I’ve been doing a lot of job interviews lately. Evidently, the market being flooded with applicants is one of the side effects of the crisis. My organization, instead of laying people off has been steadily hiring and this is due to the high turnover rate of the industry.
As any other organization, we have a “hiring protocol” to follow. I’m not going to get into the details of it since it is not relevant to the purposes of this article. My role in this process is as a hiring manager. Due to the particularities of the process I only get to interview the applicant once. This means I only have approximately one hour to make an assessment and give the go/no-go.
I divide the interview in two parts. The first one is the mandatory Behavioral Interview Questionnaire. During the second one, I’v been given wings to conduct the interview at will. I always plan some of my questions in advance with the information I gather from the person’s resume and paperwork.
The interviews I have been doing were conducted to fill a specific position, which led me to become a lot more structured in the way I carried them out. I acknowledge that some of the questions I’ve been using have triggered cliché answers. Boring, mulled, rehearsed and artificially flavored ones. So I thought, “maybe I’m asking to many cliché questions”.
Another issue is that given the limited time to assess the fitness of a candidate, (or the fitness of the position for that particular person) at the end of the interview I ended up with a lot of useless or shallow information left me with very few worthwhile variables from which to base my conclusions.
The goal is to always challenge the candidate. Put him through stressful situations to test his structural sturdiness, then let him relax with an “easy” or “filler” question to then again make him fall and see how he gets his stuff together again. This speaks a lot about how the person reacts to not only stressful situations, but also to dynamically evaluate how his mind works.
But yet again, without useful responses the decision you make might not be the best one. That’s why I did some research and put together a list of unconventional (some funny) questions to mix and stir into your job interview.
Why have you been out of work for an extended period of time?
If the person you have in front of you has been “chilling” for the past couple of years/months, he or she would better have a good answer for this one.
A year from now, what is going to keep you at this company?
This one is particularly a good one in high turnover environments. But before making this question, you need to make sure that the person fully understands the job he’s looking forward to take. It will also help you give him information about the job that he is not taking into account. Truth be told, there are not many jobs where an applicant is absolutely sure of what he is getting into, unless he worked that position before or if the tasks involved in the job are simple or well known (ie. Telemarketer). This is not the usual “how do you see yourself in X years” (a friend of mine once answered “sitting right there” pointing at the interviewers chair. FYI, he didn’t get the job). It doesn’t involve aspirations or desires, it prompts to dig into what motivates the person and how will that work in this particular job.
What books have you read lately?
AKA, are you willing to learn? The question is about books. Internet, TV ads and Vogue don’t count (they will tell you something about that person’s personality, though). If the person likes reading it will open you a huge window into their worlds. This is a big source of information. And way better than asking about hobbies.
If you didn’t have any financial obligations, what would you be doing with your time?
AKA, are you a couch potato? Some people will tell you: “I’d travel the world for the rest of my life or I’d open a bar on the beach in Maldives”. There’s nothing bad with this, only that it may not be the wingman you are looking for.
If the CEO or someone very senior in the organization comes to you with an urgent problem, how would you handle it?
How fast are you when the house’s on fire? This question investigates if a person is able to make decisions on the fly and through the right channels. For instance, some might prefer someone that if asked to do something for a big boss would first run it through you. Others might prefer a proactive asset that could provide a solution without losing time (CEOs are always in a hurry).
How long will it take before you make a positive impact?
This is one of my favorites. It usually takes 30 days to learn the environment and from three to six months to learn the job and be up to speed. Of course times vary depending on the job. Here you’ll also be assessing self confidence and the image of self that the applicant has.
What makes you think you had anything to do with that achievement?
Reality check. Your resume says fantastic things about you, now, how involved were you in this? Can you articulate the steps that made you an important part in this accomplishment?
What are your weaknesses and some of your failures?
When you ask the typical question about strengths and weaknesses, point to specific scenarios where the person failed. This will give you a glimpse of how the applicant deals with failure, how it affects his/her morale, and how he prevented a reoccurrence.
