Prepare Your Top 5 Questions

• 00:04 So you've gone through the first couple of minutes, you've made the applicant feel
• 00:08 comfortable, now it's time to really hop in, it's time to ask questions.
• 00:12 And I recommend that you have a set of questions that are fairly consistent and
• 00:17 that you ask each applicant those questions, and maybe it's five or six.
• 00:22 This is especially important for really large organizations,
• 00:26 government organizations.
• 00:27 In case anyone ever questions the fairness of it,
• 00:30 you can document how everyone was asked essentially the same questions.
• 00:34 But I do believe that you need some questions that are follow-ups
• 00:39 to what people say.
• 00:40 You need to have an actual conversation, it can't just be a simple checklist.
• 00:47 Now, what are the questions that are best to ask in a job interview?
• 00:52 Every industry is different, every organization is different.
• 00:55 I do think that you want to ask open-ended questions that let
• 00:59 the applicant do most of the talking.
• 01:02 If you find yourself doing most of the talking in a job interview,
• 01:06 that's not good.
• 01:07 You are not learning when you're talking.
• 01:10 Now, as I mentioned, you certainly need to sell your organization to the person,
• 01:16 but you still need that person to do, I would hope 70,
• 01:20 80% of the talking during your interview.
• 01:23 The way to do that is to ask open-ended questions.
• 01:27 Now, there's a lot of different types of questions people like to ask.
• 01:32 Can you tell me about yourself is a little off putting to people, it's so
• 01:37 vague, it's so general, and a lot of applicants feel very uncomfortable.
• 01:42 But I do think it's fair to ask, tell me about the accomplishment you're
• 01:47 proudest of in your career, or in your current job, or your last job.
• 01:52 Open-ended questions that show how the person thinks.
• 01:55 Can you give me an example of where you really disagree with
• 01:59 conventional thinking in our industry?
• 02:03 I can often generate very interesting responses.
• 02:08 Where do you want to be five years, ten years from now?
• 02:11 I don't think is a particularly good question because, a, people don't know it,
• 02:15 b, they might say, doing something the whole lot different from this, but
• 02:19 I don't want to tell you.
• 02:21 I do think it's fine to ask people what their goals are.
• 02:24 What do they really enjoy doing?
• 02:26 What is their passion?
• 02:28 Ideally, you have an alignment between what this job requirements are and
• 02:32 the person's passion.
• 02:33 It doesn't always happen, but it could.
• 02:37 Ask them why they chose their field, what interested them in your company.
• 02:44 Also, ask them what they like about your company.
• 02:47 And if they don't know anything, and they haven't done any homework,
• 02:50 that says something about their level of enthusiasm.
• 02:53 I wouldn't necessarily write them off because they may be in high demand.
• 02:58 A recruiter may have sent them there saying, do me a favor, go meet with these
• 03:02 people, and the person is extremely busy with a great job they currently enjoy.
• 03:07 But I would give extra marks to someone who has clearly studied your cover, not
• 03:11 just your website, but has followed you in the news, looked at other news clippings,
• 03:16 seeing what's going on in Twitter, talking about your company in your industry.
• 03:21 So there's no one magic list of questions, but I do think you need five or
• 03:26 six that you're going to ask every single applicant.
• 03:30 So you have something that's fair to judge them on, but
• 03:34 you also need to really listen to them, be in the moment, and
• 03:38 ask follow-up questions, and see where the conversation goes.
• 03:43 You're looking to figure out what talents does this person have that
• 03:48 aren't just in the resume.
• 03:50 Will this person fit into our corporate culture, our government agency culture?
• 03:55 Would they be a net asset to the organization in tangible and
• 04:00 intangible way?
• 04:02 So, that's your homework now.
• 04:03 I want you to come up with five or six questions that you want to ask every
• 04:09 single applicant for a particular job you're interviewing for.
• 04:13 Go ahead and do that right now.

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