A good question during phone interviews will help an applicant stand out from the pack and help you remember them.
Phone interviews are only as useful as the questions you ask. When doing phone interviews, it’s important to ask tough questions which will bring out a person’s true nature. If your questions are too easy, candidates can coast through them with platitudes and clichés, making it difficult to gain meaningful information.
Probing questions that will challenge your candidates to offer creative and honest answers. Here are some examples:
“What are your three biggest weaknesses?”
This question has become cliché. And most candidates are already prepared to answer it with an answer they researched online. If you want to really challenge them, up the ante. Force them to continue to think about what their weaknesses might be and see how they conduct themselves on the spot.
“…That’s great! Do you mind demonstrating that to me now?”
Often at the interview, you’ll ask if the person is familiar with various software tools or other skills that they need to complete the job adequately. Candidates can also exaggerate the truth. When you conduct interviews, make sure that your applicants are being honest. And there’s an easy way to do this – once you’ve asked if the person has a particular skill, ask them to prove it to you right then and there.
“What didn’t you like about your last workplace?”
It’s always useful to give applicants a chance to speak about their previous place of employment. Candidates who are not prepared for interviews or are particularly negative will jump at the chance to complain about their supervisors, coworkers or their job. Candidates who are quick to badmouth a previous job are not usually those who will make for a happy and positive work environment. It’s good to discuss this with your applicants.
“Do you have any questions?”
Without fail, you should ask this question at the end of any phone interview. Candidates who have nothing to ask are those who might not have done any research on your organisation or are too shy to ask what they really want to know. Likewise, you may field a question from them that is irrelevant or something you’ve covered already. It will help to check if they were paying attention.
A good question will help them stand out from the pack and help you remember them.
Saxon Marsden-Huggins, Managing Director, Recruit Shop
