employee interview questions

[huggytree]

I will be doing my 1st job interviews with (2) potential employees this next weekend

0 experience with giving interviews


the job is just a basic laborer type job, so the only qualifications are

honesty
show up on time
work fast
learn quickly

what questions should I ask?

[Wozcreative]

I did a quick google and found a list of some good common questions:

Top 20 Interview Questions

What were your responsibilities?
What did you like or dislike about your previous job?
What were your starting and final levels of compensation?
What major challenges and problems did you face? How did you handle them?
What is your greatest strength?
What is your greatest weakness?
How do you handle stress and pressure?
Describe a difficult work situation / project and how you overcame it.
What was the biggest accomplishment / failure in this position?
How do you evaluate success? - Best Answers
Why are you leaving or have left your job?
Why do you want this job?
Why should we hire you?
What are your goals for the future?
What are your salary requirements?
Tell me about yourself.
Who was your best boss and who was the worst?
What are you passionate about?
Questions about your supervisors and co-workers.
Questions about your career goals.


Likewise, they will also turn the tables and interview you. These are some good questions you may be asked or some questions to speak to when talking about your company and values.

How would you describe the responsibilities of the position?
How would you describe a typical week/day in this position?
Is this a new position? If not, what did the previous employee go on to do?
What is the company's management style?
Who does this position report to? If I am offered the position, can I meet him/her?
How many people work in this office/department?
How much travel is expected?
Is relocation a possibility?
What is the typical work week? Is overtime expected?
What are the prospects for growth and advancement?
How does one advance in the company?
Are there any examples?
What do you like about working here?
What don't you like about working here and what would you change?
Would you like a list of references?
If I am extended a job offer, how soon would you like me to start?
What can I tell you about my qualifications?
When can I expect to hear from you?
Are there any other questions I can answer for you?

Reference sites:
Interview Questions to Ask the Employer (http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewquestionsanswers/a/interviewquest2.htm)
Top 20 Job Interview Questions and Answers (http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewquestionsanswers/a/top-20-interview-questions.htm)

[Freelancier]

A lot of the "standard" questions aren't going to work in this situation, because the job is mostly a low-level slave type of job.

I've done a whole lot of interviews, mostly technical, so the specific questions I ask aren't useful to you. But the process I came up with may be.

First step was always the phone screen. No reason for me to meet with someone if I couldn't establish some level of rapport with them over the phone. I usually spent about 20 minutes with them, just asking them basic questions, listening carefully to the answers to see if they were hesitating on certain key questions, seeing what questions they wanted to ask me and often THOSE questions are most important to evaluating a candidate. For the call, I'd usually just walk them through their resume, asking about their job, their bosses, their co-workers, getting some insight into why they took each job, what they did, why they left.

If they passed the phone screen and I wanted to meet with them in person, we met at a Starbucks and spent 45-60 minutes talking more about the job, the expectations, what their expectations were, and then I'd give them a scenario-based technical test to see how they thought through a problem. For your situation, you might want to give them a time management and/or an honesty problem to see how they think about certain things.

Example: Think about a situation where you had trouble with too many tasks and not enough time. Example: Think about a situation where the client or your boss asked you to do something that you thought was wrong. Describe the situation and how did you handle that? How do you think you could have handled it better? What would you have preferred your boss to do?

[Twhansbury]

Freelancier great points. At the end of the interview its important that you feel comfortable and so does the potential employee with working together. You want someone who will be helpful and not a burden. Asking if there is anything they would like to know about you the company or position is a great way to get insight of what they are thinking and also see more about who they are.

Best of Luck

[Jeremiah]

Great selection WozCreative yes those are all great suggestions. May I also include body language. Is the candidate engaged in the conversation? is the candidate making eye contact? response time with answering and other tips you can google about. but those are a some key factors if they have been through many interviews with no success or if they are even interested in the position.

[Steve B]

On a job like this - there won't be any magic questions. Just take the guy/gal out for breakfast and get to know them and ask about their work history in a fair amount of detail. What did you like about this job and what did you not like etc. Checking the references is going to be really important for this type of situation.

[Fulcrum]

I would also suggest a criminal background check. If you are going into customers homes, this can also help keep your liability at a minimum.

[tallen]

phone + in-person, going out to breakfast, or starbucks, seems pretty extravagant for a part-time menial labor position... On the other hand, huggy, you'll be working with this person one-on-one, day-in and day-out, so it is important that you and they are both comfortable with each other.

Maybe you could set up some job-site situations to see how they actually perform?

