The Silver Bullet

Monday, August 28th, 2006 10:37am

No, not Coors. I’m talking about interview questions. More specifically, is there any catch-all interview question that will reveal the essence of the candidate.

No.

I read many articles that discuss interview strategies and most of them are exercises in theory. Maybe my sales background taints my perspective, but interviews are qualifying events for both the candidate and interviewer.

What I mean is that template questions tend to generate template answers. For example:

Q – “Where do you want to be in 5 years?”

A – “I hope to use my leadership skills to expand my responsibilities within the company and move into a leadership position.”

That exchange was worthless thanks to a standard question that elicited a well-rehearsed standard answer. I would rather ask a question and gently interrupt the candidate during their response. I will learn how well they handle an interruption, can they keep their train of thought, can they work back to the topic, etc.

An even more effective approach is to ask a purposely vague question and see if the candidate gracefully reverses the question back to me for further clarification. This qualifying skill is effective in all sales positions and should be valued greatly by all interviewers.

Our process focuses on gathering information about each candidate and then using it to delve deeper into their overall sales approach. Interviewers must be able to move with the discussion, integrate subtle prospect behaviors and observe the candidate with a detached objectivity.

I still recommend preparing some candidate-specific questions before the interview, but don’t get cute. Focus on their abilities, experience and sales approach and be prepared to drill down on their responses. Simultaneously, launch some opaque responses and see if the candidate drills down on your words.

If the candidate starts answering what they think you said, you will have learned more than any silver bullet question could have provided.