The following is a guest post by Sara Dawkins.
In today’s world, finding a solid employee who won’t waste your time training them can be daunting. During an interview, the prospective employee has already rehearsed their answers to some of the most asked questions. It may be a bleak way to look at it, but people will say and do anything in order to land a job they may or may not be qualified for.
In order to weed out those who are under-qualified or insincere, you need to develop a tailored list of hiring questions. Why is a tailored list so important to the well-being of your business?
1. Honesty. By asking a question that has never been covered before, you force the candidate to answer with honesty. As a hiring manager, you need to be certain the candidate is right for your organization. The length of time it takes an individual to answer could give insight as to whether they are trying to think of what you want to hear or answering honestly.
2. Knowledge. Every business is different, even if they provide similar services and/or products. You want to gauge how knowledgeable the candidate is, but you want to know if the knowledge is comparable to your organization. Create various situations with your hiring questions based on the actual functionality of your business. Using real-world situations that have been experienced by your business in the past could be greatly beneficial as you may learn how the candidate would have handled them.
3. Body Language. Body language can tell a lot about a person during an interview. Those who sit back in their chair may be more reserved and defensive during questioning. However, those who sit forward are more engaging and may show interest in the conversation. Other tell-tale signs of physical movements and gestures can enlighten you on how the candidate handles him or herself. You don’t have to be an expert in body language, but it wouldn’t hurt to read a few articles on the significance of how someone holds their hands or arms.
4. Attention to Detail. As you develop your hiring questions, provide a manner in which the same question can be asked in a different way. Many psych exams will use this method to tell if the person is lying or doesn’t understand what is being asked. By using the same method in your hiring questions, you can determine if the candidate is simply telling you what you want to hear or is earnest in their decisions by answering the questions in similar manners.
You need a new hire who can bring a positive influence to the workplace. They need to be able to learn a new method of doing their tasks, as your business is different than those they may have previously worked at. Adding unique hiring questions during the interview can help you determine if the candidate is right for your organization. After all, the wrong candidate could be detrimental to your business and could waste valuable time in training and man-hours.
About the Author:
Sara Dawkins is an active nanny, as well as an active freelance writer. She is a frequent contributor of http://www.nannypro.com/.
