My alter ego, the Question Doctor, regularly suggests ways to improve common interview questions. His is good advice, but his cures take time to implement, and time may not always be available. This article offers two simple questions that can serve as quick fixes to rescue interviews from the trap of the common interview question.

Opinion-type questions remain the most popular genre of questions asked during interviews, despite at least three decades of managers being told that behaviour description interviewing questions will yield better information on which to base hiring decisions

Opinion questions ask candidates to list their strengths or weaknesses, to define “teamwork,” or “customer service,” or to describe how they would handle possible on-the-job scenarios.

When job-seekers attend courses or read books to prepare to be interviewed, they receive advice on how to answer these sorts of questions. The results are scripted, impressive-sounding answers that will provide little information that will be useful for the interviewer who is deciding which candidate to hire.

When answering “what-would-you-do-if” questions, candidates can describe what they think they would do, what the textbooks and professors said they should do, or what they think you would want them to do. What will be missing from these responses is evidence that they have faced situations similar to what they might encounter if they are hired, and how they responded. Did their actions match what they say they would do?

This information is important because we all tend to respond to situations and circumstances in the same as we have responded previously. Past performance is the best predictor of future performance.

The best way to prepare to gather information during interviews is to write BDI inquiries. These ask the candidates to describe a time when they were in a situation similar to what they may face in your workplace such as, “Tell us about a time when you were responsible for ensuring that the work team had all supplies it required to complete a task it was assigned.”

Unfortunately, this may not always happen. When time is short, you often revert to the questions you have asked before (your past behaviour), or those you recall being asked when you were interviewed. You may even be told to use the collection of questions that “everyone in the company uses.”

Faced with these any of these circumstances, there are two questions that you can add to probe for evidence of past behaviour. After the candidate has responded to an opinion question with a well-rehearsed answer describing what he/she would do, follow up with one of these supplementary questions:

“Tell us more.”

“Give us an example of a time when you did this.”

Both probes are meant to encourage candidates to keep talking about the scenario they have just discussed, which may provide you with evidence of past behaviour that will be valuable when it’s time to decide whom to hire.

Writing questions that will yield high-quality information on which to base hiring decisions is a major focus of the Interview Right to Hire Right workshops that Nelson Scott presents.

Contact Nelson via email (nmscott@telus.net) or telephone (780-433-1443) to learn more, or to schedule an Interview Right to Hire Right workshop for anyone in your organization who conducts interviews or makes hiring decisions.