10 Dynamic Job Interview Questions
Job interviews are like trying to predict rain a year from now.
You have five tools to predict future performance: education, work history, personal references, personality assessments, and drill-down job interview questions.
Job interview questions that work:
Use job interview questions about practices, not theories.
Job interview questions about work ethic:
- Tell me about a time when you pulled out all the stops to get a project done on time. What did you learn about yourself? What would you do differently next time?
- When are you at your best, morning or afternoon? What makes you say that?
- What’s your favorite part of work? How much of that do you need to be fulfilled at your job?
- When you look back at work, what are your proudest moments? Tell me more.
Job interview questions about teamwork:
- Tell me about the best team you ever worked on. What made it the best? How do you exemplify the qualities of a great team member?
- What’s hard about being on a team? Tell me about a time you were on a lousy team. How did you handle it?
- Tell me about a time when you didn’t see eye-to-eye with your boss. What was the outcome?
Job interview questions about openness to learning:
- Who was your favorite teacher? What did you learn from them? How might you be like them?
- Assuming you get this job, what would you like to learn in the next six months that will make you better at your job?
- Tell me about a time you screwed up. What did you learn? What would you do differently next time?
Bonus question:
Which of your skills are most admired by others? Why do you think you excel in that area? What comes to mind if you told me how to improve that skill in myself?
What are your favorite job interview questions?
What’s an example of a dumb interview question?
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One of the most “fun” prompts we tried once was, “Teach us something we don’t know.”
That’s wonderfully open ended. Fun to see how people respond to that.
Good morning, Dan… these are great questions and I added them to my repository for future interviews. I haven’t used this one but think it would be a good one to try, “How would you describe yourself in one word? Why do you think that?” I think dumb questions are ones that are way off topic, like “How do you tame an elephant?” I don’t think interviewers would know what a good answer would be to that type of question.
Your question is interesting. A lot goes through your head when you try to define yourself in one word. You might end up with two or three, but all would be useful.
I always like to ask about any mistakes ever made and what was learned from the mistake.
It’s always good to see if they are vulnerable, transparent, and open minded.
Don’t forget that an interview is a two-way street. It’s not just you deciding whether I am the right choice, it’s also me deciding if your organization is the right choice for me. You may want to be ready to answer a few questions yourself. Tell me about a time your company failed, how did it dig into that failure, and what did the company learn? Tell me about a time that your company lived out its culture and values and how that culture has benefited both your team members and the company? How much does the team member’s self-evaluation play into their annual review? Tell me about a time when the team came together to help another team member outside of the work environment.
I would agree to that; however, so few candidates ever come prepared with questions. After all formal interview questions are asked, we allow time for any follow-ups we might have and then give them an opportunity to ask us questions. If I get any the most common is, “When will you make a decision?”. I’m always hoping to be asked a question that makes me feel this person really did their research about the job or our organization.
Thanks for expanding the conversation. Too often people don’t ask questions when they’re being interviewed. When they don’t, they are saying things about themselves.
Roseana nailed it. I really posted that comment just as a reminder to all that when you are the one being interviewed, show some interest, show some initiative, and make yourself stand out by asking relevant questions about the company and what you are looking for in an employer. There are NO points for just showing up and answering questions. Stand-outs get hired, everyone else just blends in with the “sauce”.
In one interview the person ask a very interesting question at the end. When asked if they had anything they wanted to add or any question from the panel they asked. Is there anything I said here today that would stop you from hiring me?
The best interview question I ever got was “If I asked you, could you walk in there now and do what we’ve just talked about?”