Tuesday, July 29, 2008

First-Rate Job Interview Questions

By Ray James

Excellent job interview questions are the most critical and essential part of any job interview. You have to be very focused on the questions you ask and you must ensure that you achieve the desired answers from each of the questions you ask the applicant. Initially, you must ensure that you have established a good rapport with the applicant. Keep in mind that you are the questioner and you will obtain the answers in relation to the type and quality of questions you ask. In addition to this aspect, how and at what time you ask questions is significant as the overall success of the interview depends upon it. Be sure to listen to the answers carefully before asking the next question.

The best job interview questions are asked in increasing order of significance. At the commencement of the interview you should ask broad informative questions eg ?How would you describe yourself??, ?What are your long term and short term goals and objectives??, ?Where would you like to be five years from now??, ?Have you made any plans for achieving your career goals??, ?What do you wish to be paid in five years??, as well as some of the more complicated questions eg ?Why did you choose this profession??, ?According to your previous work colleagues, what are your strengths and weaknesses??, ?What are the benefits you expect from your career?? etc. As you proceed to the next stage of the interview, questions should be more particular and you must examine the talent and expertise of the applicant. Do not rush the questions. You should formulate your questions depending on the answers given by the applicant. Some of the best questions can give you what you are searching for in an instant. Some of these are as follows: ?How would you assess your ability to deal with conflict??, ?Why should you be considered for the position??, and ?What qualifications do you have that will allow you to be a success in this position??. Further to these questions, you may wish to ask the following: ?What you think is needed to achieve success in an organization such as ours??, ?Do you consider yourself to be a leader??, ?Which do you believe is more important: creativeness or efficiency and why??, ?What knowledge do you possess about our competition?? etc. Be sure to ask these questions whenever they are considered necessary. From the candidate?s answers to these questions, you can ascertain their nature, skills and other capacities.

At the conclusion of the interview, you should ask appropriate questions from which you can assess the person?s ability to work successfully in your group or team. Some examples of these questions are as follows: ?Have you ever been dismissed or asked to resign from a company??, ?What would your previous supervisor have to say regarding your job performance??, ?How well do you perform under pressure??. It may be possible to ask questions about future work, for example, ?How will you motivate your colleagues??, ?How will you plan to obtain higher positions in this company??, ?How you will relate your work experience with the work you are given in this company?? and so on.

First-rate questions are a key factor in any successful interview. Along with the excellent questions, you must be able to highlight any salient points you obtained from the answers given by the candidate. This will be of assistance in making the final decision when choosing the right candidate for your company.

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