Monster.com continues their interview prep series with Interview Questions, Part 4 (I wonder when it will end?). I think most people who hire have an affinity for interview questions. There is one question that we use extensively:
What is your management style?
Intent: This is a classic question for management-level candidates. The interviewer’s intent here is threefold: to find out if your management style fits, to determine if you have management ability and to probe how much you understand your own work style.
The author is insightful here. We use this question in a different manner in that we have already assessed the management candidate using our online tools. We ask this question to see how well they know their own style and we cross reference their answer to the assessment results. The candidate knows we have assessed their style and this question almost forces a brutally honest answer. Normally, that answer leads us to many other questions pertaining to specific examples/experiences that back up their claims.
Another question:
Give me proof of your technical competence.
If I were to ask that purposely vague question to a sales candidate, I would expect them to reverse on me with a clarifying question. The author suggests answering strongly without qualifying the question. Mistake. Better for a sales candidate to ask for a question like, “I have a fairly broad technical background. What specific technical area should I address to best answer your question?”
I would give high marks for a response in that realm. As a reminder, observe how well prepared a candidate can be for an interview by just spending an hour or two on the web. We can’t stress it enough – you, as the interviewer, must thoroughly prepare for the modern-day interview to match the level of the candidate’s preparation.