility for addressing and fixing the issue, and then will learn from the experience.  That almost always makes for an excellent teammate.
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Much better version of the over used 'tell me your biggest weakness' question.

 
Cliff Clavin said:
@Abraham :popcorn:
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Sorry, didn't see this. 

I ask that question just to see how people handle something unexpected. I'm looking for a confident answer more than a right answer. My work (sales, account management) requires people thinking on their feet in unpredictable circumstances - that is where the money is made. Some good answers I have received:

"I would thank you for the money and be on my way. I believe you have been honest with me and I have been honest with you. If you say it won't affect my candidacy, and we are going to trust each other, than i would be foolish to pass up the offer."

"thank you, but save it and let's go to lunch one day after I've started."

"I am not interested in $100, I'm interested in the full time job which pays a lot more than $100. So I would rather stay here and continue convincing you to hire me."

 
Another one I almost always use:

“Can you tell me about a time you were given an assignment but you lacked the necessary knowledge to accomplish it?”

Very few people are going to be able to come to a new position in with all of the experience required to be immediately successful.  There is usually a lot of on-the-job learning, and I like people who aren’t afraid to ask a lot of questions or admit they don’t know something.  I also want to make sure the person will be willing to admit that they need help with certain tasks and be proactive in seeking out answers, even if it means sometimes stepping outside their comfort zone.

 
Ignoratio Elenchi said:
The people I hire generally need to be good at Excel, or SQL, or whatever, but I don't ask about those things.  I just set up a simple problem and hand them my laptop to see how they solve it.  Like, I don't need to ask you if you know how to do vlookups or index/match or pivot tables or whatever.  I'll just give them a spreadsheet with 50,000 rows of data and ask them stuff like, how many of these sales came from New York?  Which month had the highest revenues?  Etc.  As long as they can get the right answer in an efficient manner I don't particularly care how (edit: that's not entirely true, but you get the idea). 
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This is outstanding.  Good way to let someone showcase their skills in real time or eliminate people that have stretched their resume or can't deal with a little pressure.  Love it.

 
I've interviewed more than a few folks for technical positions and the one question I always ask is the one I know they most likely cannot answer.  If they can answer it, they're probably overqualified.  What I'm looking for is the person who tells me that they don't know the answer.  Nothing wrong with not knowing something, but blathering on like you know something when you don't is turrible IMHO.  I like honesty.  

 
In the next week or two, I plan to interview for a job within my company. The job is is in the same office and in fact, I probably wouldn't even change desks. The position was newly created and I have been groomed for the position, so to speak. Even though it isn't related to my current job, I've been sent out of town on three occasions for training.  The "new" boss either wears jeans or black dress pants everyday and a wind breaker type jacket. It seems odd to me that I would show up in a shirt and tie and certainly not a suit. What's the play here? I'm leaning towards dress pants and a button down shirt, no tie. 

 
Cjw_55106 said:
In the next week or two, I plan to interview for a job within my company. The job is is in the same office and in fact, I probably wouldn't even change desks. The position was newly created and I have been groomed for the position, so to speak. Even though it isn't related to my current job, I've been sent out of town on three occasions for training.  The "new" boss either wears jeans or black dress pants everyday and a wind breaker type jacket. It seems odd to me that I would show up in a shirt and tie and certainly not a suit. What's the play here? I'm leaning towards dress pants and a button down shirt, no tie. 
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I'm no expert but I'd probably just wear what I'd usually wear to work...maybe make sure it's one of my nicer shirts

 
Cjw_55106 said:
In the next week or two, I plan to interview for a job within my company. The job is is in the same office and in fact, I probably wouldn't even change desks. The position was newly created and I have been groomed for the position, so to speak. Even though it isn't related to my current job, I've been sent out of town on three occasions for training.  The "new" boss either wears jeans or black dress pants everyday and a wind breaker type jacket. It seems odd to me that I would show up in a shirt and tie and certainly not a suit. What's the play here? I'm leaning towards dress pants and a button down shirt, no tie. 
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business professional always imo.  can't hurt, can only help.

 
eoMMan said:
Honestly....and no offense... as a job candidate, a question like that would annoy the #### out of me and make me think less of you and the company. I shouldn't be expected to know the answer and something like that could easily be looked up.

My answer to you would be something like "let me get you the correct number from Google".
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wow

 
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