Interviewing on Purpose - Great Hires Through Better Questions

Editor’s Note: This article is part 1 of a 2-part series on better hiring. View all of the articles in this series here: Better Hires

Let's be honest, interviews can feel like a gamble. Hiring managers say that interviews are as effective as throwing darts against the wall to choose their next employee. That's understandable considering multiple sources estimate the cost of a mis-hire to be 30% or more of an employee's base salary.

Worse, it can disrupt operations, diminish morale, and strain client relationships. Traditional interviews are often subjective and no longer serve the needs of a growing, client-focused practice. Unconscious bias, external stress factors, lack of a repeatable process, and inconsistent evaluation are common enemies to a successful interview. We need to reframe interviews as intentional conversations that evaluate not only technical skills but also alignment with the firm's culture, values, communication style, and work ethic.  

As an interviewer, you want to ask open-ended questions that lead to productive dialogue. It's a fact, the more you let people talk, the more they will tell you.   

Quick tips for interviewing

It's also a fact that you need to know what you're looking for before you start interviewing. Some quick tips:  

• Beyond a job description, use a scorecard or another objective way to measure success. Then ask interview questions based on the desired outcomes. Scorecards also help when it comes time for performance management. 

• Think carefully about which attributes are "must-have" vs. "nice-to-have." Is that MBA really necessary? Skills-based hiring is the current trend, and employers are prioritizing aptitude and experience over degrees. 

• Don't rush the process. Sometimes it can feel like you have to hire someone out of desperation. Resist the temptation. The cost of a bad hire can be crippling.  

Let’s dive in.  

Behavior and competency-based questions  

Behavioral questions explore how a candidate handled specific situations in the past, while competency-based questions focus on examples that demonstrate key skills or attitudes. Both are grounded in real experience, and both help you evaluate how someone thinks, communicates, and solves problems. (Tip: asking what was learned from the situation will take your interview to the next level.)

Here are a few examples of these questions geared toward professional services firms.   

Adaptability  

• Which job change have you found the most difficult to make? What steps did you take to become effective in that role?  

• Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you had never done before. How did you react? What did you learn from that experience? 

• What kinds of organizational changes have you found the most difficult to accept? Can you give me a specific example? How did you handle the potential conflict? What might you do differently now if that scenario were to pop up?  

Capacity to learn  

• Describe a complex situation in which you had to learn a lot, quickly. How did you go about learning, and how successful were the outcomes? 

• Describe a past mistake. What did you learn from the experience, and how have you applied what you have learned?  

• Tell me about a time when your manager was unavailable when a problem arose. How did you handle the situation? With whom did you consult?  

Analysis skills  

• Do people generally regard you as one who diligently pursues every detail, or do you tend to be more general? Why? Can you give me an example?  

• Describe a situation in which you chose to dig more deeply for facts than what was asked of you. What prompted you to do so? What was the outcome? 

• Describe an instance where you had to make a decision without all the necessary information. What was the outcome?   

Collaboration   

• Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How did you handle interactions with that person? How did that work out? 

• If a coworker consistently did something that hindered your quality of work, how would you resolve it? 

• Describe a situation where you were able to influence others on an important issue. What approaches or strategies did you use?   

Prioritization  

• Tell me about a time when you had to juggle several projects simultaneously. How did you organize your time? What was the result? 

• Are you better at juggling a number of priorities or projects at once, or attacking a few projects, one at a time? Please elaborate.  

• Everyone procrastinates sometimes. On what type of work do you tend to procrastinate?

 Integrity  

• When have you confronted unethical behavior, or chosen not to say anything, in order not to cause trouble? 
• Tell me about a time when you couldn't meet a commitment to a client or coworker. How did you handle the situation? What was the outcome? What might you have done differently? 

• Describe a situation when it was difficult for you to take responsibility for a decision or an action. How did you handle it?   

Self-awareness   

• If I were to ask someone who doesn't like you why they don't like you, what would they say? Why?  

• What kind of behavior annoys you? What are some strategies you have developed to mitigate conflict? 

• Have you ever had a job where you felt untrusted? How did this affect your work?   

Experience-based questions  

Sometimes called situational questions, these provide insight into how your interviewee perceives their past work experience. Start with general work history and move into questions specifically related to your identified success factors.  

• (Review work history on resume and ask the following for each relevant role.) What were some of your big wins or successes in this role? What mistakes or failures did you experience? What did you do to rectify them? What would your supervisor say about you? Why did you leave? (Or, why are you leaving?)  

• On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, how would you rate your {insert skill here} skills? Why did you choose that number, and not one below? (strengths) Why did you not choose the one above? (weaknesses)   

Ex. Organizational skills: "I choose an 8. I am not a 7 because I usually know where everything is, I have a solid filing system, and I meet my deadlines. I am not a 9 or 10 because my desk often looks like a hurricane blew through, and I constantly change my mind about the type of day planner or notebook to use."   

You can use this question for any skill that is important to the role, including QuickBooks, Excel, Account Management, Payroll, etc.  

• What specific skills did you gain from your last job? Describe an important project you worked on using those skills. 

• What sort of obstacles have you faced in your present/most recent job, and how did you handle them? 

• What steps do you take to ensure accuracy in your work?  

• What role do you play in meetings? Are you more likely to speak more, less, or the same as others? 

• Looking back through your career, what are some common themes? What are you known for?  

• What are your favorite productivity tools, and how do you use them? (This question provides a view into a candidate's efficiency, as well as how tech-savvy they may be.) 

• What actions would you take in the first few weeks should you join our company? 

• Why should I hire you?     

Bonus questions

Bonus: Also, ask the candidate what questions they have for you. This will allow you to see what's on their mind and how well they prepared for the interview.

Looking ahead

The right questions are only one part of a strong interview strategy. In our final article of this series, we’ll show how to assess culture and values alignment, and critical thinking and decision-making with case questions.