What makes good interview questions (and why these ones aren’t)
The interview question – a classic case of so much relying on so little. So what’s thesecret of the interview question? It has to provide insight into your candidate without feeling too contrived and it also has to work within the limits of the law. Here are a few queries made of job applicants and what stops them from being good interview questions:
What star sign are you?
This put candidates on the back foot straight away. If they don’t believe in horoscopes they’ll have to resist the urge to offend you by saying so. The question doesn’t provide any real value and could feel overly personal.
What is the worst mistake you’ve made in your life?
This question is both too extreme and too personal. It gives no clear boundaries and could make the candidate feel uncomfortable – or encourage them to reveal too much about themselves.
Give me a breakdown of all your jobs with exact dates and places, starting from now and going backwards.
Unless they’re applying for a job memorising facts parrot-style, this is an unfair question to ask. There are much better ways of drawing your candidate out about their career experience.
