Job Interview: Ask These 6 Questions to Find a SuperStar

Hiring people is always a stressful but interesting process. Hiring good employees is mostly hard. There are lots of flags that can show if you will be able to work together productively and for a long time or not. Outside of the standard interview sessions, test tasks, etc. never forget about your gut feel . If something doesn’t feel right or you’re not absolutely sure about hiring a person, then say no, just do it.

It will take longer to hire the right employees, but you want to build a company full of people that are right for their roles and are interested in the project, instead of people that came along at the right time.

So, how how to tell if you’re hiring the right people? Ask these six questions:

1. What do you like about our business? If there’s something you don’t like, how’d you change it?

This question shows two things. 1. It gives you insight into how candidates will describe verbally things they don’t like. Will it be the fast answer or not. Will he/she talk about problems too much or just the right amount of time. Always look for people who talk just a little bit about the problem and mostly about the solution.

2. Which book are you currently reading?

It’s a great question to check if the person is interested in reading at all (we live in the era where it’s a questionble). Moreover, it shows which books the person likes the most (if a candidate thinks too much — the answer probably won’t be honest). Passionate people tend to read books or listen to audio books to improve their skills. Whether the books are specific to a skill such as sales, front-end development, etc. or they’re reading a book focused on self-development doesn’t matter, it’s a good sign.

I’m all in with fiction books but if a candidate hasn’t read an educational book for a while, that’s a bad sign. Superstars are always looking to improve their skills, find out more useful information.

3. Tell me about a problem you were tasked with solving in your previous job. What did you do?

With this question you’ll be able to see problem solving and creative thinking skills or lack of it. Was the approach thoughtful or did they pass it on to someone else?

4. What’s the one thing you’ve accomplished in your career that you’re most proud of?

This gives you insight into how they define success. If they were promoted several times in their previous role during a two-year period, then you may have met a potential superstar.

5. Have you played any team sports before?

You all know what is it about. Be aware of which role the person plays in a team is crucial for businesses. People who play team sports such as basketball are driven, focused on achieving goals and physically fit, which helps keep their mind in peak condition. Generally, they will also be great communicators, cope well under pressure and perform well during team events.

6. What do you do for fun?

Balance is an important part of success, and physical fitness, relationships contribution, travelling, and learning are important too.

As an example, if someone goes to the swimming pool two days a week, volunteers on Saturdays and is learning French “just for themselves,” then it’s fair to say they value achievement, goal setting and are continually looking to improve themselves. This will translate into their job.

All in all, look at every aspect of candidates’ lives to see what they like to do and what they hate — and decide whether these factors matter to your business or not. Pay attention not only on the words they say, but on their behaviour during interview too: calm and appropriately relaxed voice and posture can say a lot.

Where to find great specialists?

There are actually much more options than usual Linkedin posting. For modern and proactive people who have their hands on the pulse with technology and are ready to take the next step in their careers we created Aworker — the platform that helps to find the most suitable company and job position based on their professional background, work-related skills, and achievements. Aworker users are no longer tied up to one job, company, city or even continent so all your connections from all over the world will be counted. The catch here is that you have to prove the data you write about by attaching certificates or other verifying documents.

Anyone can get a reward by recommending a friend or acquaintances for open positions (they’ll be rewarded even if they won’t get a job after the interview). All your acquaintances from internships, part-time jobs, webinars, and other professional events will be able to prove your skills and achievements at work. To find out more about the project, visit this page.

I wish you all to find your Superstars. If you are the one — you’re awesome! Keep improving!