HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! For some of us, the start of a year could mean getting busy with hiring activities.
The recruitment process of a company is very important in determining its long term success and growth. After all, that is why companies spend a fortune for an efficient human resources department, whose main role is to hire employees. When a company chooses a wrong employee, it can be bad for him/her, as well as the company. On the other hand, the right employee can do a lot for the betterment of the company.
Thus, choosing and hiring employees must be done very carefully after a lot of deliberation and strategic planning. The entire process should be transparent and effective enough to ensure the right results. The question here is ‘how do you manage to make the hiring process efficient?”
For this, you need to be prepared with the right questions to ask job candidates. If you do not have the right questions, your hiring process would be exposed to major flaws. So now, the next logical question would be, “How do I put forth the right questions?” The answer to this lies in various factors that are described below:
- 1. The position that needs to be filled
This is the first factor that determines the questions you need to ask. You cannot ask technical questions to a candidate who has come for a managerial position, nor can you pose management questions to an engineer. It is important that you pose the questions that pertain to the vacant position only.
- 2. The company profile
Every company would have certain expectations from its employees. These expectations are dependant on the industry that the company functions in, among many other factors. You need to keep your questions industry-specific and as per the requirements set by the company.
- 3. Common Requirements
The factors mentioned above change with each company, its location, prevalent conditions, and the job position. However, no matter which position is vacant in any company, there are certain qualities that every employee would be expected to have, and they are:
- A positive attitude toward work and everyone at work
- Politeness and openness to feedback and new ideas
- A strong sense of work ethics
- The ability to work with teams or lead them
- Motivation to work hard for the growth of the company
- Dependability and punctuality
With this list of common qualities that are sought by every business, you will have a better idea of what to ask in order to get the right answers. Here are some suggested questions that are actually asked by a number of businesses in different industries and for different positions:
- “Tell me about yourself” or “Introduce yourself”
- “What made you apply to this company?” or “Why did you choose this company?”
- “When did you last do something proactively that was over and above what was required?”
- “When did you last set a goal for yourself and achieve it, and how did you do it?”
- “What are your weaknesses and what did/do you do to overcome them?”
The examples given above are just a start; you can find and formulate your own set of questions for the hiring process, and the options are limitless. All you have to do is to frame them in such a way that the answers address all the factors discussed above.
