Interviews tips - for interviewers
These are samples of questions that interviewers ask interviewees, with suggested ideal answers and reasons and purposes of the questions, to help interviewers and interviewees alike. See also the questions to ask at your job interview for ideas and suggested questions that interviewees should ask the interviewer, which are also extremely important.
There are very many different questions that can be used in job interviews. This page does not attempt to list them all. Instead it seeks to give you an understanding through the examples below and other tips as to what is effective and why, from the standpoint of the interviewer and the interviewee. Therefore, whether you are an interviewer preparing questions to ask, or an interviewee preparing how to give great answers, it is better to read all of this section to help you understand what works best and why, rather than simply select a few 'stock' examples. Having a few 'stock' questions and answers examples will limit your appreciation to just those examples. Instead seek to understand the reasoning that determines successful interviews, and then you will be able to formulate your own questions and answers for any interview situations that you face - whether as an interviewer or an interviewee.
How do you measure talent?
Or
How do you measure talent in an organization (or company or team)?
And in similar vein:
How do you grow/develop talent in an organization (or company or team)?
The first thing is to acknowledge the significance and importance of a question like these examples.
By showing that you recognize the potency of the question (for organizations as well as interviewees), you are half way to providing an impressive and effective answer.
(This principle of acknowledging very good questions in this way can be applied to any other question that addresses a serious and deeply significant issue, as this is.)
You can show your recognition with an initial response such as:
"That's a very significant question. Its implications affect the future health of all organizations - probably now more than ever.”
Beyond this, the question might initially seem impossible to answer, especially if you've had no real experience of measuring or growing such an intangible and fundamentally important aspect of performance in people and organizations, but there is actually quite a simple way to answer a question like this, for example:
"The reason why this is such a difficult question for modern organizations to address and resolve, is that while some organizations and leaders know how crucial 'talent' is for their survival and competitive effectiveness, you can't actually measure and grow anything until you can define exactly what it is, which is the real challenge. I believe that you can only begin to measure and develop anything when you can define exactly what it is. Talent is prime example. The concept of 'talent' alone is completely intangible. It means all sorts of different things to different people and organizations. Therefore the key to measuring and growing 'talent' is first to define exactly what 'talent' is - to understand and describe what it means, what it looks like, how it behaves and what it can achieve. And these definitions will be different depending on the organization. Talent in a bank will have a quite different meaning to talent in an advertising agency, or in a hospital. So that's the first answer to the question: First you need to define it and agree the definition, which is likely to be quite, and involved and detailed task, because it's such a deep and serious concept..."
Here's how you can develop this answer:
"Aside from defining what talent is, the organization needs to acknowledge the importance of talent, (according to the agreed organizational definitions). This requires a commitment from the very top, which must be transparent and visible to all. Then people will begin to value talent more fittingly and preciously. A similar thing happened with the 'total quality' concept, when leaders woke up and realized its significance. But they first had to define it and break it down into measurable manageable elements before they could begin to improve it. Talent is the same."
If you really want to go for broke you could add:
"The same thing will happen with love and spirituality in organizations, as is happening already with ethics and responsibility. These fundamentally crucial concepts can only be assessed, managed and developed when they are given emphatic priority from the top, and defined in a meaningful and manageable way. Then they can be grown just like any other organizational attribute."
A supplementary point is that some leaders simply do not appreciate the really true concept of talent, which unfortunately is a serious obstacle to doing anything useful about talent at all. Where this is the case, the leader must be educated or replaced, because as ever organizations can only do what they leader genuinely understands and commits to achieving.
See general guidelines above if you've not seen them already.
These (apparently) tough questions about 'talent' and how to measure and develop 'talent' are presently confounding many of the world's biggest organizations, many leaders, and organizational development specialists.
These questions about 'talent' reflect widespread modern organizational challenges, and so are useful in interviews, especially for training, HR, management and executive positions.
Interviewees who can answer these questions sensibly and thoughtfully demonstrate considerable perceptiveness and ability.
Answers to these questions are relevant modern indicators as to an interviewee's value and potential in the field of management, leadership and HR.
From India, Bangalore
149- You must make notes of the questions you intend to ask - otherwise you'll forget.
