Interview questions to ask potential candidates

Does anyone have some suggestions on questions we can ask candidates who are interviewing for a job where employees are going to go on strike in the coming months.

 

An example that I am looking for is something like "Have you ever worked in a Union before"

Thanks

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  • 4 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • See the attached document if it helps you in any way.

    Thanks
    Pawan



  • BACKGROUND
    REVIEW





    Application/Resume



    The
    following questions are designed to confirm the information on the
    candidate’s resume. Verify the address and phone numbers with
    information provided by Human Resource Services. If there are
    changes, advise the candidate to update his or her resume in Human
    Resource Services with the correct information.



    Educational
    Background



    1. What
      is the highest level of education you have received?



    1. List
      all degrees you have earned. Give the name of the institution from
      which each degree was earned and the field of study of each degree.



    1. List
      any other education or training relevant to the (position title)
      position.



    Employment
    Background



    1. Who
      is your present or most recent employer?



    1. What
      are/were your major responsibilities at (present/most recent job)?



    1. Discuss/determine
      skills and level of expertise related to (position title). (Insert
      specific questions).



    1. Which
      skills have you acquired in your present or previous positions that
      make you competitive for this position?



    1. What
      do/did you like best about that position? What do/did you like
      least?


    2. Which
      accomplishments in your present position are you proud of and why?



    1. Why
      are you planning to/did you leave that position?



















    INITIATIVE





    Following
    is a list of sample questions designed to gather information about an
    individual’s ability to identify tasks that need to be done without
    specifically being told to do them.



    1. Have
      you found any ways to make your job easier or more rewarding?



    1. What
      do you do differently from other people in the same position?



    1. Have
      you ever recognized a problem before your boss or others in the
      organization? How did you handle it?



    1. What
      do you do in your job that is not covered in your job description?



    1. We’ve
      all had occasions when we were working on something that just
      “slipped through the cracks.” Can you give me some examples of
      when this happened to you? Cause? Result?



    1. In
      your past experience, have you noticed any process or task that was
      being done unsafely (incorrectly)? How did you discover it or come
      to notice it?



    1. Are
      you doing a good job? How do you know?



    1. Give
      me some examples of doing more than required in your job?



    1. Can
      you think of some projects or ideas (not necessarily your own) that
      were carried out successfully primarily because of your efforts?



    1. What
      new ideas or suggestions have you come up with at work?



    1. This
      job requires much time working alone. Tell me about a job or
      project where you worked unsupervised and were given only general
      guidelines for job/project completion.



    1. Have
      you found any ways to make other employees’ jobs easier or more
      rewarding?



    1. What
      career accomplishments are you most proud of?



    1. What
      did you do to change the aspects of your job that you dislike?








    STRESS
    TOLERANCE





    Following
    is a list of questions designed to provide information relating to an
    individual’s stability of performance under pressure. These
    questions are not designed to rate a person’s stress level. They
    are designed to give the interviewer an idea of how the applicant has
    reacted to past stressful situations.





    1. What
      pressures do you feel in your job? How do you deal with them?



    1. Describe
      the highest pressure situations you have been under recently. How
      did you cope with them?



    1. Tell
      me how you maintain constant performance while under time and work
      load pressures.



    1. Describe
      times in the past year when you have been most upset with yourself
      at work.



    1. Describe
      times in the past year when you have been most upset with someone
      else at work.



    1. Describe
      the last time a person at work (customer, co-worker, boss) became
      irritated or lost his/her temper. What did they do? How did you
      respond? What was the outcome?



    1. Tell
      me about some situations in which you became frustrated or impatient
      when dealing with (customers, co-workers, boss). What did you do?



    1. In
      your career, what has been your greatest disappointment?



    1. We’ve
      all lost our temper at one time or another. Describe for me the
      last time you lost your temper. What had occurred? How did you
      respond?



    1. Give
      me an example of when your ideas were strongly opposed by a
      co-worker or supervisor. What was the situation? What was your
      reaction? What was the result?























    PLANNING
    AND ORGANIZING





    Following
    is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
    individual’s ability to schedule work and handle multiple tasks.





    1. How
      do you organize your day?



    1. How
      often is your time schedule upset by unforeseen circumstances? What
      do you do when that happens? Tell me about a specific time.



