Do you know the real cost of hiring the wrong employee? It’s more than you think. The U.S. Department of Labor says the cost of one hiring mistake is around 30 percent of their first-year salary.
A thorough interview process is one way to minimize that risk. While you want to ask offbeat questions, it’s also critical that you cover the essentials.
Are you missing any of these six essential interview questions in your hiring process?
What Do You Want to Learn from an Interview?
A great interview tells you the most relevant details of a candidate’s employment and educational history. Ultimately, their ability to do the job is their most important trait. The rest is just details.
As a result, you need to develop your interview questions with the most critical data in mind, which includes:
- Details about past jobs
- Understanding of their work ethic
- Ideas about ambition and career goals
- Candidates’ expectations for the role
These are the basic building blocks of your hiring decision. So how do you get the answers you need?
Ask These Six Essential Interview Questions
Whether you prefer an hour-long interview process or you like to get candidates in and out in under 15 minutes, your interview isn’t over until you ask these six questions:
- Why do you want to work here?
- Have you ever missed a deadline? What happened next?
- What are you most proud of doing in your last role?
- Why are you leaving/did you leave your current job?
- Where do you want to be in five years?
- What skills would you improve? How do you plan to do it?
All these questions will tell you more about the points listed above but also dive deeper than what’s in their resume and references. The two part-questions are particularly important because they tell the whole story, and if you listen carefully, you can learn a lot.
What Should You Listen for in Their Answers?
The six interview questions listed above are essential for creating a complete picture of the candidate.
However, you shouldn’t just take their answers at face value. You should also listen for things like:
- Rehearsed answers
- Listening skills
- Positivity
For example, you’re likely to hear at least one or two canned responses because these are common interview questions. You’ll recognize rehearsed answers because the candidate will come up with them quickly and usually speak at a faster pace. There’s nothing wrong with a rehearsed answer, but you can also pick out stellar candidates because their answers may be rehearsed but will also be tailored to your question and your company.
Your Interview is Your Most Powerful Weapon
The last thing you want to do is hire the wrong person: it costs you time, money, and productivity. By using the interview process to do some detective work, you can improve your chances of making the right choice the first time around.
Are you hiring job candidates, or are you hiring top talent?
Energi Personnel specializes in finding your business qualified help, so you can focus on getting the job done. Contact us today to start a conversation.