- Decide the essential things you need to learn and prepare questions to probe them.
- Plan the environment - privacy, no interruptions, ensure the interviewee is looked after while they wait.
- Arrange the seating in an informal relaxed way. Don't sit behind a desk directly facing the interviewee - sit around a coffee table or meeting room table.
- Clear your desk, apart from what you need for the interview, so it shows you've prepared and are organized, which shows you respect the situation and the interviewee.
- Put the interviewee at ease - it's stressful for them, so don't make it any worse.
- Begin by explaining clearly and concisely the general details of the organization and the role.
- Ask open-ended questions - how, why, tell me, what, (and to a lesser extent where, when, which) to get the interviewee talking.
- Make sure the interviewee does 90% of the talking.
- Use 'How?' and 'What?' questions to prompt examples and get to the real motives and feelings. 'Why?' questions place more pressure on people because they suggest that justification or defence is required. 'Why?' questions asked in succession will probe and drill down to root causes and feelings, but use with care as this is a high-pressure form of questioning and will not allow sensitive or nervous people to show you how good they are. Think about how your questions will make the interviewee feel. Your aim and responsibility as an interviewer is to understand the other person - not to intimidate, which does not facilitate understanding.
- High pressure causes people to clam up and rarely exposes hidden issues - calm, relaxed, gentle, clever questions are far more revealing.
- Probe the cv/resume/application form to clarify any unclear points.
- If possible, and particularly for any position above first-line jobs, use some form of psychometric test, or graphology, and have the results available for the interview, so you can discuss them with the interviewee. Always give people the results of their tests. Position the test as a helpful discussion point, not the deciding factor. Take care when giving the test to explain and reassure. Ensure the test is done on your premises - not sent in the post.
- Give interviewees opportunities to ask their own questions. Questions asked by interviewees are usually very revealing. They also help good candidates to demonstrate their worth, especially if the interviewer has not asked great questions or there is a feeling that a person has for any reason not had the chance to show their real capability and potential.
- Research as much as you can about the company - products, services, markets, competitors, trends, current activities, priorities. See the tips about researching before job interviews.
- Prepare your answers for the type of questions you'll be asked, especially, be able to say why you want the job, what your strengths are, how you'd do the job, what your best achievements are.
- Prepare good questions to ask at the interview. See the section on questions to ask at job interviews.
- Related to the above, request a copy of the company's employment terms and conditions or employee handbook before the interview, in order to save time covering routine matters during the interview.
- Assemble hard evidence (make sure it's clear and concise) of how what you've achieved in the past - proof will put you ahead of those who merely talk about it.
- Have at least one other interview lined up, or have a recent job offer, or the possibility of receiving one from a recent job interview, and make sure you mention it to the interviewer.
- Make sure your resume/cv is up to date, looking very good and even if already supplied to the interviewer take three with you (one for the interviewer, one for you and a spare in case the interviewer brings a colleague in to the meeting).
- Get hold of the following material and read it, and remember the relevant issues, and ask questions about the areas that relate to the organization and the role. Obtain and research: the company's sales brochures and literature, a trade magazine covering the company's market sector, and a serious newspaper for the few days before the interview so you're informed about world and national news. Also, worth getting hold of: company 'in-house' magazines or newsletters, competitor leaflets, local or national newspaper articles featuring the company.
- Review your personal goals and be able to speak openly and honestly about them and how you plan to achieve them.
- Ensure you have two or three really good reputable and relevant references, and check they'd each be happy to be contacted.
- Adopt an enthusiastic, alert, positive mind-set. If you want some help with this try the 'I Am' self-belief page.
- Particularly think about how to deal positively with any negative aspects - especially from the perspective of telling the truth, instead of evading or distorting facts, which rarely succeeds. See the CV pointers about this - it's very significant.
- Try to get some experience of personality tests. Discover your personality strengths and weaknesses that would be indicated by a test, and be able to answer questions positively about the results. (Do not be intimidated by personality testing - expose yourself to it and learn about yourself.) To understand more about personality testing and the underpinning theory - and to find out more about yourself in this respect - see the section on personality theories and make time to read and understand it.
- Think about what to wear. See the guidance about choice of dress, clothes and colors for interviews below.
