Here’s Why You’re Asking The Wrong It Interview Questions

by Dane Walker on Jan 25, 2016 in Candidate Interviewing

Businesses that successfully acquire their favorite candidates satisfy a need for speed without sacrificing quality. In one interview, they can gather enough important details to elevate one candidate above the rest. Other businesses hold several interviews to come to the same conclusion, losing their bid for the best IT talent in the process.

The difference often comes down to questioning. Asking anything but the best IT interview questions delays your choice. How do you separate the right from the wrong questions? Evaluate your standard questions with these considerations in mind.

YOUR INTERVIEW QUESTIONS DON’T MATCH YOUR VALUES

Competitive businesses hire high quality IT professionals fast and they can because they’ve pinpointed what’s important to them. Each business has its own vision of what a perfect candidate looks like. Does he or she have a specific skillset? An ideal working style? An ideal set of values? Even the standard interview questions should be tailored to better evaluate candidates to your own criteria.

A little creativity goes a long way when trying to create better IT interview questions. We’re not talking about the brain teasers that were all the rage several years ago (studies find that brain teasers don’t really help interviews). Instead, we recommend getting specific with standard interview questions.

For example, we value a personalized approach to each of our clients. So if we were searching for a new Technical Recruiter or Account Manager at our EdgeLink Denver office, we could put a new spin on classic interview questions to identify candidates who share that value.

Questions like “what is your greatest achievement?” can become “which of your greatest achievements best show you can cater to your client’s specific needs?” and “tell me about a time you made a mistake” can become “tell me about a time you used your knowledge of a client to make up for a big mistake.”

Instead of hoping candidates say what you want them to say, creatively directing them can ensure that you are get the answers you want from the start.

YOU ARE STUCK ON BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWS

As we wrote about recently, the right interview style makes a big difference for your results. The best IT interview questions follow the interview style that works for your objectives. Many traditional interview questions are behavioral (attempting to predict a candidate’s future responses), but that’s not all that matters.

Situational questions deal with a candidate’s ability to address new challenges. Case questions add a step-by-step process to problem-solving. Presentational questions takes it one step further, testing a candidate’s explanatory skills in the process. The trick is none are better than the others. Depending on whether you want to determine a candidate’s hard skills, decision-making abilities, or values, you’ll want to use a combination of the various styles.

The choice comes down to what your business emphasizes most. Plan your best IT interview questions around whether technical skills, personality traits, or values matter most. That way, you get the most accurate assessment possible.

YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR CANDIDATES WELL ENOUGH

How well do you know a candidate? Though you can gather some information from a resume, there are limitations to what you can know about a person until you’ve had a chance to sit down and speak with him or her.

That’s why an IT staffing and recruiting firm can be an incredible partner in this hectic market. We at EdgeLink take the time to vet candidates thoroughly, determining their strengths, weaknesses, goals, and cultural requirements. We brief our clients on the candidates we’ll be sending them, providing them with a starting foundation of knowledge so they can focus on in-depth questions. That’s why our customer satisfaction is heads above the competition.