BBB^® New Business Tip: Interview questions to help your hiring decisions 

By: Better Business Bureau^®

Hiring those first few employees is a big step for new business owners. It’s important to consider your candidates carefully when a job candidate enters the interview room or Zoom call. After all, these are the people who will set the tone of the operation, do the heavy lifting before a launch, and lay the groundwork for success. Having the right interview questions in your back pocket could be a lifesaver as you navigate the hiring process.

The interview stage of any hiring effort is an opportunity to evaluate your prospective new hires' skills, experience, and personalities. This is the time to determine how a candidate can help shape your organizational culture. Really, though, it’s when you find out if the person behind the resume is truly an employee who can help your organization grow (and grow within).

Landing on that answer is easiest if you’re inviting the right responses. Turnover, productivity, and the overall happiness of your workplace hinge on who you hire. These interview questions will help you better identify candidates who anchor your team.

Interview questions to build your team’s culture

For businesses just starting, first interviews are a great place to lean into your character and mission. Finding employees who share the exact makeup of values, ethics, and personality will be critical in ensuring everyone works with the same sense of purpose.

Harvard Business Review revealed that interviews are the most used measurement of a job candidate’s culture fit, a category that happens to be “the number one hiring criterion employers report using.” And the same goes for employees. According to a recent Jobvite report, 86% of employees stated that company culture is a somewhat important part of their decision to apply for a position.

When establishing your business’s culture, especially one that revolves around trust, find candidates that are the right fit by asking these questions:

1. “What excites you about this position?” Dig into why the interviewee is pursuing your company or industry. It’s a great opening question that could lead to identifying an interviewee’s personal goals and aspirations.
2. “What is your most recent professional success story?” This question showcases a workplace achievement and reveals how the candidate defines success. From getting a project approved to helping coach a teammate, determine the accomplishments they take pride in.
3. “If you could create your ideal workplace, what would that look like?” Yes, it’s essential for you to be happy with the person you hire. Your employee must also be glad they’re working for your company. Very few workers look forward to simply clocking in and punching their cards before every workday. Make sure the candidate you choose is going to enjoy your environment.

Interview questions to assess soft skills

Speaking of positive company cultures, building one involves focusing on soft skills like collaboration, critical thinking, and communication during interviews.

More businesses are currently doing exactly that, with a Harris Poll revealing that 73% of companies value soft skills more than ever. With workplaces becoming more remote, it’s increasingly important that team members “be flexible, adapt to change quickly and be innovative.”

Find employees who adapt, problem-solve, and take the initiative with these sure-fire questions for spotting soft skills:

1. “How do you approach accomplishing a task that’s new to you? How do you explain a new task to a coworker?” This two-parter is a way to evaluate critical thinking skills and understand the candidate’s ability to collaborate and communicate.
2. “Describe a time when results didn’t go as planned. How did you adapt to this change?” Remember that earlier note about the importance of flexibility? This is how you detect if the candidate possesses that quality.
3. “What work process or procedure did you improve in one of your previous positions?” The best team members know how to spot areas for organizational improvement and take productive action to make those updates.

Interview questions to assess abilities and experience

It’s probably a good idea for your new hire to have at least some background in performing your open position's tasks. That may sound obvious, but resumes don’t always reveal the real extent of a candidate’s experience. Interviews represent an important chance to get to the bottom of a jobseeker’s background. They can also help your business bypass some significant risks.

Depending on the position, untrained hires can pose safety threats to themselves, your other employees, and potentially even clients. Productivity is impacted, too. Inexperience lengthens the time until the employee can contribute at a high level. And once they do learn their position, they may realize it’s not for them. Those conclusions impact turnover.

Accurately gauging a candidate’s experience and abilities can prevent you from spending on resources such as training and other costs related to inexperience. Start with these questions to separate your interviewees who have the appropriate skills to fill your open position:

1. “Can you tell me more about that experience?” Single out an accomplishment or a credential from the candidate’s time with a previous employer and ask to hear more about it.
2. “What specific skills did you pick up during your most recent job?” How the candidate responds should match the skills required for your position.
3. “What was your biggest technical challenge in your last job? How did you overcome it?” Find out if the candidate knows the industry and how they confront challenges. This question allows the candidate to speak to their process and troubleshooting skills.

For more information:

You can find more tips on growing your small business at BBB.org

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To review this article and hyperlinked references in full, visit: https://www.bbb.org/article/business/27386-bbb-business-tip-interview-questions-to-help-your-hiring-decisions

BBB Great West + Pacific contributed this article.