How good interview questions sort thoroughbreds from the lemons

WHAT does your mum think of you? How was your chat with the receptionist? The most penetrating interview questions revealed.

Don't employ a lemon or you’ll be left bitter and twisted.

RECRUITING a lemon employee not only leaves a hiring manager with a sour taste in their mouth, it is also a drain on the bottom line.

Leadership Management Australasia research estimates hiring the wrong person can cost up to three times the candidate’s salary in replacement and lost productivity costs.

Recruitment company Randstad HR director Tiffany Quinlan believes shrewd candidates know how to answer common questions about strengths and weaknesses, so recruiters need to get smart.

Her following questions are a way to sort the wheat from the chaff as well as highlighting things which should set alarm bells ringing.

WHAT DID THE RECEPTIONIST THINK?

The candidate’s first interaction is often a telling one. If they treat the receptionist with disrespect or are really arrogant — or if they are really polite and genuine — that tells me a lot about the person.

In an interview it is all a game. But your natural behaviour comes out at reception and helps me understand whether they will fit in or not.

Having a conversation with someone is a dying art because of social media. Being polite to a receptionist shows a lot about social understanding and the ability to connect with people outside a media device.

WHAT FRUSTRATES YOU?

Often people say “nothing” but you need to draw it out of them. It will give you an insight into how people will deal with difficult situations as they come up in the office. It might be a lack of tolerance for people who are not punctual or who don’t finish things.

Candidates can’t prepare for this; it is raw truth. I’ve had one young guy going well — he looked good on paper — in the interview but then when I asked him about what frustrated him he just started with the expletives. You could see it was raw, over-the-top passion and you could see that he had a very short fuse.

HOW WOULD YOUR MOTHER OR FAMILY MEMBER DESCRIBE YOU?

Every time you ask them they say “oh my god”. What you will get out of this will be raw, honest truth. What it will give you is an idea of what their natural personal behaviour is.

WHAT WILL YOU DO IN YOUR FIRST 100 DAYS?

This shows how people are thinking on their feet. They may say they don’t know enough and that they would spend the first 20 days learning.

I don’t mind that. It gives you an idea as to whether they prioritise, whether they are structured, if they are big-picture, a team player or more of an individual.

TELL ME ABOUT A WORK CHALLENGE YOU FACED. WHAT DID YOU DO AND HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TASK AHEAD?

You are getting them to talk you through a real-life situation. They will drop things like “we” or “I”. When people say “we”, it may suggest the person doesn’t act alone and are not autonomous. What level of ownership did they take?