    1. Describe
      a typical day ... a typical week. (Interviewer, listen for planning)



    1. How
      do you establish priorities in scheduling your time? Give examples.



    1. What
      is your procedure for keeping track of items requiring your
      attention?



    1. What
      did you do to get ready for this interview?



    1. We
      have all had times when we just could not get everything done on
      time. Tell me about a time that this happened to you. What did you
      do?



    1. Tell
      me how you establish a course of action to accomplish specific
      long-and-short term goals.



    1. Do
      you postpone things? What are good reasons to postpone things?



    1. Give
      me some examples of projects or tasks where you postponed immediate
      action. Why?



    1. How
      do you catch up on an accumulated backlog of work after a vacation
      or conference?



























    TECHNICAL
    AND/OR POSITION SPECIFIC





    Following
    is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
    individual’s past work experience, duties, and working conditions
    which are similar to those of the position for which the individual
    is being considered.





    1. What
      training have you received in ____________________?



    1. Describe
      how the process can best be performed. Have you discovered any
      shortcuts? How do they work?



    1. Describe
      your experience with the following tools and equipment.
      (Interviewer, list job related tool).



    1. Walk
      me through the procedures you would follow to_______________.



    1. What
      equipment have you been trained to operate? When/where did you
      receive that training?



    1. What
      equipment did you operate in your job at ___________________?



    1. Describe
      your experience performing the following tasks. (Interviewer, list
      job related tasks).



    1. What
      job experiences have you had that would help you in this position?



    1. How
      do you follow the prescribed standards of safety when performing
      (task) _________________?



    1. Have
      you ever identified potential malfunctions of equipment? How did
      you discover the potential malfunction? What did you do to correct
      the problem?



    1. Being
      a ________________________ certainly requires a lot of technical
      knowledge. How did you go about getting it? How long did it take
      you?



    1. Do
      you consider your technical abilities basic, intermediate, or
      advanced?



    1. On
      a scale of one to ten, ten being you are a perfect technical match
      or this position, where would you rank yourself?



    1. What
      would you add to or subtract from your technical background to make
      you more qualified for this position?





    WORK
    STANDARD





    Following
    is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
    individual’s personal standard of performance.





    1. What
      are your standards of success in your job? What have you done to
      meet these standards?



    1. Bosses
      sometimes are not satisfied with the way we do certain things or
      complete certain projects. Can you give me some examples of when
      this happened to you?



    1. What
      do you consider the most important contribution your department has
      made to this organization? What was your role?



    1. What
      factors, other than pay, do you consider most important in
      evaluating yourself or your success?



    1. Everyone
      has to bend or break the rules sometime. Can you give me some
      examples of when you had to do this?



    1. When
      judging the performance of others, what factors or characteristics
      are most important to you?



    1. Describe
      the time you worked the hardest and felt the greatest sense of
      achievement.



    1. Tell
      me about a time when you weren’t very pleased with your work
      performance. Why were you upset with your performance? What did you
      do to turn around your performance?



    1. We’ve
      all had to work with people who are very difficult to get along
      with. Give me an example of when this happened to you. Why was the
      person difficult? How did you handle the person? What was the
      result?



    1. When
      have you declined a work-related decision? Why?

















    TEAMWORK





    Following
    is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to a
    person’s ability to work and get along with others.





    1. We’ve
      all had to work with someone who is very difficult to get along
      with. Give me an example of when this happened to you. Why was
      that person difficult? How did you handle that person?



    1. When
      dealing with individuals or groups, how do you determine when you
      are pushing too hard? How do you determine when you should back
      off? Give an example.



    1. From
      time to time, all of us are confronted by someone who wastes our
      time at work. Tell me about some situations like that. What did you
      do?



    1. How
      do you go about developing rapport (relationships) with individuals
      at work?



    1. Give
      me some examples of when one of your ideas was opposed in a
      discussion. How did you react?



    1. Describe
      a situation when you found yourself dealing with someone very
      sensitive. What happened?



    1. Describe
      some situations when you wished you had acted differently with
      someone at work.



    1. Tell
      me, specifically, what you have done to show you are a team player
      at ______________.



    1. We
      all have ways of showing consideration for others. What are some
      things you’ve done to show concern or consideration for a
      co-worker?



    1. When
      did you last lose your temper at work? Describe the reasons. What
      was the outcome?



    1. How
      do you keep your employees informed with what is going on in the
      organization?



    1. What
      methods do you use to keep informed with what is going on in your
      area?









    COMMUNICATION
    SKILLS






    Following
    is a list of sample questions designed to gather information relating
    to an individual’s communication skills. This section also
    includes observations to be made during the interview.



