The Basics

Rule one for conducting an interview in today's tight job market is to "keep it positive." From your greeting and introductions to your thank-you and follow up, it's important that you establish a positive environment that demonstrates your organization's strengths as a good place to work.

• Do introduce yourself, and anyone else who may be participating, and provide business cards. Get the candidate's name right. They prepared for you; show the same level of respect.
• Put the candidate at ease. If you have coffee, soft drinks, or water nearby, offer them something. Don't make the interview an interrogation.
• In today's IT market, you are selling your company as much as you are filling a position. If you have narrowed your list of candidates, you may want to invest the time by giving the candidate a tour of the facilities—especially if your corporate culture is a big plus in your organization. Giving the candidate a chance to see and meet others who are upbeat about the company will make a more positive impression than anything you can say during the interview.
• Give a quick introduction of what you and anyone else involved in the interview does for the company, and talk about the open position, job description, and specifications.
• With limited variation, ask all candidates the same set of questions. The place to improvise is on follow up questions, where you can to get to the details of each individual if the candidate is viable.
• Don't let the candidate elaborate ad infinitum. Prompt the candidate, but if they reach the end of the road with their answer, let it rest there.
• Sometimes "dead air" is a good thing. During in-person meetings, remaining quiet after the candidate finishes answering a question can encourage them to elaborate.
• Don't let candidates throw you off course or take control of the interview by asking frequent questions of you during the interview. You can request that they save those questions until the end. Then, be prepared to answer.
• Take notes during the interview and rate the candidate's answers so that you can compare "apples to apples" once you've seen all the candidates for a given position.
• Let the candidate know what to expect once he or she leaves. Will it be a day, a week, or a month-long process filling the position? Who will be following up with them?
• Thank the candidate for coming. An interview is a time consuming and often draining event for the candidate as well as the interviewer.

Asking the Right Questions

Some of the questions you ask during the interview will depend upon the type of interview you are conducting. Other questions are tried and true and are appropriate regardless of what type of interview you choose. The following is a representative list of questions we've come across from different types of interviews during our years in the IT staffing business.

Behavioral Questions

1. Describe a time when you decided to accomplish something on the job. Describe what you did. What were the results?
2. Tell me about your two biggest accomplishments and why these accomplishments stand out.
3. What did you like and dislike about the management style in your previous position?
4. When was the last time you made a mistake and how did you handle it?
5. How do you handle a difficult co-worker? Manager?
6. Tell me what you learned in your current position. How did you use this in your job?
7. Describe a situation when you had many projects or assignments due at the same time. What steps did you take to get them all done?
8. What question would you least like me to ask? Why?
9. What was the worst on-the-job crisis you faced, and what was your role was in solving it? Results?
10. Tell me about a time when you had to present complex information. How did you ensure that you were understood?
11. What personal characteristics do you rely on most to accomplish your work? Which ones get in the way?
12. What causes you stress at work and what do you do to reduce that stress?
13. Describe a situation where you were able to successfully convince or persuade someone to see things your way.
14. When did you last provide a solution that was outside the box?
15. When was the last time you went "above and beyond" in your job? Tell me what you did, how you felt about it, and what the results were.

During behavioral interviews, it is sometimes necessary to probe the candidate to elaborate on an answer. Try to use the same degree of probing for each candidate. Words that will help you develop your own probes include:

Behavioral questions often use adjectives like: best, worst, hardest, easiest, most, least. These help the candidate remember and articulate a specific circumstance. The idea is to ask open-ended questions that will give you insight into the candidate's past behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses.

Case Questions

1. Case questions come in many shapes and forms. All involve problem-solving skills that "test" the candidate's analytical skills. Some examples of case questions are:
2. Analyze an organization's or client's business problem. For instance, your company has developed a new kind of potato chip—how would you market it?
3. Your client is an automobile manufacturer that wants to lower the price of its luxury cars by 10 percent. If no other auto manufacturer lowers its prices, will your client's overall revenue increase or decrease, and why?
4. Calculate a number that you would not ordinarily know, making assumptions as you go along. For instance, how many cars are sold each year in the U.S.?

Often, there are no right or wrong answers to Case questions. You should look for responses that demonstrate the candidate's ability to develop and articulate ideas and to problem solve.

Situational Questions

In asking "situational" questions, first determine which areas of competency and skill you want to find out about. If interpersonal skills are important, for instance, you would question the candidate regarding situations in which his or her competency—or lack thereof—would play a critical role.

To evaluate the candidate's competency in client relations, for instance, you might tell them to imagine a situation in which they are a receptionist for the organization when three angry clients are waiting in the reception area, the phone is ringing, and a colleague walks up and wants to know why there is no coffee in the waiting area. Ask the candidate how they would handle this situation.

If the competency area is the ability to work in teams, you might ask them: "Consider a situation where you and a coworker were jointly working on a project. You divided up the work in a manner you both agree to. However, your coworker fails to do his or her share of the work.

What would you do?

