Interviewers, what questions do you ask?

[Phil Pugliese]

I have ben doing a lot of interviews lately and as much as anything I want to see who the interviewee reacts with unconventional questions. What questions do you ask?

Most interviewees are most concerned about selling themselves and talking about themselves, I will ask..."Enough talking about you, tell me about us". I want to see how much research they have done on the job they are interviewing for.

[poops]

Most of my questions are situation-based. "Tell me about a time when..." It reveals so many facets about critical thinking, planning, conflict resolution, personality...

[MeineFolks'wagen]

Most of my questions are situation-based. "Tell me about a time when..." It reveals so many facets about critical thinking, planning, conflict resolution, personality...

See, those types of questions I can deal with and I have no problems with. As a job seeker sitting on the other side, I hate being asked totally redundant questions that have nothing to do with the job at hand. Who gives a flip about my hobbies or what I do on my off time? Who cares what I personally do to ease stress? You want to get to know me? Hire me and then we can shoot the fecal matter at the water cooler at a later time and I'll tell you what size underwear I have on if you want to know.

Are you more concerned with what I can bring to the job and my qualifications? Or are you more concerned with how much I work out (or whatever)? Like the post above yours, why ask dumb questions just to screw with people? I had one ask me one time what adjective I would use to explain my relationship with my fellow employees. Really?? I can also deal with asking someone to talk about the company they are applying for, etc.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine

[scandalous_cynce]

My current boss always asks his interviewees, "If you could be any super hero, who would you be and why?" He says he doesnt particularly care what they answer, he just wants to see how they react to being thrown an odd-ball question and if they can think on their feet.

[CruznMalibu]

Why do you want to work for this company or in this position?
Why should I choose you over the 15 other recent college graduates I've interviewed?

I'll ask about hobbies, off work interests to get a feel if the person will fit our corporate culture.

[Harv]

My current boss always asks his interviewees, "If you could be any super hero, who would you be and why?" He says he doesnt particularly care what they answer, he just wants to see how they react to being thrown an odd-ball question and if they can think on their feet.

I once got ''If you could be any fruit, which one would you be and why?''

Pineapple, Pineapple.

[jnm2.0t]

My current boss always asks his interviewees, "If you could be any super hero, who would you be and why?" He says he doesnt particularly care what they answer, he just wants to see how they react to being thrown an odd-ball question and if they can think on their feet.

How is the answer not Superman?

I like to always ask something along those lines though right after a series of more intensive questions to see how they react, simple things like favorite color, weather related, etc.

When asking about how they make decisions and interact or hire people it is inevitable they will say something like 'I try and gauge such and such, etc.'. As soon as I hear that I turn it around and ask it of them. You'd be surprised how many people are unprepared to answer their own questions. If you can't answer it how will you know what a good answer is?

[retro_rocket]

I like the occasional oddball/curveball question too. See how they think on their feet, and can lighten the mood a bit too.

The last time I was being interviewed, I was asked "if I gave you an elephant, what would you do with it?"

[mrothwell]

See, those types of questions I can deal with and I have no problems with. As a job seeker sitting on the other side, I hate being asked totally redundant questions that have nothing to do with the job at hand. Who gives a flip about my hobbies or what I do on my off time? Who cares what I personally do to ease stress? You want to get to know me? Hire me and then we can shoot the fecal matter at the water cooler at a later time and I'll tell you what size underwear I have on if you want to know.

Are you more concerned with what I can bring to the job and my qualifications? Or are you more concerned with how much I work out (or whatever)? Like the post above yours, why ask dumb questions just to screw with people? I had one ask me one time what adjective I would use to explain my relationship with my fellow employees. Really?? I can also deal with asking someone to talk about the company they are applying for, etc.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine

They ask you what you do outside of work because there's a lot of ****ing weirdos out there, and nobody wants to work with a ****ing weirdo. They don't want to hire you, then find out you've been arrested for screwing cats in your car outside the office. They ask you strange questions to see if you've got a sense of humor. No sense of humor=conflict in the workplace. If you can't get along with others, you're useless.

