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While an interview is a good place to get to know a candidate, interviewers also need to know the right and wrong ways to ask questions. You need to know how capable and competent they are at the job duties as well as how they will fit with your current team and handle themselves professionally. However, there are some questions that are best left unasked so you can avoid any problems in the future. Always keep in mind that questions asked the wrong way can lead to feelings of discrimination by the candidate and this could spell trouble for your company.
Lazy questions that you know the answers to already.
Passive aggressive communications skills can be troubling for incoming employees. If they leave the interview feeling that you communicate they may not take the job. These types of questions are things that you can easily find on the resume such as “what was your job title?” Since you expect the candidates to prepare and do their homework before the interview, you owe the same courtesy to them. Instead of asking these vague questions turn your attention to the details so you can learn more about the candidate.
Arbitrary questions that have no answers.
What is your favorite tree? If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be? Describe your perfect cheeseburger. Tell me what you think about the sky. Creative questions can get some interesting answers, but they don’t mean anything when it comes to performing a job. Candidates can find them troubling and even insulting. Without any psychological training and or being able to interpret answers they can only serve the purpose of being weird.
Inappropriate questions that are too personal.
There are multiple questions that can fall into this category. Anything that is specific about family life, religion, or age is considered a discriminatory question and strongly discouraged. These questions don’t provide any information relevant to performing the job. If you’re concerned that a mother might need time off rather than asking how may kids they have tell them what the standard hours are and ask if they are available during those hours.
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