    Interviewer’s
    Observations



    A.
    Consider if the applicant is able to express himself/herself
    effectively and in a well-organized manner.



    B.
    Observe whether the applicant has good eye contact.



    C.
    Consider whether the applicant’s grammar, sentence structure, etc.
    are appropriate to the requirements of the position.





    These
    questions should be customized to fit your position. Normally, only
    two or

    three
    questions would be used:



    1. We’ve
      all had occasions when we misinterpreted something that someone told
      us (like a due date, complicated instructions, etc.) Give me a
      specific example of when this happened to you. What was the
      situation? Why was there a misinterpretation? What was the
      outcome?



    1. What
      kind of reports/proposals have you written? Can you give me some
      examples?



    1. Give
      an example of when you told someone to do something, and they did it
      wrong. What was the outcome?



    1. What
      reports that you are currently preparing (or recently prepared) are
      the most challenging and why?



    1. What
      kinds of presentations have you made? Can you give me some
      examples? How many presentations do you make a year?



    1. Give
      me an example from your past working experience where you had to
      rely on information given to you verbally to get the job done.



    1. What
      different approaches do you use in talking with different people?
      How do you know you are getting your point across?



    1. What
      is the worst communication problem you have experienced? How did
      you handle it?





    LEADERSHIP





    Following
    is a list of questions designed to gather information relating to an
    individual’s utilization of appropriate interpersonal styles and
    methods in guiding individuals or a group toward task accomplishment.





    1. Tell
      me about a time you had to take a firm stand with a co-worker. What
      was the situation? What was difficult about the co-worker? What
      was the firm stand you had to take?



    1. Describe
      how you instruct someone to do something new. What were you
      training them to do? Walk me through how you did it.



    1. Tell
      me about a time you had to win approval from your co-workers for a
      new idea or plan of action.



    1. Tell
      me about a new idea or way of doing something that you came up with
      which was agreed to by the boss. What did you do to get it to the
      right person? What did you do to get the boss to agree? Be
      specific.



    1. Describe
      any supervisory or leadership training, schooling, or work
      experience you have had and its relevance to this position.



    1. Give
      a specific example of something you have done that demonstrates you
      are a team player.



    1. What
      leadership skills and experience do you have that would qualify you
      as an effective leader? Be specific.



    1. What
      are your long-and-short term plans for your department? Are they in
      writing?



























    JOB
    MOTIVATION





    Following
    is a list of questions designed to help identify an applicant’s
    motivation to do the type of work the position requires. The intent
    is not to see if they had good motivation/satisfaction in their
    previous jobs, but to see if the types of things they enjoy doing
    will be available in this position. For example, if a person said he
    enjoyed his last job because he liked to work outside and with people
    doing different things all of the time, a desk job in accounting
    would probably not provide high satisfaction.





    1. What
      do you like best (least) about your job as a _______________________
      ?



    1. What
      were/are your reasons for leaving _________________________________?



    1. Give
      me some examples of experience in your job at ________________that
      were satisfying? Dissatisfying? Why?



    1. What
      gave you the greatest feeling of achievement in your job at
      ______________? Why?



    1. Give
      me an example of when you worked the hardest and felt the greatest
      sense of achievement.



    1. All
      jobs have their frustrations and problems. Describe specific job
      conditions, tasks, or assignments that have been dissatisfying to
      you. Why?



    1. Give
      me some examples of past working experience that you have found
      personally satisfying.



    1. What
      are some recent responsibilities you have taken on? Why did you
      assume these responsibilities?



    1. Tell
      me about the most boring job or task you have had. Why was it
      boring? What did you do about it? How did you handle the boredom?



    1. Tell
      me about a time when the duties and responsibilities available in a
      specific position overlapped with duties and responsibilities that
      brought you personal satisfaction.



    1. Why
      do you want to be a _____________________________ (title of
      position)?



    1. Why
      did you choose this (career, type of work)?



    1. What
      job values are important to you?



  • NLRA section 8(a)(3) makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate in hiring on the basis of a person’s union sympathies. So -- I would avoid any questions that pertain to unions.
  • [quote user="KMoore1"]NLRA section 8(a)(3) makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate in hiring on the basis of a person’s union sympathies. So -- I would avoid any questions that pertain to unions.[/quote]

    Bingo.

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