Best Way to Ask Specific Questions When Conducting An Interview

Of course, there are a limitless number of questions you could ask a candidate. As is true in most aspects of inter­viewing, there is seldom a right or wrong question to ask in an interview. The exception, of course, is questions that are illegal.

Because there are often no right or wrong answers, how­ever, does not mean that all questions are equally good (or bad). Some questions are more likely to elicit valuable information than others.

We’ve got a pretty team-oriented environment around here. To what extent do you like working on a team, and can you give me an example of a successful team experience?

This question may give the interviewer some useful information regarding the interviewee‘s ability to work with a team, particularly because it asks for a specific example of a successful team experience. The problems with this question are that it telegraphs the answer the interviewer wants in the first sentence (The message to the interviewee is, “Do you like to work on a team, or should we end this interview right now?”) and the sec­ond sentence asks several questions at once. A better way of asking for this information might be, “Do you prefer to work on your own, or as part of a team?” This formulation does not suggest what answer the inter­viewer is looking for. If the interviewee answers, “As part of a team,” the interviewer might follow up with, “Can you give me an example of a successful team experience?”

Why do you think we should hire you?

This question certainly gives the interviewee free reign to speak of her qualifications. The trouble is that the question may be overly broad and, in any case, may have a rather condescending tone to it, implying to the interviewee an attitude of “What makes you think you’re good enough to be in the same room with me?” To me, it’s a lazy and ineffective way of trying to get the interviewee to do your work for you. While your ques­tions should be open-ended, they should provide some focus. “Tell me about yourself?” is not a good question.

I see from your resume that you are fluent in French. Dites-moi—le programme que vous avez assiste a l’Uni-versite de Paris a Paris; est-ce que vous le recommendez?

This question will test the interviewee’s honesty in list­ing on her resume that she is fluent in French. At the very least, a person who is unable to answer this question would have demonstrated poor judgment in listing flu­ency in French on her resume. Of course, if French is useful in the particular job, this question would also be a way of exploring the interviewee’s capacity in that area.

The question shows the interviewer’s interest in what was probably a significant experience for the inter­viewee. And, by demonstrating that the interviewer has an interest or ability common to the interviewee, i.e., speaking French, the question may also be a way of establishing rapport.

Some, however, find this question too much of a test of the interviewee, and therefore overly confrontational. (Note that the question could be made far more con­frontational with a small change in the lead-in to, “So you say that you are fluent in French.” It might have been made less confrontational with a lead-in such as, “It’s been a long time since I had a chance to speak any French, would you mind if I try? Dites-moi . . .”) The interviewee’s reaction may depend upon the tone used in asking the question. Asked in a friendly tone, I see nothing wrong with the question. (Note: I distin­guish between somebody who indicates that she is fluent in French and somebody who merely lists French as a language on her resume. I would find this approach more problematic with the latter.) The only thing that would tend to dissuade me from using it is that I do not speak French.

Can you give me an example of a situation that required you to work closely with someone with whom you’ve disagreed or had a personality conflict? How did you deal with that?

The information sought by this question is clearly rele­vant to most job situations which, in one way or another, may involve disagreements or personality conflicts. Also, because a particular situation is sought by the question, the interviewer is likely to get good, concrete informa­tion. (Asking “Can you give me an example of. . . ?” is an effective way of generating specific information.) This is not the type of question, however, that you would want to ask at the beginning of an interview, because it would be likely to put the interviewee on the defensive. It seems entirely appropriate, however, as a part of a discussion of an interviewee’s prior-job experi­ence.

Ask a black applicant: Why would you be interested in working for our company?

The information sought by this question—why the interviewee is interested in your company—is perfectly appropriate. Chances are that the question is not illegal. The problem with the question, however, is that its phrasing implies some surprise by the interviewer that a black applicant would be interested in working for the company.

Even if you were to ask the identical question of all interviewees, the applicant may assume you are directing it at him because he is black. After all, he would not know you are asking it of everyone. It is the perception of the interviewee that is most important in the area of discriminatory questions, so you must consider how interviewees may react to your question. You could avoid the problem and get the same information with a slight rephrasing of the question, such as “Tell me how you came to be interested in working for our company.”

If you were to be an animal, what type of animal would you be?

Some interviewers think this type of question is valuable, because it gives them a sense of how quickly the inter­viewee can think on his feet. Interviewees, however, frequently find these types of questions either stupid or intended solely to produce stress.

Furthermore, if you develop what you think is a clever question and ask it of every interviewee, that question is going to get around extremely quickly. After you’d conducted several interviews on campus, a candid interviewee would walk into your interview room, hand extended, and say, “Hello, I’m a panther, what are you?”

One of my former partners used to think it clever to ask every interviewee, “Would it be relevant for me to ask you if you always stopped at stop signs when you drive?” After the first interviewee, every interviewee who came through the door knew he would be asked that question. That clever interview technique did not enhance the reputation of either my partner or the firm, nor, I suspect, did it give him particularly useful informa­tion. Try not to be too clever in your questions.

