image: thedailyenglishshow.com
I’m curious and I really enjoy asking questions as they are a wonderful way to learn, to understand and to get closer to know a topic.
At the same time I am not really somebody that likes doing the same thing over and over again.
So, how to cope with recruitment activities?
From one side, I am very eager to get to know the candidates, to understand how they tick and how they could make our company better. From another side I really get bored of carrying out structured interviews, with the same questions being asked over and over again (and no, unstructured interviews are a no go as comparing candidates in a fair manner would very very challenging).
The way I try to minimize the downside related to the recruitment activities is then to pepper the structured interview with a bunch of open questions, questions that uncover capabilities, not just experience, pushing the candidates to be creative, to improvise, to adapt, to learn from the interviewing panel’s reactions to previous questions.
Few examples here:
- Take 3 minutes to build a Lego model / to draw something and use it to introduce yourself in 90 seconds
- Take a moment to draw your life curve and then walk me through it.
image: https://www.skillsconverged.com/Portals/5/DownloadImages/My_Life_Curve.jpg
- Can you describe your ideal work environment?
- How do you define success?
- What makes you a good fit for this position?
- What do you expect to get out of this position?
- What is your motivation?
- What is non-negotiable in your life? Which values?
- What do you look forward to at work?
- What have you learnt recently?
- Which book would you recommend?
PS: feedback is a gift and I do aim at providing it to all candidates I interview. It is a matter of respect and a very good way for candidates to learn from the experience.