• Since there are no "right" answers to situational questions, you should identify some good and bad answers. This depends on your specific criteria, but here are some thoughts.
• In the first situation, "Asked the co-worker to help answer the phones while I located the appropriate sales rep," might be a good answer, depending upon your evaluation criteria. However, "Ask the customers to sit down while I answer the phones because that is my job," would be a poor answer.
• In the second instance, a good answer may be: "Sit down with the co-worker and review specific roles and responsibilities as well as deadlines—then offer to work more closely with my co-worker if the issue is a lack of understanding or skills." A bad answer may be "Meet with my supervisor and alert him to the problem with this individual."

Tried-and-True Questions

1. Why do you want to work for our company?
2. Why are you interested in leaving your present job?
3. Describe your ability in meeting deadlines for projects in your current position.
4. Describe your experiences in working independently on projects.
5. What are you looking for in a new position?
6. How would you best describe your contribution in your present employer?
7. What are your responsibilities in your current position? What have you learned in your current job?
8. What do you consider your biggest strength? Weaknesses?
9. What is your greatest success? Failure?
10. How do you typically react when an important deadline approaches?
11. What is the most interesting assignment you have ever had?
12. What has been your biggest team contribution?
13. What sort of people do you find most difficult to work with? How do you resolve conflicts with these people?
14. Where do you see yourself in five years time?
15. What are your long-term career aims?

Telephone Interview Questions

Telephone interviewing is similar to in-person interviewing as far as questions go. However, questions should be as descriptive as possible because you are lacking the person-to-person contact.

• Provide several illustrations of your ability to complete a difficult project satisfactorily, despite unfavorable odds. What did you learn from these experiences?
• Based on your knowledge of this company, what things is it doing right? What could it improve upon?
• What specific contributions do you expect to make as an employee of the company?
• How do you see this position as enhancing your long-term career goals?

This open-ended approach, according to the authors, works particularly well during telephone interviews since it provides ample opportunity for the person to frame answers properly. Likewise, the interviewer can adequately evaluate the candidate's ability to demonstrate logical persuasion, self-confidence and clear goal setting.

*May/June 1989, Vol.2, No. 2, Reprint #32. Copyright © 1989 ACC, Communications, Inc.

Questions YOU Might Be Asked
Candidates should also have a chance to ask you questions. Some you might expect to be asked, and should be prepared to answer, include:

1. Who started the business and why?
2. Can you further clarify my initial assignment?
3. How does this department interact with the rest of the organization?
4. How would you describe the work environment here? The culture?
5. What is your policy on reviews and performance appraisals?
6. What are the plans for the future of the department? The organization?
7. Have you had layoffs or cost-reduction programs in the past year? Explain.
8. Why are some senior-level individuals no longer with the organization?
9. What background and training do the department heads and their assistants have?
10. How much travel might there be in this position?
11. How does the organization compare to its competitors?
12. How does the organization intend to remain/become profitable?
13. Does the company pay for training, skills enrichment, or reimburse employees for tuition expenses?
14. How often are new ideas implemented? Give me a recent example?
15. Do you enjoy working here? Why?

Legalities of Questions—What Not to Ask

Today, it seems, there are as many illegal questions as there are legal ones. For the good of the organization, if you are uncertain about the appropriateness of a question, refrain from asking it. Interview questions should always focus on qualifications rather than personal information that is unrelated to the position

The following are a compilation of questions we've come across that are known to be unacceptable or discriminatory.

• What is your national origin?
• What is your credit record?
• Do you own your home?
• What is your age or date of birth?
• Don't you feel you may be overqualified for this position? (This may imply age discrimination.)
• Have you ever been arrested? (An employer has the right to exclude people who have been convicted of certain crimes for certain jobs. Arrests are always illegal to ask about.)
• What is your hair and eye color?
• Has your salary ever been garnished?
• How many children do you have? What are their ages? Have you made child care arrangements?
• What is your marital status? Maiden name?
• What is or was your spouse's name or work?
• Have you ever filed a Workers' Compensation claim?
• Do you have any physical impairments that would prevent you from performing the job for which you are applying?
• In addition to refraining from asking certain questions, the interviewer must be careful that an applicant's disability does not interfere with the interview. As an employer, you are required to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled candidates, including access to the interview site and a sign language interpreter if necessary. The best approach is to have a staff member who is trained to handle reasonable requests from job candidates with disabilities.

Title I of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lists these additional prohibited questions

• Have you ever been hospitalized? If so, for what condition?
• Have you ever been treated by a psychiatrist or psychologist? If so, for what condition?
• Is there any health-related reason you may not be able to perform the job for which you are applying?
• How many days were you absent from work because of illness last year?
• Are you taking any prescribed drugs?
• Have you ever been treated for drug addiction or alcoholism?
  Visit the Americans With Disabilities Act homepage on the U.S. Department of Justice Web site at www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm for more information. You may also want to develop your organization's "ADA Employment Policy".

What You May Ask

• Describe your education.
• What experience qualifies you for this job?
• Do you have licenses and certifications for this job?
• Are you willing to travel?
• What name(s) are your work records under?
• Do you have the legal right to work in the United States?
• Are you available for overtime?