So you took the time to look at your successful employees and identify those characteristics that caused them to work well with your company and fit with your culture.

This week's challenge is to develop questions that will help you identify those characteristics in people you don't even know. You should develop these questions before you even start to review resumes so you know what you're looking for.

There are several different types of questions to ask. First is more of the Did you ever do this on your past job. Questions like this help you get more details about what the candidate has actually listed on their resume (and can help you weed out those who embellished a bit).

Think about the skills that are required in the job you're hiring for. Will this position have to analyze data on a daily basis? Ask them a question like In any of your past jobs, did you ever have responsibility for looking at spreadsheets and finding anomalies? or A large part of the responsibilities of this job is to look at spreadsheets of data and investigate anything that seems abnormal from what you noticed the month before. Does that sound like something that you've had responsibility for in the past? Can you tell me more about your experience with that? Then look at (or if they're on the phone, listen for), their reaction. Does it sound like they are excited by this question because they have a lot of experiences to talk to you about, or do they give some sort of short, vague answer? Does the description of their experiences demonstrate that they have the patience and diligence to dig into data, look for what seems off, and then have the follow-through to find out what happened? Also note that by using the phrase A large part of the job is you're being very upfront with them about what to expect, and giving them ample opportunity to bail out of future interviews because this job may not be a fit with what they are looking for.

When the candidate is answering your questions, don't be shy about asking more probing questions to get what you need. Remember, you're the interviewer, and you're trying to find the best person for your company.

Many candidates will have a tendency to describe a project that they worked on but use the word "we." In 95% of the cases, they're doing it unintentionally because they're not comfortable bragging about their accomplishments, and don't understand that you as the interviewer need to hear exactly what they did. So when a candidate is describing a situation, it's perfectly fine to ask them to clarify exactly what they did. You can say I just want to make sure I have a clear picture of the work you did on this project because it sounds very similar to what we do here. Can you tell me more specifically what you did? Again, this will cull out those who embellished on their resume a bit, and it will give you a feel for the candidate's skill set. If you need someone who is capable of leading projects, but when you ask them to clarify what they did and it boils down to accomplishing several key tasks, but not leading, then you have a decision to make. Do you think that they're at the level when they could lead a project of that size, or is it better for them to get a few more under their belt before you would feel comfortable giving them that responsibility?

Using introductory phrases to your questions like Many times here we have a situation like, or in the past we've had a situation arise where gives the candidate a clear idea of why you are asking the question, alleviates some of their anxiety, and lets them know what they would encounter at your company. Either they will be thinking that this is a good fit for them, or they'll be heading for the door. People don't want to be in the wrong job any more than you want to hire the wrong person. These questions will help both of you to find a mutual fit.

Copyright 2006 Melanie Szlucha