Just because some questions are frequently asked during interviews doesn’t mean that they should be asked. There are questions that will yield little information that will be useful when it’s time to make your hiring decision.

Among the questions that should not be asked are those inquiries that require the

Pretty young woman making a decision with arrows and question mark above her head

candidate to list strengths and weaknesses, to explain “why I should hire you,” or to describe career goals.

I’ve reviewed many books that were written to prepare job seekers to impress interviewers and found that most advise readers to anticipate these questions and then suggest how to respond. As a result, candidates who prepared for the interview will be ready with well-rehearsed responses to these inquiries.

What you hear will tell you less about the candidate than about the author whose book he or she read. Asking these questions is generally a waste of the limited time scheduled for the interview.

This doesn’t mean that all these questions are bad questions—although most are—when asked under the right circumstances.

One such questions is, “What are your career goals?” or some variation thereof, such as, “What do you see yourself doing five years from now?” While this is not a useful inquiry during interviews, it is a question that should be asked of new hires.

Knowing where a new employee hopes his or her working life will evolve provides you with information that can be considered when developing your staff-recognition and retention strategies. It is, in fact, information you should have about all employees.

• When a staff member does a good job, an Appropriate way to recognize her is with an opportunity to learn a new skill that will help her realize her career goal. This type of recognition could take several forms:
• Opportunities to attend in-house training
• Participation in a mentoring program
• Tuition reimbursement
• Online courses
• Attendance at an industry conference or public seminar
• Membership in a professional association
• Opportunity to visit other departments to learn how they contribute to the organization’s overall success
• Subscription to a professional publication
• A book, the topic of which relates to the staff member’s career goals

Linking recognition to staff members’ career goals is a win/win situation for both the employee and employer. The employee is closer to his/her desired future and the employer has a more skilled staff member who can make a greater contribution.

Some may reject this notion of providing training that will help employees develop skills that will make them attractive to other employers. “Why would I train them, if they are just going to leave?”

But the opposite may be true. Employees may commit to an organization that cares enough to partner with him in learning and achieving his career goals. Employees are more likely to stay where they feel the organization cares about them as individuals and their career aspirations.