I Need Some GREAT Questions to Ask An Interviewee

[Lola]

I am going to be part of a panel interview later this afternoon.
The normal questions will be asked, but I want to make sure this person is really qualified for the job.
Are there some good, thought provoking interview questions that will help us (my department) really get to know the type of person in the interview? I am not looking for ones that are trying to be tricky either.

Thanks in advance!

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

What's the position?

 

[spidey07]

"What is your biggest weakness?"

But seriously I always use "Describe an accomplishment where your creativity was the determining factor"

 

[hanoverphist]

if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

 

[Pepsei]

where do you see youself five years from now.

 

[LS21]

what is ur biggest weakness, n where did u google this cliched answer from

 

[Lola]

Originally posted by: spidey07
"What is your biggest weakness?"

But seriously I always use "Describe an accomplishment where your creativity was the determining factor"

This is a good one! More like this one!

 

[oiprocs]

Can you suck a golf ball through a garden hose?

 

[calvinbiss]

This is a good situation I encountered during an interview for a NASA contractor:

Tell the interviewee that he/she has a few minutes to prepare a "lesson" to teach to the group. It should be about five minutes long. The lesson can be about anything.

This will allow you to see how quickly the person can think on their feet, organize their thoughts, and consicely convey them to a group.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Which is the most important to you: bass, tweeters or mid-range?

And the ever popular "are you prone to sea sickness?"

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: calvinbiss
This is a good situation I encountered during an interview for a NASA contractor:

Tell the interviewee that he/she has a few minutes to prepare a "lesson" to teach to the group. It should be about five minutes long. The lesson can be about anything.

This will allow you to see how quickly the person can think on their feet, organize their thoughts, and consicely convey them to a group.

so you would give them 2 minutes to prepare a five minute lesson? That is not thinking on your feet, it is showing how you can bullshit on the fly.

 

[krylon]

Will it blend?

But does it run linux?

 

[Jeeebus]

Would you do anything for love?

If yes, please describe whether you would do "that."

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: calvinbiss
This is a good situation I encountered during an interview for a NASA contractor:

Tell the interviewee that he/she has a few minutes to prepare a "lesson" to teach to the group. It should be about five minutes long. The lesson can be about anything.

This will allow you to see how quickly the person can think on their feet, organize their thoughts, and consicely convey them to a group.

so you would give them 2 minutes to prepare a five minute lesson? That is not thinking on your feet, it is showing how you can bullshit on the fly.

I think it's a great question. A great candidate would be able to take a complex concept, perhaps some major project they worked on, and have 2 minutes to condense it down into laymen's terms for the panel. If you can make it meaningful while trimming off all the jargon, that's a great sign that you're able to communicate across different levels.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: calvinbiss
This is a good situation I encountered during an interview for a NASA contractor:

Tell the interviewee that he/she has a few minutes to prepare a "lesson" to teach to the group. It should be about five minutes long. The lesson can be about anything.

This will allow you to see how quickly the person can think on their feet, organize their thoughts, and consicely convey them to a group.

so you would give them 2 minutes to prepare a five minute lesson? That is not thinking on your feet, it is showing how you can bullshit on the fly.

I think it's a great question. A great candidate would be able to take a complex concept, perhaps some major project they worked on, and have 2 minutes to condense it down into laymen's terms for the panel. If you can make it meaningful while trimming off all the jargon, that's a great sign that you're able to communicate across different levels.

but for 5 minutes?

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: krylon
Will it blend?

But does it run linux?

And force them to respond using car analogies.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend
What's the position?

Why would she ask him that, shouldnt he be asking questions about the position?

 

[OCGuy]

Are you attracted to children?

Have you ever had sex with an animal?





Oh wait, those are questions used in lie detector tests for law enforcement positions.

 

[nublikescake]

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend
What's the position?

Why would she ask him that, shouldnt he be asking questions about the position?

Read: "what is this position that this person is going to interview for."

 

[nublikescake]

Show them a picture of your avatar and ask: "do I look like my avatar?"

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: calvinbiss
This is a good situation I encountered during an interview for a NASA contractor:

Tell the interviewee that he/she has a few minutes to prepare a "lesson" to teach to the group. It should be about five minutes long. The lesson can be about anything.

This will allow you to see how quickly the person can think on their feet, organize their thoughts, and consicely convey them to a group.

Can it be on how to make pie?

 

[Chryso]

Do these feel natural to you?

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: Lola

Originally posted by: spidey07
"What is your biggest weakness?"

But seriously I always use "Describe an accomplishment where your creativity was the determining factor"

This is a good one! More like this one!

Honestly I hate those type of questions. It may just come down to my style for interviews as more relaxed. I feel that, for these types of questions, you have to prepare ahead of time and think about what you will say. Otherwise, its hard to pin down one thing specifically and start talking about all the details 3 seconds after you were asked.
Of course if you are familiar with something it is easy (ask me about my work and I can go on all day about it) it isn't as issue. But I'm pretty sure most, unless they practice repeatedly ahead of time, can't come with something on the spot.

If you do want to ask this question, try to ask a set of leading questions that at least gets them to be thinking about that stuff in their head before you toss this on them. Asking those other, more general questions, at least jogs their memory on the subject and lets the information flood them once more.

I would say the each question needs to have a specific purpose where you are trying to understand something. Hell, the actual answer to the question may be totally irrelevant, but you are trying to gage a response.

The most obvious answer to a question like this is "to see how creative he or she is, which is a necessarily function for the job"...but if that is the case, its better to build in that question as a part of a series of questions that helps them recall what they were doing. Its much less stressful for someone who is interviewing.

Whenever I'm asked questions like these out of the blue...I had to pause and take a minute to really try to rush to remember something. Of course...now I know how the game works and I have answers already prepared and packaged nicely to spit out.


Of course I'm not saying right or wrong...just giving you an impression of the many opinions out there.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: silverpig
I think it's a great question. A great candidate would be able to take a complex concept, perhaps some major project they worked on, and have 2 minutes to condense it down into laymen's terms for the panel. If you can make it meaningful while trimming off all the jargon, that's a great sign that you're able to communicate across different levels.

Just don't present company proprietary information.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Strong, Light, Cheap - Pick any two....