[rob0225]

On a job like this - there won't be any magic questions. Just take the guy/gal out for breakfast and get to know them and ask about their work history in a fair amount of detail. What did you like about this job and what did you not like etc. Checking the references is going to be really important for this type of situation.

This.

Standard questions will only get you answers they think you want to hear.

[Steve B]

Also, I always take the person out on a job or two (at least 4 hours) with me BEFORE they are employed. I want to spend a lot of time with them so they are bound to come off script at some point. It also helps them to get a clear picture of the job. I'm really clear that they are not being hired and it gives both parties a chance to back out. I usually buy them a nice lunch to make up for their time.

[Qmind]

One thing I have learned over the years is to try and make them as comfortable a possible. I try to get them talking about something they are passionate about even if it does not relate to the job they are applying for. The reason for this is so they feel comfortable and hopefully let their guard down. I want to see how they are when they are not worried about impressing me.

One of my favorite questions to ask is "Tell me about something you are an expert on?", it could be anything, the idea behind this is I want to see if they have taken the time to become knowledgeable on something. If they have taken the time to become an expert on something then it is possible to apply that dedication to the job they are applying for.

I've always challenged my staff to be an expert at what they do. From burger flipping to internal audits, be confident that you are the best of the best.

Good luck with your interviews! I promise they get easier once you get a few under your belt.

[Freelancier]

One thing I have learned over the years is to try and make them as comfortable a possible.

As part of the hiring process for one of the companies I was managing, I had our HR person just sit and chat with the person being interviewed. No specific questions, no resume, just a "get acquainted" chat. She was very personable and had one of those personalities you just wanted to open up to. Guys flirted with her, women just wanted to be her best friend.

And she was able to catch something one candidate didn't reveal in the other five interviews she had that day: the candidate was suing her previous company for discrimination and was quite demanding about her relationships.

Sometimes you just never know what you'll find out about a candidate until they are comfortable enough with you.

[Reece]

Truth always lies in the answers they give unless you check it out. For the last 12 years, if I am looking at hiring someone I always check their answers against a background check. May seem harsh but their credibility and my desire to protecting my brand or niche is very important. The last thing I need is an untrustworthy employee dealing with my clients or messing with the hard work I put into my business. You can't hide from your background and your background speaks loudly to who you are as a person. If considering a BG check, gear your questions towards their history of integrity and maturity. And Good Luck!

[Harold Mansfield]

One of the reasons I work for myself is....well I want to work for myself...but I also hate looking for jobs. The interview is always the most rediculous part of the whole ordeal. And the bigger the company, the more rediculous the questions.

I say keep to things that are important do understanding if they can do the job, show up on time ( if they have transportation issues), and be honest with them about what they can expect. You also want to observe their mannerisms and intellect. This person will likely interact with your customers, so you want someone who will represent you professionally and keep a cool head in tough situations where people are difficult. And also try and get a feel of their maturity and integrity as Reece mentioned.

All of those questions like "Name me a time where you've overcome adversity" , are fillers just to keep people talking. My adversity is that I'm unemployed and I'm overcoming that by sitting here applying for a job. I've interviewed a ton of people over the years and questions like that have never made any difference to whether or not I ever hired anyone.

When the questions start straying into obscurity like you are applying for a job as a server at a TGI Fridays....people start making stuff up and telling you what they think you want to hear.

I'm just saying keep the hoop jumping to a minimum and let the person tell you how great they'll be as an asset to your company and how good they are at what they do.

Of course you want to check references and do a background check as well.

[gregcooper420]

Try to find a situation that happened at your business that was stressful and a challenging and relates to the position. Ask the prospective employee, what they will do in that situation. Even a laborer will need to make challenging decisions that are important to the company when all added up.

[ryantc]

Here are a couple of unusual interview questions you might want to consider adding to your current list.
* If you were hired, what would you accomplish in the first hour you were on the job? Translation - How do you prioritize?
* List as many novel ways to use a paperclip as you can. Translation - How creative are you?

[Dan Furman]

Ok, it's the zombie apocalypse. I run the walled up town you are standing outside of. Why should I let you in?

[VUUmarketing]

Don't be scared.

Even if it's your first interview, he's the one being interviewed. He doesn't know it's your first - all he knows is that he has to PROVE TO YOU that he's up to your standards, not the other way around.

I say you have light conversation for the first 15 minutes or so. Build rapport and chit chat about your interests and hobbies.

Then direct the conversation into an interview.

*After you both chuckle at something funny* "So... why did apply for this job?"

More than likely, you'll get an honest response and go from there.