What are strategic interview questions?
Strategic interview questions will allow the interviewer to have a good understanding of who the candidate is and what they will bring to the role. The reason it is important to have strategic interview questions is that you want to hire the right person for the job, and without thinking about the actual position and what you are looking for, you will not be able to find the right candidate.
Strategic interview questions can allow you to determine if a candidate will be a good match for both the company and the position. By having a specific strategy, you will be able to come up with questions that will give you more information about their specific experience.
If you are hiring for an entry-level position, for example, the questions you would want to ask would be very different from that of a supervising position. Having strategic interview questions will take into account these types of differences and allow you to find the best candidate for the job.
Strategic interview questions can also help you determine if the candidate is a good cultural fit for your company. You might want to ask questions that will reveal their personality and how they conduct themselves. This will help you figure out if they will get along with the rest of the staff, which is an important aspect of any job.
In an interview, you are trying to get a good understanding of the candidate’s personality, experience, cultural fit and future performance. This can be very difficult in a short amount of time which is why having strategic interview questions is so important.
How to pick strategic interview questions
When picking strategic interview questions, start by asking yourself these questions:
- What is the role you’re hiring for? What are the hard and soft skills candidates need for the role?
- What type of personality traits would succeed in the role? What type of person would fit into your company culture?
- Is there anything you would like to see in a candidate that would not be on their resume? For example, if one of your core values is service to the community, does the candidate volunteer anywhere?
By answering these questions, you should be able to develop some strategic interview questions that will help you narrow down the candidates.
Also, remember to ask some general questions to balance out the more difficult and time-consuming strategic interview questions. By asking general questions, you allow the candidate to relax a bit and give you a good idea of their basic skill level.
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Strategic interview questions to ask
When preparing for an interview, it is a good idea to pick some strategic interview questions that will help you decide which candidate to hire.
Here are some examples of good questions to ask in your next interview:
What is something about you that isn’t on your resume?
This is a good strategic interview question as it will tell you about the candidate’s personality. By asking this question, the candidate will have a chance to tell you more about a particular experience that influenced them in their career. By knowing a bit more about the candidate, you will be able to figure out if they have the type of personality that will get along well with the rest of the staff. By asking this strategic interview question, you might be able to gauge whether the candidate is likely to stay with your company for the long term.
What is a difficult work situation you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it?
By asking this strategic interview question, you will learn about how well the candidate can overcome adversity. Not everything in business turns out the way we plan, so it is good to know how a potential employee deals with problems as they come up. You might want someone who is a good problem solver on your team, so if the candidate is able to overcome a difficult situation, they could be the right person for the job.
What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
This classic strategic interview question can allow you to see how a candidate frames their own abilities. From asking this question, you will learn about what the candidate knows they can do really well, which will point to their ability to perform the duties of the job. You will also discover places where they might need improvement, which can tell you if they are ready for the position and if you have the right type of resources they would need to be successful. By using this strategic interview question, you will have a good idea of what the candidate can bring to the job and if they would be the appropriate fit within your staff.
How are you planning to improve yourself over the next year?
Asking this strategic interview question will let you know how they plan out their own career and development. If the candidate can answer this easily, you will know that they think about their own development and are looking to improve themselves. This can indicate that they will be looking to work for a company to help them with this task. If this is the type of employee you are looking for, then you will be able to use this question to your advantage. If personal growth and development are one of your company’s values, this strategic interview question will be helpful in deciding which candidate to hire.
How would your coworkers describe you?
Having an idea of how their coworkers would describe them can tell you if the candidate is the right cultural fit for your company. This strategic interview question will reveal their personality and if they have the types of qualities that will mix well with the rest of your team. Knowing how their coworkers will describe them might allow you to gauge if their personality traits will get along with people already on your team.
How do you respond to tight deadlines?
This strategic interview question will indicate their ability to handle stress. You might want a candidate to handle stress well, especially if the position requires a quick turnaround on projects. By knowing how someone handles stress, you will be able to predict if they will fit into the type of working environment your company has. This will then indicate how long a candidate is likely to stay with your company, as the working environment is very important to longevity. By asking this strategic interview question, you will be able to see how well the candidate will fit into the working environment and stick around in times of stress.
What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on?
By asking this strategic interview question, you can gauge the types of projects that get the candidate excited. Passion for work is important for employees to have if you want them to work for you for a long time. When the candidate answers this strategic interview question, you’ll be able to see their passion for the job, and this will help you decide if they are a good fit for the job.
How did you end up in your current role?
This strategic interview question will show the candidate’s career development. If they have a clear path from one position to the next, it will indicate that they are constantly working on their own career development, getting better with each position. If the job they are currently in is one of many different types of roles, it could indicate that they do not really have a career development plan and might be simply moving from job to job. If this is the case, then it is likely they will not be passionate about the job and could leave the company relatively quickly. This is something you should avoid, and the person will not be a good candidate to hire.
Why do you want to work for this company?
This final question will help you determine how well they will fit into the company culture. If they know what to expect when they get hired, then it will reveal that they have similar values to that of the company. This would indicate that they would be a good match and are likely to keep working for you far into the future. This strategic interview question is very important as it can reveal a candidate’s passion for the work.
The above strategic interview questions can help you determine if a candidate is the right person to hire. By asking these questions, you can have a better idea of what the candidate can bring to the company and if they are passionate about their career. Feel free to use these strategic interview questions in your next interview and see how well they work on helping you find the right person for the job.