These are samples of questions that interviewers ask interviewees, with suggested ideal answers and reasons and purposes of the questions, to help interviewers and interviewees alike. See also the questions to ask at your job interview for ideas and suggested questions that interviewees should ask the interviewer, which are also extremely important.
There are very many different questions that can be used in job interviews. This page does not attempt to list them all. Instead it seeks to give you an understanding through the examples below and other tips as to what is effective and why, from the standpoint of the interviewer and the interviewee. Therefore, whether you are an interviewer preparing questions to ask, or an interviewee preparing how to give great answers, it is better to read all of this section to help you understand what works best and why, rather than simply select a few 'stock' examples. Having a few 'stock' questions and answers examples will limit your appreciation to just those examples. Instead seek to understand the reasoning that determines successful interviews, and then you will be able to formulate your own questions and answers for any interview situations that you face - whether as an interviewer or an interviewee.
question
answers examples and guidance
question notes
Or
How do you measure talent in an organization (or company or team)?
And in similar vein:
How do you grow/develop talent in an organization (or company or team)?
The first thing is to acknowledge the significance and importance of a question like these examples.
By showing that you recognize the potency of the question (for organizations as well as interviewees), you are half way to providing an impressive and effective answer.
(This principle of acknowledging very good questions in this way can be applied to any other question that addresses a serious and deeply significant issue, as this is.)
You can show your recognition with an initial response such as:
"That's a very significant question. Its implications affect the future health of all organizations - probably now more than ever.”
Beyond this, the question might initially seem impossible to answer, especially if you've had no real experience of measuring or growing such an intangible and fundamentally important aspect of performance in people and organizations, but there is actually quite a simple way to answer a question like this, for example:
"The reason why this is such a difficult question for modern organizations to address and resolve, is that while some organizations and leaders know how crucial 'talent' is for their survival and competitive effectiveness, you can't actually measure and grow anything until you can define exactly what it is, which is the real challenge. I believe that you can only begin to measure and develop anything when you can define exactly what it is. Talent is prime example. The concept of 'talent' alone is completely intangible. It means all sorts of different things to different people and organizations. Therefore the key to measuring and growing 'talent' is first to define exactly what 'talent' is - to understand and describe what it means, what it looks like, how it behaves and what it can achieve. And these definitions will be different depending on the organization. Talent in a bank will have a quite different meaning to talent in an advertising agency, or in a hospital. So that's the first answer to the question: First you need to define it and agree the definition, which is likely to be quite, and involved and detailed task, because it's such a deep and serious concept..."
Here's how you can develop this answer:
"Aside from defining what talent is, the organization needs to acknowledge the importance of talent, (according to the agreed organizational definitions). This requires a commitment from the very top, which must be transparent and visible to all. Then people will begin to value talent more fittingly and preciously. A similar thing happened with the 'total quality' concept, when leaders woke up and realized its significance. But they first had to define it and break it down into measurable manageable elements before they could begin to improve it. Talent is the same."
If you really want to go for broke you could add:
"The same thing will happen with love and spirituality in organizations, as is happening already with ethics and responsibility. These fundamentally crucial concepts can only be assessed, managed and developed when they are given emphatic priority from the top, and defined in a meaningful and manageable way. Then they can be grown just like any other organizational attribute."
A supplementary point is that some leaders simply do not appreciate the really true concept of talent, which unfortunately is a serious obstacle to doing anything useful about talent at all. Where this is the case, the leader must be educated or replaced, because as ever organizations can only do what they leader genuinely understands and commits to achieving.
See general guidelines above if you've not seen them already.
These (apparently) tough questions about 'talent' and how to measure and develop 'talent' are presently confounding many of the world's biggest organizations, many leaders, and organizational development specialists.
These questions about 'talent' reflect widespread modern organizational challenges, and so are useful in interviews, especially for training, HR, management and executive positions.
Interviewees who can answer these questions sensibly and thoughtfully demonstrate considerable perceptiveness and ability.
Answers to these questions are relevant modern indicators as to an interviewee's value and potential in the field of management, leadership and HR.
From India, Bangalore
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Interview tips-1.ppt
HR Interview Collective Tips(2).doc
Tips for Job Interview.pdf