How many people were on your team, and how many were laid off?
This one lets you know how well or bad positioned was that person in the team. And the follow up question,
Why do you think you were selected for the reduction in force?
This one can trigger a wide array of answers. From the plain “I don’t know” to a twenty minute rant about the former employer. This answer usually doesn’t look good unless the person has a darn good argument to support his position.
And last but not least,
If you could be a super hero, which one would you be?
This one digs deep into the unconscious. It will allow you to see the person’s ideals, what he stands for, his MO and how he’d like to see himself (how he sees himself in some cases).
Sources
Unconventional IT job interview questions, by Meridith Levinson (thank you for the inspiration 
)
Unconventional and useful interview questions to use for a job applicant, by Dean Shutt
I also liked this post about bad morale, also by Meridith Levinson.
Image credit: interviewquestionsandanswers.org
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Wow, no wonder your place of business has a high turnover rate! People would like to work where they can feel respected. Your reasons for choosing the questions and some of the questions you have chosen are disrespectful. This proves that some interviewers are out to play games and not straightforward about what they want and need of a successful candidate. So your first question in July of 2009 is, “Why have you been out of work for an extended period of time?” Umm, did you miss everything that has been going on since September of 2008? And that was just when everything came down! The economy was failing before that. “A year from now, what will keep you in the company?” Umm, knowing that your company is solid and is not going to go bankrupt, cut my hours and pay, etc., AND that I get respect from those who I work for. Umm, how about a contract? Are you an “at will” employer? What are you going to do to prove to the candidate that you will be around in the next year and what are you going to do to keep him and any of your other employees? It seems to me that if you have high turn over, the tough and invasive questions should be asked of management and they should center around what are our strengths and our weaknesses.
Wow, no wonder your place of business has a high turnover rate! People would like to work where they can feel respected. Your reasons for choosing the questions and some of the questions you have chosen are disrespectful. This proves that some interviewers are out to play games and not straightforward about what they want and need of a successful candidate. So your first question in July of 2009 is, “Why have you been out of work for an extended period of time?” Umm, did you miss everything that has been going on since September of 2008? And that was just when everything came down! The economy was failing before that. “A year from now, what will keep you in the company?” Umm, knowing that your company is solid and is not going to go bankrupt, cut my hours and pay, etc., AND that I get respect from those who I work for. Umm, how about a contract? Are you an “at will” employer? What are you going to do to prove to the candidate that you will be around in the next year and what are you going to do to keep him and any of your other employees? It seems to me that if you have high turn over, the tough and invasive questions should be asked of management and they should center around what are our strengths and our weaknesses.
Hi Bruce,
I would answer your first two questions just by telling you that besides the USA there are around 191 other countries in the world which are not necessarily in crisis. Did you miss everything that has been going on since 5.000 BC?
The reason why asking “what are your strengths and weaknesses?” is useless is because 99.5% of the time people will LIE and/or give you a pre-baked answer. Zero predictive value. Loss of time for both parties.
I don’t think those questions are disrespectful at all (even when I’ve never had to use them). I think that they are legitimate questions to ask if the person’s work history merit them. In fact, answers can be as simple as “I’ve been looking for a job but couldn’t get any”, “I’ve been focusing on my education” or “I’ve had family issues which prevented me from working”.
Since your comment I asked several managers about what they think and they unanimously told me that it’s a very pertinent question to ask.
Lastly, the turnover rate has nothing to do with the company. I quote: “instead of laying people off has been steadily hiring and this is due to the high turnover rate of the industry”. Industry does not equal company. Moreover, my company has the lowest turnover rate in the field.
Thank you for commenting, though
Interesting post and discussion. I think the questions are compelling. I’ve been involved in many hires and managed to reduce the turnover rate, increase morale, and create a positive therapeutic environment in my department. I think the questions are good ones. I’m not fond of the ‘out of work’ question, however. I am interested in questions that elicit experiential responses. I want to know how people problem solve and relate to others. These are the best predictors of how they will get along, determining if they have the necessary tools to be successful, and what their priorities/values are.