Finally, if you absolutely can’t resist these clever questions (and do try), at least develop a half dozen of them, rotate them and explain to the interviewee your rationale for using them. In this way, you will keep your own interest up, you will prevent your questions from being passed on from interviewee to interviewee if you are seeing many candidates in a row, and, by explaining your rationale, you may make the questions seem less objectionable to the interviewee.

I see from your resume that you participate in the minor­ity outreach program. In what way have you been involved in that program?

This question is perfectly appropriate because it asks about an interviewee’s experience in a program she has mentioned on her resume. Some interviewers, con­cerned about avoiding discriminatory questions, may refrain from asking questions that are perfectly appro­priate of a minority candidate. (Indeed, note that from the resume item alone, you do not know whether the candidate is even a minority candidate.) Do not avoid asking minority candidates about experiences they have had merely because those experiences involve minority groups.

One small point: I’d stay away from using the phrase, “I see from your resume that . . .” You don’t have to tell the interviewee what is on her resume; she prepared it, so she knows. Also, interviewers who use this phrase tend to be looking down at the resume as they say it, thus not maintaining good eye contact with the interviewee. Instead, just look the interviewee in the eye and say, “I’d like to hear about your job at . . .”

8. I see you’re a butterfly collector. Tell me about what you’ve enjoyed in butterfly collecting?

This question shows interest in a hobby the interviewee participates in. As such, it may be a good way of estab­lishing rapport with the interviewee. It is not a threaten­ing area of inquiry so it also may help to relax the interviewee if asked near the beginning of the interview.

Beyond that, you may even learn some useful infor­mation relating to the job. For example, a person who collects butterflies may show great attention to detail, may have shown breadth of interest or curiosity by studying not only about butterflies, but about areas in which they are found, may have participated in a club relating to the activity, sold portions of his collection for profit, etc. Of course, none of this may be the case, but unless you ask, you will never know.

9. At times it is necessary for employees at the company to work on weekends. What would you do if you were scheduled to be in a friend’s wedding and a senior officer asked you to work over the weekend on an important client project?

Though it may be important for you to know how hard an interviewee is willing to work, the answer you will likely get to a hypothetical question like this one is the interviewee’s guess as to what answer you are looking for. Furthermore, the question sends a rather unfavor­able message to the interviewee about the company because the interviewee will assume that this situation is likely to arise. So it is almost as if you said, “Welcome to our company, how would you like to miss your friend’s wedding?”

You could get the information you are looking for more effectively by asking the interviewee whether she had ever experienced a conflict between a job demand and a personal commitment and how she handled that. Still other ways of approaching the subject would be to explore the interviewee’s typical work week, or to ask her whether she had ever held a job that required her to work hard, and then ask her to describe what that entailed. In any case, this is a topic you would not want to explore early in the interview.

I’m really interested in your thesis on “The Relationship between Mathematical and Philosophical Approaches to the Concept of Value.” What were your principal conclusions?

Many interviewers avoid this type of question, either because they are not interested in the topic or because they feel they may not understand the answer. Most interviewers like to feel that they are in control, so they avoid questions the interviewee may know far more about than they do.

Try not to fall into that trap. Show interest and curiosity in topics that your interviewee has shown inter­est in. And remember that many jobs require an employee to explain something to a customer, client, or coworker who does not understand much about what the employee is explaining. An interviewee’s ability to explain a complicated thesis in a manner that is under­standable to you may well be a good predictor of his ability to perform a similar duty on the job.

Prefacing a question with, “I’m really interested in …” is a good approach. It makes an interviewee feel good to hear that the interviewer is interested in something on his resume, and will encourage him to be open in his response.

Tell me about your job waiting tables at Cafe du Paris.

This question is perfectly appropriate because it inquires about a prior job experience. Even assuming that the job the interviewee is applying for seems remote from waiting on tables at a restaurant, elements of the waiting experience may be quite relevant to a person’s on-the-job behavior. For example, waiting tables may entail balancing many tasks at once, dealing with rude custom­ers, an ability to deal with pressure and an ability to tolerate routine tasks. All of these characteristics may be valuable in even high-level positions. The waiting job may also have been a part-time job during school and therefore may demonstrate motivation on the part of the interviewee, and may also be evidence of the interviewee’s ability to balance a number of conflicting time demands at once. Of course, if the interviewee has many other job experiences on her resume, an inter­viewer may choose not to inquire about the job waiting tables, or at least not devote too much time to it.

“Tell me about . . . ?” is an excellent way to begin a question. That form of question invites a story from the interviewee, and often elicits a valuable response.

What are your greatest strengths?

This is the type of question that is routinely asked by many interviewers, perhaps because they were asked it so often when they were interviewing. It tends to elicit a rather rehearsed response. When followed up with a series of questions that explore specific instances in which the interviewee’s strengths are displayed it may produce useful information. By itself, though, it’s aver­age, at best.

I really admire what you have accomplished. Were you born blind, or did you become blind later in life?

This interviewer may well be trying to show sincere interest in the interviewee. Nonetheless, the question is illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and should not be asked in an interview.