The only 3 interview questions that really matter

There are many interview questions you can ask candidates and here are AER’s top 3 you should consider:

  1. Have they got the skills, expertise, experience or aptitude to perform the job?
    Competency questions: To align past behaviours with specific competencies which are required for the role. This type of question includes “Can you give me a specific example of your leadership skills?” or “Explain a way in which you sought a creative solution to a problem”.
    Behavioural questions: To objectively measure past behaviours as a predictor of future results. “Describe a time when you confronted [insert a difficult problem or situation here]…” is a typical way for these kinds of questions to begin. These questions ask a candidate to reach back into their own history. They often deal less with particular skill sets, and more with their personality and how they confronted interpersonal interactions or work situations.
    Situational questions: These questions are similar to behavioural questions; however they compel candidates to speak about how they’d deal with a particular issue in the future. These questions might begin with, “How would you respond to [insert a particular situation or problem here]?”
  2. Will they fit into the team, culture and company?
    Culture-based questions
    : Help determine the candidates’ values and motivators, and compare them to your organisational values. A key question to use is: Tell me about your ideal company culture? Describe your ideal work/team environment? Do this before you talk about your company culture.

3. Are they enthusiastic and interested in the job and the company?
This can be gauged by the candidates body language; eye contact, smile, questions asked, hand shake and follow up contact post interview