As an employer, how much prep time do you put in before interviewing a candidate? Candidates have thousands of resources available to them through articles, books, coaches and websites (as we have pointed out in numerous posts).
Monster.com offers multiple resources to the job searcher, from industry specific advice for job searches/career pathing to basic tips on resume writing to answer strategies for interview questions . In monster’s Self-Assessment Center they have a Random Interview Question Generator that not only generates questions but provides specific advice on how to respond to the questions. The site also provides advice on how to handle illegal questions like, “Do you have children, and if so, how will you handle daycare?”
Needless to say I was intrigued so I decided to try it. Wow. It is a powerful tool to prep a candidate but it also contained some amusing questions. My favorite one – “Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball?” Now maybe this question is important for someone interviewing with Penn or Prince, but I don’t know why anyone would ask a question like that in a typical interview.
My point is simple – if the candidates are taking the time to thoroughly prepare for an interview, so should you. Think about the key success indicators for the position, why the position exists and then structure the majority of your questions around these areas. Please, please, do not attempt to “wing it” through an interview or you won’t see the real candidate sitting across from you.
And no, I do not know the answer to the fuzz on a tennis ball question.