Here are three types of questions to ask job candidates. By Rikka Brandon, Building Gurus

 

Interviewing potential employees likely isn’t most designers’ favorite task. But there’s no denying its importance in finding the ideal candidate. The trick is to ask the right mix of questions that truly help an employer determine not only the candidate’s experience, but their ability to do the specific job you’re hiring for.

The three main types of interview questions are functional, behavioral and situational. Here’s how they work.

Functional Interview Questions

Functional interview questions are a simple tool to use to determine if an applicant can do the job you are hiring for. They are focused on what the individual has done in the past.

On their base level, functional questions only require a “yes” or a “no” answer; savvy interviewers, however, know that valuable information can be gained by asking a functional interview question and then using follow-up questions to get a clear understanding of the candidate’s level of knowledge and experience.

Here are some functional interview questions to ask:

General:

Have you ever had profit-and-loss responsibility for a $3 million budget?

Have you ever done retail or inside sales?

Have you used Quickbooks?

Management:

Have you ever managed a team of people?

Have you ever had to provide corrective action or disciplinary action to an employee?

Have you ever had to fire someone?

Sales and Marketing:

Have you ever developed a marketing plan?

Have you ever sold “this”?

Have you ever sold to “this type of customer”?

I highly recommend using functional interview questions in your initial interview because they’ll tell you, before face-to-face interviews, if the person can handle the basics of the job.

Behavioral Interview Questions

The idea behind behavioral interview questions is that they give you a glimpse into the job applicant’s work ethic, their approach to challenges, and their ability to work as part of a team.

Behavioral interview questions can’t stand alone, though. They need you to be an active listener who asks for clarification or qualification until you understand. Often, the greatest value comes from outside the scope of the candidate’s initial answer.

The key to behavioral interview questions is that they ask about a specific example or situation.

Here are some behavioral interview queries:

  • Tell me about a time that you went above and beyond for a customer.
  • Give me an example of a time that a co-worker frustrated you and how you handled it.
  • Describe a situation when you had to resolve conflict in the workplace.
  • Tell me about a time you had to convince someone to complete a task your way. Or to do something they didn’t want to do.
  • Tell me about a time you set a goal and achieved it.
  • Tell me about a time you set a goal and DIDN’T achieve it.
  • Tell me about a specific thing about your favorite leader that really had a positive impact on you.
  • Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision.

These questions set the stage for job applicants to tell you about their skills, their experience and their approach. All of which can be very helpful in determining their fit for the job.

But the greatest value comes from the simple fact that many people don’t actually answer the question you asked. For example:

Interviewer: “Tell me about a time that you went above and beyond for a customer.”

Candidate: “Well, at ABC Company, we prided ourselves on the customer always being right. It allowed me to really go above and beyond in many ways.”

This may be an articulate response, but it doesn’t actually answer the question. The true value of behavioral questions is the fact that you can determine if the candidate will actually listen and follow instructions. Most people will give a specific answer once you ask the question a second time; however, some will really believe they’ve answered the question and may get annoyed because you’re asking them the same thing repeatedly.

Situational Interview Questions

A situational interview question is one that requires job seekers to respond to a specific hypothetical situation they may face on the job. These will help you determine how the person you’re interviewing will really behave on the job, how they’ll problem-solve and handle stressful situations, and how they will get along with the team and take constructive criticism.

Similar behavioral questions, situational interview questions are designed to “short-circuit” memorized answers and force the applicant to think on their feet. The main difference between the two is that behavioral questions are focused on the past and situational questions are focused on the future.

Both behavioral and situational questions can give you a sense of a potential hire’s personality, work experience, thought process and communication skills — which is about as good as it gets in interviewing.

In order for you to get the most value from your situational interview questions, you have to really think about the position you are trying to fill and develop specific questions.

Here are some examples:

Multitasking

“A customer is walking in, the phone is ringing, and a co-worker needs help making a copy. Walk me through how you’d handle these competing needs for your attention.”

Client Relationships

“Walk me through how you would build a relationship with a prospect. How would you take them from not knowing who we are and move them through to being interested in our product?”

Customer Relationships & Retention

“How would you handle a client who was angry with you over something that wasn’t your fault?”

If you take some time to think about these questions and really tailor them to the position and workplace you have in mind, you’ll end up with a workforce you will get more value from.

Taken collectively, functional, behavioral and situational questions can help you understand a candidate’s true skills and their ability to handle the specific needs of the job. It takes a little more work than using canned interview questions, but you’ll find the process much more effective in the long run.

 

Rikka Brandon, Founder and CEO of Building Gurus and Recruit Retain Rock, is a nationally recognized kitchen, bath, plumbing, and building products recruiting and retention expert. Rikka is the go-to girl for owners and leaders who are serious about winning the war for talent and are ready to find, hire, and keep the people they need to achieve their goals.