Ten Revealing Questions to Ask Your Candidates

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Finding a new employee to make part of your business is nerve-wracking.

Studies show that only 25% of all new hires are productive during their first 30 days. That makes sense considering resumes only offer you a curated image of each candidate.

How do you know that the candidate sitting in front of you is a real asset to your company or a potential nightmare waiting to happen? The best way to measure up an employee is by getting to know them during the interview process.

This article will list ten of the most revealing questions you can ask a candidate to find their true worth to your organisation.

1. How is this role different from the other roles you are considering?

Let's be completely honest here. Your goal during the hiring process is to quickly find deal-breakers, toss them aside, and continue looking for those with genuine potential to help your business grow.

The answer to this question reveals how serious the candidate is about the role and could provide valuable insight into how they see themselves filling it.

2. What skill will you focus on developing once you secure this position?

The modern market is cut-throat for employees and employers alike.

To this end, asking this question reveals if your candidate has an actual plan in mind when working for your company. A good staffing agency searches for candidates seeking specific skills and the right environment to grow.

As a company representative, it's up to you to calculate the future value of the candidate's business, not just what they bring to the table at the moment.

3. What would the reason be if there's a hypothetical reason I shouldn't hire you?

It is a more modern reframing of the old "Tell me your greatest weakness" question that staffing solutions advise against by this point because it makes even good candidates stumble out of sheer nervousness.

4. Why do you think our most important clients hire us?

The answer to this reveals how much research the candidate has devoted to your business. Doing correctly on the right kind of employee can also reveal critical insights into your business from a perspective you would otherwise have never considered.

5. What does teamwork mean to you?

All organisations have their share of challenging personnel that needs to be navigated around to get the job done at the end of the day.

A candidate needing help to answer this question or more empathy and patience in navigating their peers might not be the best fit for your company.

6. What would you do if given a task without a clear plan of how to accomplish it?

The safest answer to this question would be, "I'll have to ask my boss."

Unfortunately, that's different from what we're looking for as any good staffing agency will tell you that a business needs intelligent employees capable of working well beyond their stations.

Candidates today have all of humanity's intelligence right at their fingertips, so they should be able to provide much more exciting and detailed answers when tackling particular problems.

7. Tell me a time when you experienced lousy customer service. How did you respond?

The answer to this question reveals what the candidate perceives as excellent and bad customer experiences.

You'll get a clear understanding of the things they believe to be under the company's control and those that aren't under the company's management.

Answers involving empathy and specific actions to move forward are ideal here.

8. If you were your manager, how would you manage yourself?

The answer to this question reveals how they would like to be managed. Note the things they don't mention as well as the things they do mention because that is a good indicator of their experience with superiors.

This question helps you understand what the candidate is looking for and whether they will thrive or survive under your company's existing management.

9. How should I pitch my company to customers?

Some of the best staffing agency advice you will ever get is to take old, overused questions and reframe them in new ways to make your candidates think seriously.

The answer to this requires the candidate to put themselves in the shoes of whom they perceive the customers and the shoes of the owners.

It forces them to think analytically on the spot to think of a creative solution that gives them insight into how well they understand the company and its role in everything.

Asking this question is worth it because, on rare occasions, you end up with answers that you can incorporate into your business strategy.

10. What's the biggest mistake you ever made at work?

Even successful people make mistakes. This age-old question allows your candidate to present a story about themselves where you can peer into their thinking process.

Strong candidates are more willing to accept responsibility and are healthier for your company.

Bad candidates with seemingly good responses to this question will leave your company worse than when they entered it.

This article was guest written by Akhila.