Good Interview Questions

So I’ve talked pretty extensively about the odd questions interviewers sometimes ask. (For example: How do pineapples make you feel?) Which I find totally useless. But I haven’t talked much about the effective interviewing techniques.

In my opinion the most effective method of interviewing is to drawing out the candidate’s strengths and weakness in direct relation to the skills required to perform the job. The key here is to ask questions that are designed to elicit specific information while being broad enough to apply to all candidates that may be qualified for the position. In fact, these are often not questions at all, but requests for examples.

Interviewers - This type of interviewing works equally well for evaluating both “hard” and “soft” skills. Here are some examples of the “Requirements” for a job, translated into what I feel are effective interviewing questions:

Requirement: Quality engineering experience
Standard Question: What were your responsibilities for quality engineering in your last job?
More Effective: Please describe the types of quality systems you’ve implemented, how you monitored quality and improved the system as required.

Requirement: Ability to handle multiple projects at one
Standard Question: How you handle multiple priorities?
More Effective: Describe a time when you had multiple projects each demanding your time. How did you management the situation and what were the results.

Candidates - You should be prepared to answer questions like these with a very simple formula of “Situation, Process, Outcome”.

Briefly outline the situation: “We were having problems with the paint quality on the widgets…”

Describe the Process: “I conducted a root cause analysis and found that the problem was caused by improper pre-finishing, we developed a quality check process to be sure that out-of-spec product was stopped here and corrected before processes X Y and Z made it impossible to fix.”

State the Outcome: "By identifying those parts earlier in the process, we could rework those parts instead of having to scrap them. This resulted in a 5% reduction the amount of scrap, saving approximately $100,000 per year.

Please note: I cannot over-emphasize the concept of BRIEFLY here… nothing is worse than a rambling candidate keep your answers precise and concise. Give examples with results in terms of dollars or numbers wherever possible, but don't get bogged down in the tiniest of details. Remember, you can always ask if the interviewer needs more information.

Rowan Manahan writes an excellent piece on Competency-Based or Behavioral Interviewing which of course, is what I’m really getting at.

My favorite piece of advice from Rowan's article:
If you can't think of a relevant example from your past - either in your preparation or if you are hit with a question from left-field during an interview - then move quickly to a hypothetical approach. "Well, I've never actually had to decapitate anyone as a result of a conflictual situation at work. But if I did have to do it, I'd make sure I had identified the right person to behead, I'd make sure that I had a really sharp axe, I'd warm up my muscles, wear a big rubber apron with galoshes and..."