Are you doing your interviews entirely by the book? If so, stop it.
Interviewing should be a human experience that gives you an opportunity to examine not only the credentials of a potential hire but also who they are as a whole person. If all of your questions are just an exercise in data collection, you’ll save time and money just hiring off of resumes alone.
As it turns out, asking common questions is a surefire way to get rehearsed answers out of a prospective hire. We’ve all been there and we all know how intimidating it can be to face down an interview. Rehearsing your answers so that you can instill confidence in a prospective employer is just part of the job application game. Still, these kind of rehearsed and impersonal answers are bad for both employers and employees. They keep things superficial and make it hard for both parties to see if they are right for each other.
Instead of sticking 100% by the book, you should consider changing things up, throwing a few curve balls, and asking questions that make your prospective hire think outside of the box. These interesting questions for interviews can help you to get to know your talent at a more personal level and give you a glimpse at their problem solving process when they’re confronted with a new situation.
- You have 2000 unread emails on your computer but can only answer 300 of them. How do you figure out which ones to open? Why?
- Who was your favorite coworker from your last job? Why?
- Someone important is coming over to your house for dinner and you only have one hour to prepare something for them to eat. What do you make them? Why?
- If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Why?
- You need to assemble a team for (task they are interviewing for), it can have one cartoon character and one former U.S. president on it. Who do you choose and why?
- What’s your favorite movie? Why?
- If you could have been born in another decade, which one would you have chosen? Why?
- You’re giving instructions about (common task at your company) to a person, but they hear everything you say two hours after you say it. How does this change the instructions you give? Why?
- You can only drink water and one other thing for the rest of your life. What do you choose? Why?
- Who was the last person to truly inspire you? How did they do it?