High-Impact Interview Questions

Book description

"Tell me about a time...." The words evoke a child's fairy-tale innocence. Yet when used by an interviewer, they can help to determine the suitability of a job candidate by eliciting real-world examples of behaviors and experience that can save you and your organization from making a bad hiring decision.

High-Impact Interview Questions shows you how to use competency-based behavioral interviewing methods that will uncover truly relevant and useful information. By having applicants describe specific situations from their own experience during previous jobs (rather than asking them hypothetical questions about "what would you do if..."), you'll be able to identify specific strengths and weaknesses that will tell you if you've found the right person for the job. But developing such behavior-based questions can be time-consuming and difficult.

High-Impact Interview Questions saves you both time and effort. The book contains 701 questions you'll be able to use or adapt for your own needs, matched to 62 in-demand skills such as customer focus, motivation, initiative, adaptability, teamwork, and more. It allows you to move immediately to the particular skills you want to measure, and quickly find just the right tough but necessary questions to ask during an interview.

Asking behavior-based questions is by far the best way to discover crucial details about job candidates. High-Impact Interview Questions gives you the tools and guidance you need to gather this important information before you hire.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Foreword
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction
  8. CHAPTER 1 Interviewing: The Way It Is (Warts and All)
    1. Traditional Interview Questions
    2. Situational Interview Questions
    3. Brainteaser Interview Questions
    4. Stepping Back to the Big Picture
  9. CHAPTER 2 The What, When, and Why of Competency-Based Behavioral Interviewing
    1. What Is Competency-Based Behavioral Interviewing?
    2. How is CBBI Different from Other Interviewing Styles?
    3. Moving to CBBI
    4. Objections to CBBI
    5. Why Use Competency-Based Behavioral Interviewing?
    6. Key Advantages of Using CBBI
  10. CHAPTER 3 Competency-Based Behavioral Interview Questions
    1. The Missing “Leadership” Competency
    2. Soliciting Negative Incidents
    3. Sample CBBI Questions:
      1. Action Orientation
      2. Ambiguity (Ability to Deal With)
      3. Analytical Skills
      4. Approachability
      5. Business Acumen/Understanding the Organization
      6. Career Ambition
      7. Caring About Direct Reports
      8. Change Management
      9. Comfort Around Higher Management
      10. Communication (Oral)
      11. Communication (Written)
      12. Compassion
      13. Composure
      14. Conflict Management
      15. Confronting Direct Report Problems/Issues/Concerns
      16. Continuous Improvement
      17. Cooperation
      18. Courage
      19. Creativity/Innovation
      20. Customer Focus
      21. Decision Making
      22. Delegation
      23. Detail Orientation/Attention to Detail
      24. Developing Direct Reports
      25. (Providing) Direction to Others
      26. Diversity (Valuing and Encouraging)
      27. Emotional Intelligence/Awareness
      28. Empowerment
      29. Ethics/Values/Integrity
      30. Fairness to Direct Reports
      31. Flexibility/Adaptability
      32. Functional/Technical/Job Skills
      33. Goal Setting/Accomplishment/Focus
      34. Hiring/Staffing
      35. (Using) Humor
      36. Influencing/Persuading
      37. Information Gathering
      38. Information Sharing
      39. Initiative
      40. Interpersonal Skills/Savvy
      41. Learning/Knowledge Acquisition and Application
      42. Listening
      43. Manager Relationships
      44. Managing and Measuring Work Performance
      45. Motivation
      46. Negotiation
      47. Organization
      48. Organizational Agility/Awareness
      49. Partnering (Internal/External)
      50. Patience
      51. Peer Relations
      52. Perseverance
      53. Personal Growth and Development
      54. Perspective
      55. Planning/Priority Setting
      56. Political Awareness/Savvy
      57. Presentation Skills
      58. Problem Solving
      59. Process Management
      60. Resource Management
      61. (Showing) Respect
      62. Results Orientation
      63. Risk Taking
      64. Safety in the Workplace
      65. Self-Improvement, Learning, and Development
      66. Stewardship/Corporate Citizenship
      67. Strategic Planning/Thinking
      68. Stress Management
      69. Systems Management
      70. Systems Thinking
      71. Taking Charge
      72. Teamwork (Encouraging and Building)
      73. Teamwork (Working as a Team Player)
      74. Technology Management/Utilization
      75. Time Management
      76. Trust
      77. Understanding Others
      78. Vision and Purpose
  11. CHAPTER 4 Probing or Follow-Up Questions
  12. CHAPTER 5 Initial Telephone Screening Interview
    1. 1. Developing and Using a Telephone Screening Form
    2. 2. Keeping the Interview Short
    3. 3. Avoiding an In-Depth Discussion of the Job Requirements
    4. 4. Conducting a Legal Interview
    5. 5. Using the Proper Equipment
  13. CHAPTER 6 Creating the Interview Guide
    1. 1. Summary/Overview
    2. 2. CBBI Questions
    3. 3. Rating Scales
  14. CHAPTER 7 Assembling the Interviewer Data
  15. CHAPTER 8 Where Do You Go from Here?
    1. Performance Management
    2. Individual Performance Improvement Plans
    3. Training and Development
    4. Succession Planning
  16. Resources and References
  17. Index

Product information

  • Title: High-Impact Interview Questions
  • Author(s): Victoria A. Hoevemeyer
  • Release date: September 2005
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814429112