Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

One of the unfortunate side effects of the information age is that you can find out about anything and it can be accessed somewhere at anytime. This is especially true of the interviewing process. People will search out how the majority of businesses will interview and prepare for the interview like they would a school test. The problem for the business is that they never get the answers they really need to qualify the candidate.

There are two things you can do during an interview to make it more customized so that there can be no pat answers offered by the person being interviewed.

1. Avoid questions that can be answered yes or no.

When you ask questions the whole purpose of them is to get the candidate to talk about themselves so you can find out who they are to the best of your ability. To do that you must ask open-ended questions rather than one that can be answered by a yes or no.

If someone tends to offer short answers, press them with questions that make them elaborate on their responses. Questions like "What did you do next?" or "Why didn't it work out?" If you're not getting the answers you need, simply ask the person for more information. Take time to get what you need.

2. Don't describe the job before your questions.

One thing that potential hires do is to attempt to get a complete job description at the start of the interview process. Make sure you don't offer it in response to them or as part of your own way of doing things. What people do is listen carefully to the detailed description you offer and spontaneously begin answering questions based upon what they pretty much figure you want to hear.

By asking questions before a job description, you get answers that are much more real and honest than if you give away the desired responses beforehand.

Do these two things and you can eliminate a lot of the prepping done by people that will offer no insight into whether the candidate will work great for the company or not.