Hiring Tips | Hiring Interview Questions

Can They Prioritize?

Priorities

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Can They Prioritize?

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I’m sure you know the meaning of prioritize, but I do like providing definitions.

“to put several things, problems, etc. in order of importance, so that you can deal with the most important ones first”

To be able to put things or problems in order of importance, one must know what their relative importances are.

Some employees will do what they are asked to do, what their manual says they should do and that’s that.

And that’s fine.

But that’s a baseline employee.

Bob has three tasks he needs to do. There’s only thirty minutes left in the work day. To do all three tasks is going to take an hour. What does he do?

He prioritizes.

He determines the order of importance of the three tasks and then takes care of them in that order.

What if the most important task will take up the entire thirty minutes and one of the other tasks is only a five minute task, but his supervisor urged him to get it done before he leaves?

What does Bob do?

Well, that’s part of prioritizing. He gets the five minute task done and then he pushes to get the thirty minute task done in twenty-five minutes, or he simply stays over five minutes to complete the task.

I realize this all sounds pretty simple, pretty straightforward. But we also know the ability to prioritize is not a strong suit for everyone.

The employee weak in this area will not do the five minute task and there likely will be some friction when he meets up with his supervisor the next day. Or this employee will do the five minute task, but leave the thirty minute task incomplete. This scenario may also see some friction the next day.

So, how can you determine if the person in front of you is good at prioritizing?

One way is to include this area of questioning when you speak to the applicant’s previous supervisors.

Another way is to compile a list of three, four of five tasks for the job in question and then ask the applicant to weigh them in order of importance.

You could have several of these lists put together.

It should not take a long time for the applicant to go through the tasks and give them an order of importance. If it does take awhile, not a great sign.

And your analysis of his sequence of importances will also be revealing.

An ability to prioritize is worth pursuing. Things will run smoother and be more productive.

To see how our employee test can help you bring better people on board watch this three minute video.

If you have ever interviewed someone and later discovered a "different" person is working for you, check out our new book How To Hire The Right People.

How Fearless Are They?

Fearless

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How Fearless Are They?

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Fearless.

That’s an interesting quality.

We’d probably want a soldier to be fearless, or at least as close to fearless as possible.

If an entrepreneur is embarking on a new activity, being fearless has its advantages there, right?

But, for our everyday applicants, is fearless a quality we’re interested in?

Let’s look at a definition of fearless : not afraid of anything. With synonyms of brave, courageous, bold, daring, adventurous.

I do like those synonyms!

If you’re looking for someone to just get the work done — and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that — then fearless isn’t a critical quality.

But if we’re looking for someone to make a breakthrough for us, in the areas of marketing or sales, for instance, then someone bold and daring may be exactly what we’re looking for.

What if we wanted a supervisor or office manager who never backed off from handling a situation in their area? Someone who always rolled up their sleeves, waded in and located what needed to be addressed and got it resolved? What if we wanted that kind of manager?

If so, then “fearless” would be an asset, right?

So how do we locate this quality in people? A simple, direct approach would be:

“Bob, tell me some things that you’re afraid of.”

Most of the time Bob will give you some things that he’s afraid of.

A fearless Bob, however, may say, “well, there really isn’t anything that scares me.”

The key to this answer is: Did Bob deliver it quickly and easily? Did he deliver it without the slightest flinch?

In a number of earlier tips, I’ve mentioned this ability that you want to be continuing to develop:

The ability to observe when your applicant is easily answering a question and there is no “flinch.”

I think you know what I mean by “flinch.” When someone answers a question with complete comfort, you are likely getting a candid answer.

Fearless.

If you’re hiring for a position that requires a bold and daring approach, zeroing in on “fearless” may get you just what you need.

To see how our employee test can help you bring better people on board watch this three minute video.

If you have ever interviewed someone and later discovered a "different" person is working for you, check out our new book How To Hire The Right People.

How Appreciative Are They?

Appreciative employee

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How Appreciative Are They?

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First, let’s look at two definitions of “appreciate” that apply to this tip:

To understand how good or useful someone or something is

Used to thank someone in a polite way or to say that you are grateful for something they have done

I’m thinking those two definitions blend in with each other. Someone who is appreciative understands how good or useful someone or something is and they communicate this in some way.

Ideally, you are looking for someone with a deep reservoir of appreciation, an appreciation of other people, the things other people do and even an appreciation for one’s environment.

We do enjoy the employee who sincerely thanks us for improving their work environment in some way.

“Bob, that new phone system you had installed is working really well. Thank you for doing that, Bob!”

“Thank you for creating the room where we can keep our lunch refrigerated and grab a snack during the day. Very helpful, Bob.”

“The Sunday picnic for the staff was off the charts. You really went out of your way to make that a great afternoon. My wife was blown away. Thank you, Bob.”

Now, if that appreciation extends to their fellow employees, that’s an even bigger plus.

Let’s find out if we’ve got that from your candidate.

