[...]... Resistance 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire assumes that there are two levels of interviewing that are critical before you make a hiring decision: First, you interview the candidate who weaves a tale of past performance and achievements That historical perspective helps you project what the future will look like because past behaviors will most likely be repeated Second, you interview. .. boss your at situatio th would How ecision in d your outs s of ? t kind Wha r actions u of yo How How a behavioral interviewing question Watch where the behavioral interview questions lead this conversation Because this technique is critical to advanced candidate evaluations, we’ll employ it throughout the rest of the book How Is This Book Structured? 96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire. .. lot to be said about making candidates feel comfortable during your interview and getting them to open up to you Of course, much of that will depend on your natural interviewing style and willingness to make it safe for them to share information about themselves Of course, there’s no right or wrong way to do this; rather, it’s a matter of you being yourself and extending a gracious welcome to your... yourself’’ opener, try something light like this: ‘‘Tell me about your job search up to now How’s it been going and what have your experiences been?’’ ‘‘So, before we launch too deeply into your experience and background as well as what we’re looking for in our next hire, tell me what criteria you re using in selecting your next company or position What’s really important to you? ’’ ‘‘Not to limit you. .. candidate to tie together all the loose ends when concluding Two-pronged questions are also beneficial because they allow you, the interviewer, to be more specific in your queries The old one-liners don’t go far enough nowadays in gathering the in-depth data necessary to make a hiring calculation By stating your questions more specifically and intimating how you want the candidate to interpret your query, you ll... your Christmas?’’ is probably not a wise way to initiate an interview and could easily be replaced with ‘‘How did you enjoy your holidays?’’ Similarly, avoid references to personal or family situations that may leave a funny feeling in your stomach: ‘‘Oh, I see that you re a soccer coach Do you have kids of your own or do you just coach for the fun of it?’’ Likewise, ‘‘I see you speak Spanish Did you. .. that your mother tongue?’’ You ll find more on this topic of inappropriate interview questions in Chapter 18, ‘‘Staying Within the Law: Interview Questions to Avoid at All Costs!’’ Just remember that these rules extend to the initial ice-breaking conversations that kick off your interview as well A Final Tip You ve probably heard the rule that candidates should do 80 percent of the talking while interviewers... feedback that a wellstructured interview is designed to provide and feel that the individual is worth pursuing, you can show your hand for as long as you like In other words, save your 20 percent of the conversation until the very end At that point, feel free to discuss your company’s history, your tenure with the organization, why you originally chose to join, the success stories you ve accumulated over... Consequently, you might opt to disqualify the candidate for this particular position ● 2 What’s your greatest weakness? Why Ask This Question? Other variations on this theme include: ‘‘What would you consider to be your occasional fault or ‘overstrength’?’’ ‘‘Of your past supervisors, who would give you the weakest reference and why?’’ ‘‘What one area do you really need to work on in your career to become... instead: ‘‘So let me ask you the most important question before we begin: Do you enjoy interviewing, or would you rather stick needles in your eye?’’ ‘‘Most surveys will tell you that there are only two things that people hate more than interviewing—dying and paying taxes Does that describe you fairly well, or do you actually enjoy interviewing a bit more than that?’’ Likewise, you might try something