The one most impressive job interview question

[y4m]

Can't get it to cut and paste cleanly, but article is from LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/1-most-impressive-job-interview-question-ask-dave-kerpen?trk=hp-feed-article-title

As a hiring manager, I like "What new skills can I hope to learn here?" and "Who is your ideal candidate and how can I make myself more like him/her?"  And of course there are two good ways to phrase the "what concerns do you have about me as a candidate?" question that you all know I love.

[LoveTrains]

Some of these are great. I like the phrasing on the concerns about me as a candidate, which I might have to use in my next interview.

Although I think I might get laughed out of a room if I ask the question "How will the work I’ll be doing contribute to the organization’s mission?" That one is pretty obvious as a nonprofit fundraiser.

[tacosforlife]

Just sent this to H! He has multiple interviews coming up!

[underwaterrhymes]

The two questions I have gotten the most compliments on are:

"If I were to be offered this position and to accept it, what would be your best advice in order to be successful?"

and

"Do you have any questions regarding the skills necessary for this job that I can elaborate on?" (Although, I like the way the one guy worded this better: "What can I help to clarify that makes hiring me an easy decision?")

[underwaterrhymes]

Mar 10, 2015 13:34:15 GMT -5 @beachbella said:

I HATE the "what concerns do you have about me as a candidate?" HATE.

Because, obviously, I can't give bad candidate the laundry list of issues. This somehow makes bad candidates feel a level of expectation that they can tell me why these aren't really concerns and that I will give them the job. This is the feedback HR has given me when telling these people they aren't being selected.

Well, presumably you aren't interviewing bad candidates, right?

You're looking for the BEST candidate, but by the time it gets around to the interview, it should mostly be people who would be a decent fit, at least on paper.

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2015 14:06:11 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Mar 10, 2015 13:34:15 GMT -5 @beachbella said:

I HATE the "what concerns do you have about me as a candidate?" HATE.

Because, obviously, I can't give bad candidate the laundry list of issues. This somehow makes bad candidates feel a level of expectation that they can tell me why these aren't really concerns and that I will give them the job. This is the feedback HR has given me when telling these people they aren't being selected.

Well, presumably you aren't interviewing bad candidates, right?

You're looking for the BEST candidate, but by the time it gets around to the interview, it should mostly be people who would be a decent fit, at least on paper.

Some people look amazing on paper and turn out to be horrible candidates in person! Years of experience and PhDs don't always translate into great employees (though I wish it did!!!) :-)

[5kcandlesinthewind]

Mar 10, 2015 13:34:15 GMT -5 @beachbella said:

I HATE the "what concerns do you have about me as a candidate?" HATE.

Because, obviously, I can't give bad candidate the laundry list of issues. This somehow makes bad candidates feel a level of expectation that they can tell me why these aren't really concerns and that I will give them the job. This is the feedback HR has given me when telling these people they aren't being selected.

I totally agree. I internally roll my eyes when someone asks this during an interview.  If I have questions/concerns about you, I'm going to ask you right up front, no need to beg me. And any lingering questions or concerns I may still have at the end of the interview are probably around how you looked good on paper, but are not a fit at all, either skill-wise or personality-wise and I've probably already written you off.  One candidate asked my coworker at the end of the interview, "do I have your 100% endorsement for this position?" She was totally floored, because it seemed like such a weird thing to ask.  He was on the bubble, but that pushed him right over into the "no" camp.

Also, Dave Kerpen was on Temptation Island. There's no way I can take that guy seriously, heh.


Also-also, your first question to me in a first-round interview should not be around how much time-off you get, do people take all their time off, do we offer flex work schedules? On the one hand, I appreciate that you're being up front about your concerns, but those things come with time, so you're going to need to prove that you have a basic understanding of the job for us to move you forward in the process.  focus on questions around that, not perks.

[monsterz]

Very timely for my upcoming interviews