What interview questions are actually useful?
What interview questions are actually useful?
(OP)
Just a year after the completion of my 2-1/2 year horrendous job search, I find myself in the position of interviewing others for the position I started in. I've never interviewed people before, and although I know what I don't like about interview questions, I'm having a hard time coming up with appropriate questions. My collegues are taking care of the technical/background questions, and I'm to focus more on personality and fit for the company and the job. (And I'm significantly younger than many of the interviewees, to make things more interesting.) Any suggestions?





RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Here are a couple of tips...
1. before the interview, leave random parts on the table where the interviewee will be sitting. See if they play with the random parts... it shows curiosity.
2. Ask questions that show the ability to change gears quickly... ie...
draw 3 cirlce (like a gear train), ask with a drivesource in gear one what will happen to gear 3, then immedately follow up with something like how do you feel about the small group of people that still think the world is flat...
Followed by, what is your favorite show on television... if its drama, they are middle of the road... serious with a hint of personality... if it's a sitcom, well chances are they are bringing it with the personality, but don't have the chops to back it up... if it's a science channel doccumentary, then well, no personality, all skill... If it's a show that you know comes on friday nights only, then safe to say, they have no personality...
but wait... How did you know that show was on Friday night again?
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Good luck
Wes C.
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When they broke open molecules, they found they were only stuffed with atoms. But when they broke open atoms, they found them stuffed with explosions...
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Some questions I use:
1) Tell me about conflicts you've had with coworkers, lab partners, study groups, etc?
2) Pet peeves
3) What are you weaknesses
4) In which classes did you perform the worst? why?
5) What sets you apart from your classmates?
6) What's the decimal equivalent of 7/16?
7) Did you generally study alone or in a group? Why?
8) Tell me about your biggest failure or flop?
9) You ever consider joining the military? Why/not?
10) You play any sports? team or individual? why?
11) Were you a boy scout? How long? How far?
12) Most interesting historical figure? Why?
13) What ticks you off?
14) How do you respond to criticism?
I warn about canned answers vs. candid answers and listen for them. I'm looking for somebody who's genuine, knows what they think, is comfortable expressing themselves, can discuss things besides engineering...
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Bring back the HP-15
www.hp15c.org
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RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
a) Do you require formal attire or casual?
b) Does the company have any social fuctions and am I required to attend?
c) What is the male/female balance?
d) Can I take time off on short notice or do you require advance notice?
e) How does the company handle conflicting project schedules?
f) How does the company handle heavy workload?
g) Will I report to a single manager or will I rotate around the office?
h) Will I receive any mentoring?
i) Can I take a leave of absence if family health issues come up?
j) What type of office layout & furniture do you have? (Nice or shabby?)
k) What kind of computers & software do you have? (Up to date or obsolescent?)
There are probably a whole lot of other things that I as a prosepective employee would try to take into account in order to see if I wanted to work somewhere. I suggest that any interviewer try to take these into account if you intend to encourage someone to come aboard onto your organization.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
David
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
www.muleshoe-eng.com
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
The harder I work, the luckier I seem
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Also, make sure your let the interviewee sell themselves to you, not you spouting off how great a place it is to work. I used to always end up talking more than I should have!
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Make up some hypothetical situations (or base it on some real workplace situations) ask them how they would react in any of the roles or how they would expect some position in the scenario to react.
Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng
Construction Project Management
From conception to completion
www.kitsonengineering.com
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
4) In which classes did you perform the worst? why?
8) Tell me about your biggest failure or flop?
That type of question will/should get a canned response, we've discussed what we thought of those questions in the past (sorry, too lazy to look up the thread). Basically you penalise the honest guy.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
also if the original poster would do us the courtesy of searching this forum, there have been several threads on interviews.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
You wrote you focus on personality and fit for the company/job.
Dumb question: have you defined exactly what personality you are looking for and what makes a person fit for the company and the job?
Once the objectives have been defined, it's easier to come up with questions. Don't use questions from the textbook with precooked Dr Phil-ish character traits related to every possible answer. (Like, "If it's a show that you know comes on friday nights only, then safe to say, they have no personality" - WesC, how's that for jumping to conclusions?). Instead, invent your own questions based on your own sound logic.
Like, if you're looking for somebody who is able to manage himself without support from others, you'd simply ask for a real-life example of such a situation and see if what he comes up with sounds like some made up thing or just one good example of many in a row.
Even though it can be a lot of fun to destabilise somebody by not offering him a chair, it allows you only to draw some conclusions about assertiveness, but there's a major risk of starting off on the wrong foot if you'd become the person's boss.
If still in doubt, you may want to look for an interviewing training (for interviewers of course).
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Personally, I'd just have a general chat and try to avoid cliched and hypothetical questions. As suggested above, probing their actual experience is far more insightful than asking a hypothetical question. It might be a bit about selling the job to them as well. I've had enough job interviews where the interviewer has been so hostile that I wouldn't want the job if offered it, as I wouldn't want to work in an environment that tolerated such a *@&$ !
As for fit, as suggested above, you need to know what the requirements are beforehand. Then you can decide if they will fit or not. This can be quite simple. For example, if required to work on the shop floor, they will need to be able to relate and work well with people on the shop floor. If they are working in a research environment, then interpersonal skills may be less important, but the ability to communicate complex ideas may be key.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
I have asked those questions and received what seem to be honest replies (based on the squirming and hedging that preceded the answer).