[matt_g]

They ask you what you do outside of work because there's a lot of ****ing weirdos out there, and nobody wants to work with a ****ing weirdo. They don't want to hire you, then find out you've been arrested for screwing cats in your car outside the office. They ask you strange questions to see if you've got a sense of humor. No sense of humor=conflict in the workplace. If you can't get along with others, you're useless.

Lmao. Well said, well said....

[dunhamjr]

we do tag team interviews.
my partner and i have determined we really only focus on these questions if we need something because the candidate is not a 'talker'...

we typically go back and forth

his:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why do you want this job?
3. What is your greatest strength?
4. Tell me about a problem you have had with a supervisor.
5. Why should we hire you?
6. Tell me about the most fun you have had on the job.
7. What has disappointed you in a past job? (beyond a layoff/firing)

mine:
1. What do you like about your current position/job?
2. What motivates you?
3. What do people most often criticize about you / what is your greatest weakness?
4. What are your short/long term goals? What goal or how can Company X help you?
5. Describe a time when your workload was heavy and how you handled it.
6. Describe your typical work day/week?
7. Describe the best supervisor you've ever had.

[venicemayer]

It's pretty normal that most interviewees want to market their expertise. I guess an interviewer should only ask questions related to the a particular job position in order to assess if the person you are talking to now is qualified enough and have experiences on it. On the other hand, it is better to ask his/her background to know her better and to notice as well the possible strengths and weaknesses of the person.

[Mr Roo]

I thought the oddball questions are used to see how you think on your feet and how you function in stressfull situations? Depending on you company and the hiring process, one would already know if you are qualified for the job. I am in training and our managers use a few odd ball questions to mimic some of the curve balls questions participants throw us when we train. Sometimes there is not a right or a wrong answer, we want to see how you think/problem solve and if you have logical thinking behind your answer.

[Angry_Birds]

Most of my questions are situation-based. "Tell me about a time when..." It reveals so many facets about critical thinking, planning, conflict resolution, personality...

this x1000. I was interviewing guys for a Junior Network Admin position, and you would not believe the amount of BS you can weed through when you ask an open-ended situational question like "what's the worst issue you've had to deal with and what did you do to fix it?"

After only a few of those, you can get a very good idea of how intelligent, articulate, and competent they are. And if the most difficult issue they had to deal with was replacing the batteries in a wireless mouse, you can tell pretty quickly when they try to BS their way through some made-up scenario where they saved the day.

[DIAF]

Colin Cowherd said a couple weeks ago he asks two questions:

1. Do you golf?

2. Do you play fantasy sports?

Both are DQ's for him, as those hobbies are all-consuming.

[GTiTOM]

Most of my questions are situation-based. "Tell me about a time when..." It reveals so many facets about critical thinking, planning, conflict resolution, personality...

I interviewed a few candidates today and most of my questions were situation based. Tell me about the time that you screwed up, tell me about a time that things went poorly with a client, etc. I also asked them to tell me about our company, since we are in a pretty complicated niche and it became obvious how much they prepared. I also asked them to tell me about their resumes and how they ended up wanting to work in this field.

See, those types of questions I can deal with and I have no problems with. As a job seeker sitting on the other side, I hate being asked totally redundant questions that have nothing to do with the job at hand. Who gives a flip about my hobbies or what I do on my off time? Who cares what I personally do to ease stress? You want to get to know me? Hire me and then we can shoot the fecal matter at the water cooler at a later time and I'll tell you what size underwear I have on if you want to know.

Are you more concerned with what I can bring to the job and my qualifications? Or are you more concerned with how much I work out (or whatever)? Like the post above yours, why ask dumb questions just to screw with people? I had one ask me one time what adjective I would use to explain my relationship with my fellow employees. Really?? I can also deal with asking someone to talk about the company they are applying for, etc.

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine

Depends on the job. For my job, I can read your resume and know pretty well if you're qualified to do the job in and of itself. But what I don't know is how you can carry on a conversation, shoot the breeze, relax, think on your feet, etc, etc. Those things are much more important in a client management role than sitting their asking you about metrics or data analysis techniques.

Plus, lots of people are qualified for the job. But remember, you're also interviewing to spend 8-10 hours a day, everyday, with these people. Isn't it fair to get a sense of your personality so they can see if you're someone they want around all the time?