Thanks to expansive social media and internet tools, employment candidates are able to access a plethora of materials to prepare them for a job interview. The amount of detail and scope of information can be overwhelming. There are valuable insights to be gained, if candidates are able to sort through all of the available internet advice.
A common theme for candidate interview preparation is knowing what questions will be asked and how to to give the ‘real’ answer in response to those questions.
A recent article, provided by Workopolis’ editor-in-chief, Peter Harris, identifies what hidden meanings are behind typical interview questions and how candidates should respond to avoid the traps of what is really behind these types of questions.
Click Here to Read the Article.
If read this article from the perspective of an employment candidate, it seems that the set up for the interview process is just that, a bit of a set up.
If, however, we read this article from the perspective of a Human Resources professional, there is a clear message that the questions we are asking candidates in interviews are not the right ones.
We need to do a much better job in preparing ourselves, as Human Resources professionals, for the interview process. We can do so by preparing questions that are straightforward and clear in purpose.
Human Resources professionals have excellent skills in many areas. We are not, however, gifted with super-power mind-reading insights that allow us to discern what interview candidates are meaning to say in response to misleading questions which appear to be full of hidden meanings and tricks.
Let’s stop asking the questions that give us the answers we don’t want and start preparing questions that give us the answers that clearly identify what we do want.
This way, we can leave the super-power mind-reading skills alone, for now.
Discussion Questions:
- What are typical interview questions that, as a candidate, you think should not be included in a job interview process?
- What types of questions, from an HR perspective, do you think could be used more effectively in an interview process?
- What types of prompts can the HR professional use during an interview that encourage candidates to answer the questions in the ‘right’ way?