Even the pre-crafted answer can be revealing. So, too, can be the smart-a** reply. Personally, I do not penalize the honest. Honesty is precisely what I'm looking for in their answer.
I suppose that's the reason we interview with several people -- you ask your questions and form your impressions. The rest of us do the same. Hopefully, when we're making a joint decision, our collective wisdom will be more sound than any one individual's.
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Bring back the HP-15
www.hp15c.org
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RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
A friend of mine who works in recruitment says that the standard 'Tell me your strengths/weaknesses etc' is all part of the game and they are more looking at how you handle it than than the actual answer. Wether your body language says 'I think this is a dumb question' while you give a prepared answer, or if you genuinely search for an uncomfortable but truthful answer, each attests to your personality type and you are judged accordingly.
For the record, my reaction is closer to the 'I think this is a dumb question' side of things, and I would never use it.
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
get them to relax, in a formal interview setting you'll get the "perfect personality"
You'll still get the on show aspect if you go for coffee but they'll be a bit less on edge.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
HI.
I am (Insert name.) Welcome to XYZ company.
(Insert formalities here)
Would you care for anything to drink? ie: coffee, water, juice
Could you tell me a little about yourself?
Follow up with additional questions that result from the information gathered off this question and continue with any formal questions that are required to be asked.
Most people will give you all the information you need if you just let them talk.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
You indicate that the position that you have been interviewing candidates for is one that you had formerly held. That being the case, you should be familiar with the types of personal interactions that the job entails and the type of personality that can be successful doing the job (you apparently were). While you are not looking for a identical personality to your own, you want to find someone who can work with and gain the respect of the people that they will have to continually interact with. This can help form the basis for how you "socially" interview the candidate.
Regards,
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
There are a lot of answers, and methods, and preferences, and results and such. I am sure that the methods and preferencdes and even questions that each respondent has suggested above have and does work for each of them.
The question is, will it work for you?
If you are trying to find someone who will "fit in" with your company, isn't it sort of like trying to decide if someone will fit in with your existing group of friend/company? If you think the analogy is true, then treat the interviewee as a potential friend, and do the things you normally do to determine if you want to be their friend.
There are no sure fire, 100% correct, do this and you will hire the perfect candidate solution - if there was, then everyone would be doing the same thing, and every company will hire exactly the right person, and we would be learning this from a text book.
Good luck.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
I can tell you I've been to some interviews that were a waste of my time because it was so obvious they were not prepared....I think off-the-cuff interviewers do the process an injustice because it gathers no real objective data for the hiring process...garbage in - garbage out.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
I’ve tried to sit down and come up with general guidelines for what I’m looking for (thanks epoisses!). Basically, we need someone who is very detail-oriented (the job involves a lot of documentation), and who can follow the systems we have in place, as well as create new ones where needed. On the other hand, the candidate also needs to be comfortable in our uber-casual environment, and to know when to let go of the details and just get the job done. This all seems pretty contradictory to me, but when I look around at my coworkers, that’s exactly what I see. How do I feel this out in a candidate?
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
There are people in this world who have spent years studying psychology and human behavior, more years developing and refining personality tests, and many more years figuring out how to interpret and apply those tests, all to determine exactly what you are trying to find out in a short interview.
I think about all you can do is to get them to talk about themselves and their previous experiences and listen for clues that might indicate the traits you are looking for. I would probably start out with "Tell me about your previous jobs." As they talked about different areas, ask more specific questions to get more detail.
If you are interested in how they follow or create systems, ask something like "How did your previous companies do ______?" The amount of detail they go into will give you some good clues. If you want to know if they can let go of details when necessary, ask something like "If you had to complete a project in half the normal time, what corners would you feel comfortable cutting?" If they are strictly by-the-book, it will probably be obvious.
Good Luck!
Phil
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
One of the things almost every interviewing company asks for is a list of references.
One of the best gauges of someone's personality is the opion of someone who knows the interviewee (the reference), and is also someone who's judgement/opinion you trust (this is the tricky part).
In my particular geographical area, the market is fairly fluid and actually very contained. It is easy to find someone who knows either the candidate, or someone who knows the candidate. In my case, getting information on someone's personality is easier than in most other places.
But, you never know. If you dig into the reference list, you may be able to find someone who you know, and knows the interviewee.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Coka
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
My favorite question is: "Do you want to be an engineer?"
Simple question but you would not believe how people stutter and stammer over this one. I firmly believe if you really do not want to be an engineer (deep in your heart)
and you are only doing this for perceived money or because your parents wanted you to then you will never be very good at it.
You can tell an immense amount from their answer.
Randy
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Q: Do you want to be an engineer?
A: I am an engineer.
LewTam Inc.
Petrophysicist, Leading Hand, Natural Horseman, Prickle Farmer, Crack Shot, Venerable Yogi.
RE: What interview questions are actually useful?
Just to further play the devil's advocate.
Do you want someone who wants to be an engineer? Or, someone who is a good engineer?
I work with many excellent engineer, who for one reason or another, have a passion that is elsewhere. They are excellent engineers, do great work, but love something else (among other things - arborist, furniture maker, and chocolatier).
There may be a difference between what someone is good at, and what someone's passion is.