Candidates comes to interviews having premeditated goals and a set idea for how they should act. Shake them up a little bit! By asking unique, original, and sometimes strange questions, you give them the opportunity to show a little bit more of their personality and exhibit some of their key competencies at the same time.
1.) “What goals, including career goals, have you set for your life?”
Asking this allows you to see what are motivators both in the office and outside of it as well as what is important to the candidate in their personal life.
2.) “Tell me about a time when you disagreed with the actions or decisions of your manager or supervisor? How did you approach the situation, and was it resolved to your satisfaction?”
Not only will this tell you about the candidate’s sense of interpersonal savvy, but also about how they gauge role importance and professional business practice within the work place.
3.) “Is your college GPA reflective of your potential? Would your current and past supervisors agree? Why or why not?”
Unusual questions like this give the candidate the opportunity to be candid about personal short comings and opportunities--it will be easy to tell if they are being honest or producing a canned, premeditated response.
4.) “Describe a time when you felt that you had to win someone over to your way of thinking. How did you accomplish this, and what was the outcome?”
Candidates will breath easily at this question about personal accomplishment and the opportunity to brag, but pay attention to the goal they were trying to achieve. The goals and issues that they find important can tell you a great deal about their personality and may help you determine whether they will be a fit within your company.
5.) “Describe your favorite television show or book.”
Not only is this a good illustrator for individual passions and personalities, but it will also help you to gauge the individual’s energy level and passion. If they can’t speak highly and passionately about something they enjoy in their personal life, it is unlikely that they will be able to speak highly or passionately about your brand.
6.) “What is an opportunity that we are missing with our business, and how would you change it?”
Some candidates will, undoubtedly, come to your interview viewing it as just that: an interview. If they have not researched your business it will be obvious through generic responses. If they have, however, this is an opportunity to see how their mind works on the fly as well as any unique abilities or thought-processes they will bring to the company if hired.
7.) “Is there anything you would like to ask me?”
Whether asked at the beginning or end of an interview, this question is sure to help shed some light on an individual’s priorities. If they ask about when employees receive their first raise, they may not be passionate or committed to your individual company. If they ask something like why you made a specific design choice on your company’s website, you’ll know they have their priorities set higher.