The Questions That Get the Most Out of Candidates

Interviewing is tough business – you have but a brief moment to gather your thoughts on not only an individual's aptitude, but also whether or not you think they possess those critical intangibles that lead to success within your organization.

It’s no surprise then that folks are always asking hiring managers about their interview techniques and questions in order to gain an upper hand. Instead of following that path, we're flipping the script and asking YOU for your favorite (and least favorite!) interview questions. By submitting your answers here, you may be included in a resource for recruiters and hiring managers for years to come. To get the ball rolling, I’ve included a few of my own below.

Since I started hiring at Entelo, I’ve interviewed hundreds of candidates, and brought on board north of 40 SDRs. I’ve had stellar interviews with lackluster candidates and the opposite; I’ve been blown away by candidates that in many other organizations would have been stopped at the application screen; and candidates have both told me I’m the easiest, friendliest interview while others have said I’m impossible and brutal. In any case, below are a few questions that I’ve used, and will continue to use, in all of my interviews:



Ditch the Canned Interview Questions, Already

 

Tell me about a time when you had to work across multiple teams to finish a project.

What’s your greatest weakness?

How would your best friend describe you?

Huh? Sorry. I nodded off for a second there. What were we talking about?

Oh yeah, canned interview questions. If you’ve spent any amount of time in the e-recruitosphere, you’ve come across a LinkedIn thread asking for a recruiter’s best interview question or a listicle blog post presenting 8 Great Interview Questions to Get to Know the Real Candidate. (side note: let’s agree to not Google that in case it’s actually a real post) (side note: I broke the deal, it’s a real post.)