Hiring new employees can seem like a daunting task, and conducting interviews with various candidates can be nerve-wracking! What should I focus on? What questions can I ask? How can I cover all the details about our company and the role? etc. A million things are running through your head when preparing for these interviews.

When participating in the interviews, you want to make sure you make it a conversation not a time slot to drill questions at the candidate. This will make everyone relax more and in turn will lead to a more productive interview. Ask open ended questions, behavioral type questions that allow you as the interviewer to listen to the candidate. Listening is key in all conversations, but especially important when considering hiring a new employee.

Examples of Behavioral Interview questions are:

• Tell me about a time when… – Customize this to your environment, and the role they are interviewing for.
• What is a project or accomplishment you are proud of?
• In previous roles, how have you helped teammates succeed?
• How would you approach and solve this issue… – Again, customize to the specific role and your company.
• How do you handle if something does not go as planned?

These questions all bring out details, experiences, and specifics that you want to know for the role that you are hiring for, but also your working environment. Listening to a candidate speak about a time when they helped teammates succeed shows different qualities than just asking “What were your sales numbers last quarter?” Sure, you would like to talk numbers and see their quantified success, but the soft skills and personality traits of a candidate may be better for your team in the long run.

On the flipside of questions to ask, there are some questions that are absolutely off the table when interviewing a client. Questions regarding a candidate’s personal characteristics or personal life are protected by law such as: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or age.

Other topics to stay away from are:

• Pregnancy / Family planning
• Disabilities
• Medications being taken
• Genetic background

While interviewing a candidate to see if they will be a good fit for a role, and for your company as an employee – the candidate also should be interviewing you. Candidates should be asking questions about the day to day, how to succeed in this specific environment and with this role, how to grow, etc. When I prepare a candidate for an interview, I always tell them “Just as much as this is an interview for them to get to know you, you need to get to know them! Ask questions!” So, expect candidates to ask very specific questions about various topics pertaining to the company, the role, the team, etc.

Next time you interview a candidate, take these items into account – and focus on listening to the candidate! Good Luck!

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