I think interviewing is a very personal thing, everyone has their own style but what are the best questions to ask a candidate to get the most out of them in an interview?

Across the property industry as a whole I found that a high percentage of interviews used to be conducted in a relatively informal style. However, in recent years the interview process seems to have become more structured and consistent.

Psychometric and other testing is now widely used, as well as more formal, competency based interviewing – where candidates are asked for situational examples from their life experiences. Very useful for graduate candidates with no working experience or roles where you cannot select on technical merit.

We all know the typical interview questions:

• What are your key strengths/weaknesses?
• Why should I hire you?
• Where do you want to be in 3/5 years’ time?
• Describe your biggest achievement?

The more bizarre have included:

• If you were an animal, what would you be?
• What is the most controversial decision you have ever had to make? (Quite like this one!!)
• What did you have for breakfast?

Now I can see the merit of all (or at least most) of these questions but are they ultimate questions that will tell you if you should push the button and make a big commitment to hire?

Here are my top 5 Ultimate Interview Questions, grouped into 5 categories:

To get the most out of any question it is imperative that you dig deeper at every stage, so some include follow up questions that probe further – giving you more information.

• Results Based

Describe a time when you were not meeting performance targets. Why were you not achieving the set targets? If you overcame this what were the steps you took to achieve these targets? What did you learn?

Great question to ask a candidate for a sales position or a position where KPI’s or targets are part of the role.

• Ability to influence and persuade

Tell me about a situation where you stood your ground on a particular topic when all others disagreed.

Why was your view different from everyone else? How did you manage this situation and what was the outcome?

This is one of my personal favourites – gets candidates to think on their feet and shows potential communication / leadership skills!

• Personal interaction

Tell me about a time that you didn’t work well with a supervisor. What was the outcome and how would you have changed the outcome?

This is a great question, it highlights any potential issues but you find out how adaptable the candidate is in different situations and with different people.

• Learning ability

Tell me about a time you were pushed in the deep end, either at work or in your personal life?

This is a think on your feet question, it tells you how quickly the candidate learns and if they can hit the ground running in a role

• Prioritisation
  Tell me about the last time your workday ended before you were able to get everything done?

This question evaluates a candidates commitment, shows time management and prioritisation skills and ability to communicate all in one!

So there we have it, my “Top 5 Interview Questions” to ask a candidate to get a valuable insight into them, their character and their suitability to your role.

If you would like to ask any questions on this topic or get any interview advice then please do get in touch, it would be great to hear from you!

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