Are You Asking The Right Questions
By Drue Lawlor, FASID
Director of Coaching at DSU
Whether interviewing for a virtual assistant or for someone who will be working in your office, making the decision about who to hire is critical. They need to fit into the culture of your firm and, depending on their job, being a team player might be key.
Getting well organized before you begin to look for someone will pay off in the long run. So first you want to write out a detailed job description. If you don’t identify what the duties involve, then how will you find the right fit?
Second, be sure to ask the right questions and ask open-ended questions, that can’t be answered with just a “yes” or “no”. Here are some examples of questions that should tell you a bit more about the applicant.
Why are you interested in working for our firm?
What’s your greatest accomplishment? This gives them an opportunity to share a little about themselves.
What did you enjoy most about your previous job? You may gain some insight into what kind of employee they will be.
Ask them to share one of their greatest challenges at their previous job — and how did they handle that challenge? If they have not had a paying job, you can have them use their community involvement/volunteer “jobs”
Would you call yourself a team player? Or you might ask “Do you prefer working alone or in a team?” If they say “yes they are a team player” ask for a specific example of their collaboration abilities. If they prefer to work alone, that might fit your job description but you want to still ask can they work with a team when needed and ask them to give an example of how they have done so?
Give them a situational question: something like, “The contractor we always use, whose wife is in the hospital with a serious illness, incorrectly measured for the tile so the job will be delayed a week while additional tile is ordered. What would you tell the client who is expecting completion in two days?” If their answer throws the contractor under the bus by telling the client it was the contractor’s fault, then that should be a red flag. You want a team player and the contractor is part of the team. I would discuss your problem with their answer as even if you do not hire this person it will be a learning experience for them.
And finally, “Do you have any questions for me?” Salary or vacation time as one of the first questions is a red flag! And if they don’t realize it, then that shows they have not taken the time to learn about the interviewing process in order to do well – they have not put in the extra time.
Be sure that you put in the time to prepare before you even list the job opening. After all, your firm’s team becomes like extended family — and you often spend more time with them than your actual family!
