Unconventional and Useful Interview Questions To Use for a Job Applicant

Anyone that has interviewed for a job or conducted an interviewed has asked/answered one of the following questions; Why do you want to work here? What is your greatest strength? What is your greatest weakness? We have also received/given the same canned, over rehearsed answers to those same questions plus others like them. Basically, the job interview has become just like a televised political debate, the only way to make news is to screw up so horribly that you become legend. Answering "heroin use" to any of the three questions above would qualify you for this status.

Unfortunately for employers, few applicants have the decency to fail so spectacularly in interviews. So at the end of the day you've wasted a whole lot of time and are no closer to knowing who is the best fit for your open position. Happily for you I am here to help. The following are three interview questions that I have used successfully in the past and are virtually guaranteed not to show up in any interview prep guide. The answers they will elicit will be real answers that will show the real person sitting across the table from you. Will they give you an insight into the job seeker's qualifications? No, and they are not designed to do that. You have resumes and references to screen the unqualified. These questions are to get an idea of how the person will fit into your company. I've found that to be at least as important to an employee's success as any other quality. I find it useful to try and get all three into the conversation, but really any one will suffice.

What are reading now? Or What is your favorite book? - I use this one to assess the applicant's desire for knowledge and learning. If the response is "I don't really read much", then I have a pretty good idea that this person is not what I would call naturally curious. Sure, you can get a lot of information from TV and the internet, but if you haven't read a book since college then you are probably not the sort of person that is going to really jump in and learn everything you can about your new job. On the plus side, a person that reads will usually light up at this question and I can learn what they are really passionate about. That is invaluable when trying to figure out whether they will fit with my team or not. Now some may worry that visual learners would be penalized by this question and that may so to a degree. It is important to keep in mind that this is but one question of many. I am not implying that this is the deciding question, but it does help to expose the intellectually lazy.

What was the last thing you learned? - This question is to find out if they are constantly improving themselves. Most people learn new things all the time, from how to install a faucet to how to speak a foreign language. This also helps those that are more visually inclined to recover from the book question. Maybe they don't read much, but they love to watch the DIY Network and learn about home improvement. The point is that they never stopped learning just because they left school. Again, it helps to separate those that will do the minimum and expend the least amount of effort from those that will put in the time to become good at their job.

What is your favorite movie? - The point of this question is to get them talking and to get them out of "interview mode" for a just a little while. It can allow you to make a real connection with them which is important if your are going to spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with this person. I can tell much about a person by what their entertainment preferences are. Are they a fan of screwball comedy? Period drama? Action pictures? Sometimes they will surprise you with their response and that is a good thing. I remember one woman who couldn't get enough of action movies. We had a great conversation about the Terminator series and she showed a real passion. I never would have seen that if I had asked her what she didn't like about her last job, and that is really the point of unconventional questions.