“Alice, at your last job, tell me three things that you appreciated about the other employees you worked with.”

If Alice is the “appreciative sort” she should be able to tell you three things easily and quickly.

Going a bit further, you could ask, “Alice, how did you let these employees know that you appreciated them?”

When someone voices their appreciation of you and the things you do, you know how that makes you feel.

Well, the same is true of your employees. When someone who is openly appreciative of others, that has a very positive effect on the work place.

I’m not talking about an airy-fairy thing here. I’m not talking about someone who is nice to others because there’s something to be gained from being nice.

We know when we see genuine appreciation.

I rarely plug our employee tests in these tips, but I won’t be able to help myself here. Our personality profile measures ten key personality traits and one of them is appreciation. If you are not using our employee testing service, watch our two minute video and take the free test yourself.

In closing folks, there’s a huge difference between those who appreciate others and those who do not. It’s a fabulous trait to have on board.

To see how our employee test can help you bring better people on board watch this three minute video.

If you have ever interviewed someone and later discovered a "different" person is working for you, check out our new book How To Hire The Right People.

What Do We Owe You?

Benefits, Incentives, Bonuses, Extras, Perks and Advantages

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What Do We Owe You?

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I’m going to love this tip and I haven’t even written it yet!

For the most part, we’ve got two sides of the hiring equation, right? We’ve got the employer and we’ve got the person wanting to be employed.

There may be a middle man, e.g. a hiring agency, but at some point in time, you are going to be interviewing someone before you make any kind of long term hiring decision.

Back in the day — let’s say before the 80s or 90s — when you applied for a job, you were essentially told what the job was, what it paid, the hours, some idea of what was expected and, if that worked for you, then you were included for consideration.

Unless you were someone very special, you did not make demands or issue ultimatums to your prospective employer. If and when you did get hired, you were given a place to work, assigned tasks, maybe some training and off you went to carry out your duties.

After getting hired, you did not wait a week or two and then tell your employer that you need X, Y and Z so that you can perform to your full potential. AND that, if you didn’t get X, Y and Z, you might have to shop your talents elsewhere.

Back in the day, that just didn’t happen.

Now I realize I’m painting somewhat of a black and white picture here, but I’m doing it to make a point.

Let’s fast forward to present time.

The scenario I just presented is certainly not occurring wholesale in today’s hiring world, but some parts of this scenario are happening. And we can debate how much the balance of power has shifted in the hiring process and whether that’s good for business or not. But that’s not the purpose of this tip. This tip has a simple focus. We just want to find out from the applicant:

“As an employer, what do we owe you?”

When you ask this question, as we recommend with all questions in the hiring interview, pay close attention to how comfortable the applicant is in answering it. If he’s very comfortable, then it’s likely you’re getting a candid answer. If not, well, possibly not so candid.

Once your applicant has answered the question and you’ve written down what he said, it can’t hurt to ask it again:

“What else do we owe you?”

Now, I’m not recommending that you ask these questions — or any questions for that matter — with even a hint of a confrontational attitude. We just want to know what they feel the company owes them.

Their answers may fit 100% with what you’d like to provide every employee. That’s good to know.

And their answers may surprise or even shock you. That’s also good to know.

Either way, you’re likely to gain an insight into what it will be like having this person as part of your team.

To see how our employee test can help you bring better people on board watch this three minute video.

If you have ever interviewed someone and later discovered a "different" person is working for you, check out our new book How To Hire The Right People.

Would You Let Your Son or Daughter Marry Your Applicant?

Proposal

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Would You Let Your Son or Daughter Marry Your Applicant?

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Okay, I realize this is a pretty stiff measurement to use with an applicant, but it is an interesting one.

You’ve read over his résumé, you’re verified as much of it as you possibly can, you’ve tested him on IQ, Aptitude and Personality, you’ve checked with previous employers and you’ve done several in-person interviews with him.

So, would you let him marry your daughter?

Your daughter’s not old enough to get married? Okay, you know what I’m talking about here.

How much do you trust this candidate?

Well, you can ask yourself in a variety of ways how much you trust someone, or you can simply ask yourself would you let him marry your daughter.

Would you approve of her marrying your son?

If your answer is yes, then that really tells you something about the candidate.

If the answer is no, then the next question is “how much of a ‘no’ is that?” If that’s an absolutely, without any shadow-of-a-doubt ‘no’ — well, then you haven’t a very high opinion of your candidate, do you?

Maybe you have a very high opinion of their skills, how polished they came across in the interview, their glowing résumé, but you wouldn’t let them near one of your kids.

Okay, I know this is a bit of an odd way of evaluating an applicant, but doesn’t it quickly give you an insight when you ask yourself this kind of question?

As with all of these wonderful hiring tips, use them as you see fit to help you learn more about people before you make that hiring decision.

To see how our employee test can help you bring better people on board watch this three minute video.

If you have ever interviewed someone and later discovered a "different" person is working for you, check out our new book How To Hire The Right People.