You have sifted through resumes, conducted phone screens, and found a few top candidates that you think will be the right fit for the job. You know making a bad hiring decision can be costly to your organization, so how do you know which one to pick? Asking the right interview questions will help you determine which candidate should be hired. Here’s why it’s important to ask different types of questions.

Challenging Questions
Most job candidates can decode and hack interview questions, allowing them to respond with the perfect answers. Opinion based questions are all over the internet and a candidate can easily come prepared with rehearsed answers. Every candidate has answers to general questions about teamwork, initiate, and leadership already memorized.

In order to really find out whether a candidate is qualified for the job, you should ask challenging questions that elicit facts instead of opinions. How do you get these facts? Ask questions about how the candidate has acted in previous situations and then dig deeper. Questions like “tell me about a time when a customer got mad at you”, help you evaluate the candidate’s skills and abilities to deal with conflict. Dig deeper to find out why the customer was mad, what the interviewee did to handle the situation, and how the situation turned out.

Interpersonal Questions to Find Out about the Candidate
Questions about interpersonal skills enable you to assess a candidate’s skills in their workplace relationships. These questions ask the candidate to describe a situation and how they acted. Some examples include:

• Tell me about a time when you’ve demonstrated the ability and desire to work effectively with your coworkers.
• What are the three most important factors that make you an effective, valued coworker in your current job? What would your supervisor say are the three most important factors?
• Tell me about a time when you worked with a friend or a coworker who became a friend. What did you do to ensure that the friendship bore positive results for your company? 

These types of questions determine the interpersonal skills of a candidate. A great candidate solves problems and conflicts with their peers. They can demonstrate that they have built effective relationships with both supervisors and reporting staff. Interpersonal questions also give you an idea about how the candidate works with other people. From their answers, you’ll be able to tell how a candidate builds relationships with internal and external customers.

The best candidate for your organization will remain calm and collected, and ace all of your tricky interview tests. Ensure you’re finding the best candidates for your open positions by letting the experienced recruiters at RealStreet Staffing help with your hiring process. Contact our team of recruiters today, and we’ll provide the best staffing solutions for your organization.