Quiz: How Interview-Ready Are You? Take 3 Key Questions to Find Out

Are you a hiring manager or anyone else in charge of interviewing candidates to assess if they will be an asset to your company? If so, you may not be aware of your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to interviewing. 

This quiz can help reveal where you shine as an interviewer and where you can make positive changes to your method or style with proper preparation that helps you get interview-ready.

Doing Your Research

Have you looked at the candidate’s resume and reference check report before the interview? If not, you’ll be the one unprepared going into that room. Understanding your candidate’s background, including their education and work history, can be key to knowing what questions to ask during the interview. 

Tip: Don’t leave reference checking until after the interview. Crosschq 360 makes it easy to score candidates against skills-based criteria, and compare scores across candidates based on self-reference checks as well as checks performed by their former peers and mentors. Armed with this information, you’re well-equipped to choose the best candidate.

Question #1: What information do you need to know about a candidate in advance?

+5 I want to know what they can do and how well they do it - a big-name school or tenure at a previous company aren’t as relevant to the job as their skills are.

+1 I do at least try to check their resume and gather feedback from previous employees or coworkers before the interview.

0 Who has time to go through resumes and references before the interview? I’ll go with my gut anyway.

Did you know? A whopping 85% of candidates lie on their resumes - and you won’t necessarily catch them out during an average interview. Automating reference checking so you can get it done early in the recruitment process can help you weed out the fabricators and concentrate on authentic candidates.

[Related Article: See What Interviewing Red Flags You Need to Know About Now.}

Choosing Your Questions

What kinds of questions do you ask when interviewing a candidate? Are you up-to-date on what you can and can’t ask according to the laws where your company is located? Can you be friendly and approachable while remaining professional?

Tip: Remember, it’s not about whether or not you “click” with a candidate, or share a common background, like a hometown or alma mater. The important things to uncover in an interview are whether or not a candidate’s skills meet your company’s needs and if you think you’ll be able to align on values, vision, and compensation.

Question #2: How do you usually frame your interview questions?

+5 I’m focused on finding out if the candidate’s skills and goals are a match for the role and the company.

+1 I like to mix it up - get the serious questions in, but throw some curve balls just to see what happens.

0 What’s the harm in just having a fun time in an interview? If we hit it off, I figure I’ll give them a shot.

Did you know? A typical interview increases your chances of choosing the right candidate by only two percent. Changing your approach and carefully choosing the right questions to ask can help you make better hiring decisions.

Including Your Colleagues

Unconscious bias can sneak into an interview easily and you may not even be aware of it. We tend to have automatic positive feelings about people who look like, sound like, and act like ourselves. This can mean we overlook top talent just because we don’t feel that vibe.

Tip: Take a collaborative approach to hiring by having several people sit in on the interview. Ideally, these would be people that the candidate would be working alongside if they get hired. Assuming you already have some diversity in your organization, this can help cancel out unconscious bias and make it easier to zero in on the best candidate for the open position.

[Related Article: See 6 Things You Should Know About Diversity in the Workforce]

Question #3: Are you being collaborative in your approach to hiring?

+5 I make each interview a team effort, and we stay for a quick internal discussion after the candidate has left to get a consensus on whether they would be an asset.

+1 Tag-teaming candidate interviews is a great idea and something we do - but I have to admit we’re not a super diverse organization yet.

0 Are you kidding? Scheduling can be a nightmare when it’s just two people’s calendars you’re trying to sync for an interview slot.

Did you know? When an interview team combines accomplishment-based questions with behavioral fact-finding to ascertain if the candidate is competent, motivated, and a culture-add, interviewing accuracy is improved 20-30 percentage points. 

So, Are You Really Interview Ready?

Time to tally up:

11-15: Interview Super Star! You’re on top of your game when it comes to recruiting: avoiding unconscious bias and choosing candidates based on skill sets.

7-10: Expert In Training! You’re heading in the right direction, just have a few kinks to work out to get your interviewing process fully functional.

0-6: Ready To Revamp! It’s time to streamline your interview process and update your methods for better Quality of Hire.

[Related Article: Quality of Hire Checklist. See what 5 Items should be on your list.]

Want to learn more about how Crosschq can help your hiring managers up their interviewing game? Contact us for a free demonstration today.