@Ana Maria,
you know what? Due to peer pressure I’m not defending the “out of work question anymore”. So far everyone that has commented on this post has had issues with that one so I’m not gonna row against the current. Majority rules
Besides, yes, it doesn’t have enough predictive value. Maybe getting into that thorny area of a person’s life is not worth it if it can hurt some people’s feelings.
Hi April,
The reason why my company has a high turnover rate is solely related to the population we serve. We provide services to children and adolescents with extremely disruptive behaviors and severe mental pathologies which turn the work environment highly unpredictable (no two days are alike) and very stressful. That´s the reason why that question is made.
The company is financially sound and even when we had to cut costs the service we provide to our clients and the benefits for our employees have not changed. Moreover, it´s the biggest mental health care provider in the USA, which is a very compelling reason to work there during this economical turmoil. Since the crisis started only a dozen people were laid off and there are no plans of further reducing the workforce. Quite the contrary, the company is constantly hiring. My company hires people not only under a contract, but that contract is not limited in any way. No one’s gonna say, “hey! Come on board for an year and we’ll see”. Quite the opposite, we need people to stay and move up. And that’s why also, we want to hire people that are willing to commit (take again into account the stress factor, which we emphasize a million times during each interview).
The reason you want to ask someone why he or she has been inactive for so long doesn’t necessarily imply a “bad answer”, or that we suspect that you are an undercover couch potato. In fact, if you told me that you were laid off and due to the crisis you haven’t been able to find a job even though you’ve been turning every rock… perfect, then it wasn’t your fault and let’s head on to the next question. Even more, the person could have been doing some other interesting stuff during that time and may even surprise you with the answer. I once interviewed a guy who didn’t have an “official” job for an year. He told me that he’d been in Africa teaching kids to learn english. Why didn’t he put it in his resume? Since the conditions there were very precarious and there was no way for a future employer to check the veracity of the information he felt like leaving it out and if the situation arose (as it did) in an interview he would just tell the story. Another one was studying to become a monk in a monastery. That kind of interesting stuff shows up. It is also what people are sometimes afraid to show on job interviews. The things and traits that make each one of us unique. The idea is to create situations where those stories could flourish.
I’m not an evil robot that stares at you and asks “confess why you haven’t worked for 2 years kid!? Don’t tell me that being five years old is your alibi”.
I make those questions in the middle of a conversation about cars, spaceships or global warming. I make every effort to provide a casual environment. I like people feeling comfortable.
What these kind of questions provoke is a genuine and spontaneous reaction. You are caught off guard and there’s where the real you shows up. They’re not meant to disrespect, toy with or trick people, it’s just a way of allowing people who are interviewing for a job to be themselves and for interviewers to see them, and not a character made for the occasion. A job interview is always a stressing situation both for the applicant (who feels he’s been put at a test) and for the interviewer, sometimes because of the pressure from above to fill a sensitive position, because the person you are interviewing is always a potential workmate or because you are putting your self-esteem at stake… finding the wrong person for the position or the wrong position for that person can be felt as a personal failure. The reason why job interviews are not straightforward is for a simple reason. None of us will be 100% frank in a job interview, frank being “I’m completely open to you and without reservations”. You don’t need to lie, you can always give some make up to your life story and most importantly, you are trying to sell yourself. So straightforward answers lead to a dull interview with lots of prefab and rehearsed answers which ends up being a waste of time for both parties. People like spontaneous people. I’m no exception.
Going back to the crisis, so far it’s mostly a local phenomenon. Even though some countries in Europe are feeling it, the rest of the world hasn’t been shaken that much by it. It’s a matter of thinking bigger and realizing that the world does not end in Mexico’s border.
Anyhow, can you elaborate on why you think the questions are disrespectful? I’d very much appreciate feedback on that (seriously).
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Even when we don’t seem to agree I value your constructive criticism. And if it helps me change my point of view, way better.
yours,
Fernando
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