As was said before, there are a few specific questions that interviewers can use. So, continuing from the previous half of this article, here are two more important questions for employers to ask, put together by executive search firms.
The candidate should be asked about a time when they know that they were right about something but still had to follow directions as a means of assessing the candidate’s ability both to follow and to lead. A great candidate will say that they stayed focused and did what was necessary without being disheartened over the situation. A good candidate will describe doing what needed to be done at the time and waiting to bring up the issue at a later point when it would not interfere. A bad candidate will say that since they knew they were right they decided to do things their way, finding a way to circumvent the rules to do so. In a time of crisis it is important to know that you can rely on your employees and that, even if they think they know better, they will wait to handle the matter privately.
Finally, interviewers should ask the candidate to talk about a time when their workday ended before they were able to get everything done that they needed to in order to make an assessment of the candidate’s abilities in effective communication and prioritization, as well as their commitment. Ideally the candidate will respond by describing how they opted to stay late, how they prioritized their duties, and, before all else, that they previously addressed the issue to those in charge that certain critical deadlines may be at risk. But since it is unrealistic to expect perfection on a daily basis, an acceptable answer would be one in which the candidate demonstrates their ability to prioritize their work as well as the willingness to put in the extra effort and stay late when necessary, showing a dedication to their work and their company. On the other hand, employers should be wary of any individuals who state that they do only as much as they can in the time that they are expected to be at work, and claim that anything that does not get done is an unfair expectation of their abilities on the part of their bosses.
There can be a number of mixed answers to this final question. For instance, while it may sound good at first if a candidate says that they stayed late to get work done, if they say that they have done this night after night, again and again, this can be an indicator that the individual in question has poor organizational skills or some other fault that is keeping them from getting their work done in a timely manner. Given the importance now being placed on company’s executive search and hiring processes, it is even more important that interviewers be able to fulfill their roles effectively and find those individuals who are able and willing to put in the time and effort necessary to get the job done.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
