Find Out How Skilled a Job Candidate Really Is
11 years ago - April 19, 2013
The point of a job interview is to make sure the candidate has the necessary skills to do the work. But aside from references, how can you determine if a potential employee actually knows what he claims to know? Here are two tips for finding out how deep a person’s knowledge and experience goes:
- Ask “how” and “why.” When an interviewee relays a success story, drill down to understand as much as you can. Keep asking, “How did you do that?” or “Why?” until you get to a question the candidate can’t answer. This isn’t always comfortable but it will shed light on his true capabilities.
- Bring in a fellow interviewer. With two people conducting the interview, one of you can focus on asking the right questions and the other can listen attentively to responses.
