Sample Questions For Interviewees

Do you want to find out everything there is to know about an interviewee? Here's a hint: Stop asking interview questions that can be answered with a "yes" or "no." Making your applicants think will increase the likelihood that you will get a quality answer. As the old saying goes, ask a simple question and you'll get a simple answer.

If you're having a tough time coming up with questions, we have some suggestions from you courtesy of "The Big Book of HR" by Barbara Mitchell and Cornelia Gamlem. They suggested the following eight questions to get a better idea of the behavioral characteristics of the candidate:

• What kind of communication style do you have?
• How do you stay calm and collected when you have to do an unplanned presentation?
• Describe a situation in which effective interpersonal communication skills contributed to your success.
• Give me an example of a time when you worked on a project with little supervision. How did you get started? Describe the results.
• How would your last employer describe your work habits and ethics?
• As a leader, what do you do when people on your team aren’t pulling their weight?
• What is one of the greatest leadership challenges you have ever faced? What did you do? What was the result?
• How do you handle situations with people who don’t agree with you?