“What’s your biggest weakness?” and “Where do you see yourself in five years?” are two examples of interview questions that have been asked for years. While these questions once were thought to give hiring managers insight into their job candidate’s career goals, they are now a bit outdated. Read on to find out three types of questions you should be asking now.

Interview questions should trigger truthful answers. The best way to get to the truth is to ask behavioral-style questions. A candidate’s answer to this question will provide insight into their skill set and professional experience.

The notion of the behavioral interview is that past job performance will predict a candidate’s future behavior. It will also demonstrate if a candidate will be a good cultural fit with your company.

The formula for these questions is:

• Standard question (“Tell me a time when you…”)

Behaviors you want to see in an employee (organized, autonomous, etc.) + An example of a real-life work situation = A great behavioral-based question

These questions are intended to test how a candidate thinks on their feet. True color questions are unexpected questions that candidate are unlikely to have heard in the past.

Once you get the concept of true color questions, you may come up with your own. Until then, here are a few examples.

• What is a favorite app on your phone right now?
• If I asked you to assemble a piece of Ikea furniture, what steps would you take?
• When do you feel that you are doing your best work?
• How did you get to this stage of your career?
• Give me your personal definition of success.

Questions about the future cause the candidate to think. Adding certain words like “will” and “would you” transform a question and can shift the candidate’s mindframe. Doing so, according to Salt Lake City recruiting experts, increases the likelihood that the candidate will give more genuine answers.

Remember that the goal of interviews is to gather information on candidates that will help you make the best hiring decisions. Getting the candidate to think on their feet will show you if the candidate will be a good fit with your organization. Take the time to carefully craft your interview questions and you’ll increase the chances of finding your next employee of the month!

The Salt Lake City recruiting and executive search team at Recruiting Connection can help you connect with Utah’s best job candidates. Give us a call to start the conversation at 801-278-1200 or click the button below.