The hiring process can be long and difficult, and it’s estimated that companies in the UK spend an average of £62,800 per new employee that they hire. That’s a significant cost, and it means that choosing the right candidate is important. If the new hire turns out to be not a very good fit, it means the resources put into the hiring process have potentially been wasted.
The interview stage is your best opportunity to get an insight into each candidate, but it’s vital that you ask the right questions. Being too general or not focusing on the right areas could mean you miss out on the perfect hire. If you’re hiring for an IT role, there are a lot of different questions you can ask, but we’ve given some examples and an explanation of why they’re important.
Technical Questions
For a technical role that focuses on IT, it’s important to make sure the candidate has the right knowledge and understanding of what they’ll be working on. For that reason, you need to be asking technical questions. They need to be related to their specific role and what they’ll be doing. For example, if you need to install or repair AV equipment, they’ll need to understand what an HDMI cable is and what it’s for. You can find out more about these cables at RS. You can show the candidate the cable and ask them what it is and how it’s used.
If you’re unsure of which technical questions to ask, make sure you get some opinions from those already working in the technical role. Ideally, someone senior already working in IT should be present in the interviews in order to ask technical questions and judge their answers. It’s no good asking questions that you yourself don’t know the answer to.
General Questions
While some interviewers rely too much on general questions, they do have their use in the interview process when used effectively. These questions help you understand the candidate a little better, including their motivations, aspirations and personality. This is a good way to judge if someone will be the right fit for the culture of your company.
Common examples of general questions to ask include asking them how to describe themselves in three words, asking them about their strengths and weaknesses and where they see themselves in the next five years. However, these are all a little generic. If you want to be a bit more creative and get some more interesting responses, you can mix things up a bit. For example, asking them about why they got into their career. You can also break the ice by asking fun questions that don’t have any real purpose aside from making the candidate more comfortable.
Work Experience Questions
Probably the most important questions in any interview are ones about the candidate’s previous experience. While hiring graduates has its advantages, most hiring managers are looking for candidates with prior experience. This experience shows that they’re capable of putting their skills into practice.
When asking questions about previous experience, you should focus on getting longer, more detailed responses. For example, asking a question about a previous project that they worked on and the work that went into it allows for a more open-ended response. Getting more information about how the candidate works and the type of environment they’re used to is highly valuable.
Interpersonal Questions
Last but not least, interpersonal questions are designed to give you an insight into how a candidate works with others. This is incredibly important, as employees need to be able to work together effectively and fit into the existing culture. You can judge a candidate’s interpersonal skills throughout the interview process, but there are also questions to ask that help highlight their character.
For example, you might ask them to describe a particular type of person that they have the most trouble working with. You can also ask them about previous examples of conflict in their workplace and how they dealt with it.