Finding the right recruit is hard. With a skills gap growing in the UK there’s a limited talent pool to choose from, and actually finding one that is not only the right fit for the role, but actually wants to work for you can be tricky. Plus some candidates might appear good on paper, even good at interview, only to turn out to be a bad employee…
So what can you do? Well, you can weed out some of the worst candidates by their CV of course, and use recruitment consultants to do some of the heavy lifting. But when it comes to the interview process it’s all on you.
Thankfully you’re not alone anymore… CEO of Koru, Kristen Hamilton has found the 7 perfect interview questions to find the best candidate. These are based on ‘the 7 traits of the perfect jobseeker’; someone who has a natural inclination to excel at their job. So without any further ado, here they are:
Grit
In the tumultuous tides of modern business, you need someone that demonstrates tenacity and resilience. Someone who won’t get pulled under the waves, and will instead thrive in a demanding environment. You could ask them:
“Tell us about a time in your career that you wanted something so badly you were unstoppable in pursuing it. What did you have to overcome to get it?”
Rigour
Data, as they say, is the new oil. It’s bigger bucks than practically anything else on the planet, and there’s more of it than atoms in the universe, it’s the backbone of modern businesses and your recruit is going to have to know how to handle it.
Ask the candidate to tell you about a time they used data to make a decision. Explore the complexities of their explanation and their thought processes behind their actions.
Impact
You don’t want someone who’s going to come in a just fill a hole. You want someone who is going to spread themselves wide and take on the broader reigns of the business. You want someone who has leadership and a deep understanding, someone who is going to make an impact not only to your sales, but the people around them.
Ask them to explain a time when they have made a quantitative impact on their previous organisations. How they generated a certain amount of revenue – how they increased brand awareness.
Teamwork
This is an obvious one. You want someone who is going to work well with their colleagues. Of course you do. But how do you ascertain whether a candidate will?
Be straightforward and to the point. Ask:
- When working on a team, what’s hardest for you?
- What about a time you worked on a difficult team?
- What was your role and experience?
- What makes you happiest and most effective when working with others?
Try asking what a candidate’s friends of family would say if asked about their strengths and weaknesses, putting a lens of truth on their answers.
Ownership
Organisations change all the time. Perhaps it’s new legislation, or maybe someone quits unexpectedly. Here you’re looking for someone that can take the initiative to climb their obstacles or find solutions to their problems, someone who doesn’t waste time on blame or fault.
To test for this trait, Kristen Hamilton says you need to tempt a candidate into feeling sorry for themselves. “You want to ask about a time they experienced an injustice, and then empathize with the unfairness. You say, ‘Are you kidding? That’s crazy. What a jerk.’ Owners will immediately respond with something like, ‘Yeah, but I recognized it wasn’t worth my time to complain about it.’ They won’t buy in and double down on venting or complaining.”
Curiosity
You want to find someone that’s not only curious about business, but about culture, about people, about the world around them. Someone who carries this trait tends to also demonstrate empathy, creativity, innovation and a desire to learn.
Ask your candidate to describe something that they’re really into. Something that they geek out about. And always remember to ask them if they have any questions for you at the end – if they don’t, they better have asked you a heap during the interview.
Polish
You need someone who is poised and professional. Someone who knows when to speak, and how to say what they need to with efficiency and determination. We’re not looking for a robot here, but someone who understands the impact of courtesy and the words that they use.
You need to ask yourself, how do they conduct themselves when they interject? Do they send a thoughtful thank-you note following your conversation? Do they communicate gracefully and efficiently?
Now, of course, not every position at every company will require this level of refinement. But spotting these traits in a recruit are certainly indicators of a model employee. Likewise for candidates, demonstrating these traits can make the real difference between a hire and an unfortunate email.
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