What is the strangest, most funny or weirdest question you have ever been asked during a job interview? Some of my personal favorites:
- If you were a vegetable, what kind would you be?
- Why is a manhole round?
- What was your favorite book as a child?
Everyone seems to have a formula or approach they like to use. Perhaps some interview questions that were passed down to you from a former boss or mentor are part of your approach. Sometimes we get asked a question during an interview that challenges us, so we add it to our own personal list. There are several different types of interview questions leaders relay on, several fall into some serious interview pitfalls, here are the top three mistakes I have witnessed leaders make when it comes to using interview questions:
- Questions that are not likely to lead to a truthful answer. An example of this type of question would be, “What are your weaknesses?” Think about it. Candidates know the ideal response to this one has something to do with being a perfectionist or having work standards that are just too high. Nobody ever offers up information like being lazy or abusive to their teammates as a response. Keep in mind we are also assuming the person is self-aware and knows their own areas of development.
- Questions that measure experience, not success. “Have you ever given instructions to a team?” or “Have you done any programming in Java?” Consider this; in both cases the answer could be “yes”. Yet, the candidate may have instructed to team to failure or never got a program to actually run in Java. It may seem simple, but the formula is experience does not equal success. You simply need to know more.
- Questions that measure a candidate’s ability to interview, not their ability on the job. Questions like “Why should I hire you”, or “Why are you the best person for this job” are a dream for a savvy interviewee. The problem is some people who get lots of interview experience, do so because they are not reliable on the job. Sometime referred to as “professional interviewees”, these folks have read all the books and have a canned response for questions like this. Contrast that with folks who may be a bit shy or timid, yet would be valuable contributors to your team. These type of questions play to someone’s ability to make a positive first impression. If you are not careful, your interview will not get past the first impression stage into the predicting job performance stage.
What is the answer to avoid these common pitfalls? I am a huge supporter of behavioral interviewing. This is the idea that past behavior is the strongest predictor or future behavior. The questions ask the candidate to refer to a past experience and demonstrate what they did. This approach is nothing new, in fact over 70% of companies in North America use some form of behavioral interviewing. Plenty of models and certifications exist in this method.
Here’s the thing, you have to do better than just asking about behavior…it has to be the right behavior. The behaviors that make a difference on the job. The difference between success and failure. The more specific you can get about defining what success looks like and measuring it, the more likely you are to find it. This approach increases the accuracy of hiring for success, reduces the likelihood of a legal challenge in hiring practices and frankly attracts a more successful candidate. Consider your interview approach. Are you falling into some pitfalls? Or taking the time on the front-end to clearly define success; to ensure you will know when you find it; and have the confidence to walk away when you do not?