Struggling to Assess Candidate Attitude in Interviews? Seeking Help with Questionnaire Ideas

Hi all,

I am posting this with the hope that I will get valuable information from seniors and co-HR professionals.

As an HR manager, I need to conduct interviews, and sometimes I need to interview candidates who are in different locations (Bangalore, Delhi, etc.). To bring them to Hyderabad, we need to provide conveyance. Before making a decision on whether it's worth paying for conveyance, I conduct telephonic interviews as the first round. Many times, I feel they may be referring to books or surfing the net for answers as they pause before responding.

I find it challenging to analyze the candidate's attitude. Can anyone help me in preparing a questionnaire to assess the candidate's attitude?

Regards,
Avani

Dear Peer,

Thank you very much for your valuable information. However, I am not looking for a slideshow on attitude. I want to prepare a questionnaire that will help me and my co-HR colleagues analyze the attitude of the candidates (employees). I hope to receive your valuable information regarding the same.

Regards,
Avani

Dear Avani, :D

If you are looking for outsiders, it is always better to conduct telephonic interview. It actually helps you a lot to scrutinizing right candidates (For some extent). :wink:

During telephonic interview, you need to be very careful.

You can judge person's attitude from his/her tone, voice peach, frequency, fluency and the way of talking. In fact, you can judge his/her seriousness from voice.

Apart from all general questions, you can ask following questions to judge candidates' attitude. :arrow:

1. Why should I hire you? :?:

2. Describe your ideal company, location and job

3. Tell me about a situation when your work was criticized

4. Looking back, what would you do differently in your life?

5. What makes you angry?

6. How do you feel about working nights and weekends?

7. How could you have improved your career progress?

8. Give me an example of your creativity (analytical skill…managing ability, etc.)

9. What was the toughest part of your last job?

10. Looking back on your last position, have you done your best work?

11. Why should I hire you from the outside when I could promote someone from within?

12. Is attitude matters? Give me any example.

I have tried these questions while taking interview. It is really very helpful.

Best of luck, :)

Meha

Avani,

I think Meha has made good points. However, by simply asking, you may not get what you want. Instead, try to involve yourself and observe how he behaves while answering your questions. You can ask him a few temperamental questions as well to see how smart he is at managing.

You can also ask him some general questions. For example, if you want to know about his leadership qualities, present a scenario where he is managing a team of 10 individuals, with 6 excelling and the rest not meeting expectations. Ask him how he would handle this situation. Based on his response, you will be able to assess his capabilities.

I also call the US candidates (mostly senior) for CTO/VP positions, and once you start the conversation, you can gauge the atmosphere.

It may be challenging to judge someone's attitude in one meeting, but you can certainly form an initial impression during the early discussions.

I hope these insights have helped clarify your approach.

Thanks,

Mirza
Manager HR
Hyderabad