Questions You Should Ask as an Interviewer—Part 2

Interviews can be overwhelming for both the interviewee and the interviewer. As an interviewer, you only have so much time with the candidates to assess their behavior, analytical thinking skills, competencies, problem-solving capabilities, creativity, and more.

If you have read the first part of this article, you may have a better grasp of constructing interview questions to fill IT staffing vacancies. This time, we will dive a bit deeper and help you further filter the questions to arrive at a set that can pick out the best applicant for your company.

Things to Consider When Selecting Questions

As a quick review, there are various types of questions. They include credential verification, experience verification, behavioral, case, competency, and nonsense. There are more types of questions out there, but these are some of the most basic.

It is ideal to add a question from every question type. But if you are pressed for time, you need to consider a few things.

Your IT Staffing Needs

What kind of person do you need for the vacancy? Do they have the technical knowledge and skills required to fulfill the job?

You may want to start with credential and experience verification questions. They can help you evaluate the candidate based on the company’s staffing needs. Then, you can move on to competency, behavioral, and case questions. Competency questions can highlight their capabilities in the field, while behavioral and case questions can support their claim of competence.

Your Ideal Candidate Traits

Does the candidate have the traits that reflect your idea of a good employee? Will the candidate’s character meld harmoniously with the current team?

Behavioral questions that go into a candidate’s traits based on past events can show how they will act in the future. You can ask simple questions like “have you ever been late?” to more complicated ones such as “how did you deal with disagreements with your direct superiors in the past?”

Question Usefulness

Remember that you arrange interviews to get to know the applicant and see how they fit the vacancy. If you feel that you will not get a useful answer to a question, do not ask it.

However, do not easily disregard nonsense questions. They may seem irrelevant to the interview, but they can help ease the tension, especially if you or your interviewee is nervous. You cannot expect to get good responses from an applicant who is too anxious to answer.

More Interview Questions to Ask Applicants

Since you know the basic question types and the considerations to take, you are now prepared to put together a great set of interview questions. If you need a little more inspiration, here are a few more questions you can ask.

• Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
• What event in your past do you wish you could redo?
• What do you think is your greatest strength?
• In your opinion, what do you think is your biggest weakness?
• What do you do when you get unsatisfactory results?
• What makes you think that you are the right candidate for the position?
• Why did you choose to go into IT?
• What IT classes have you taken that you think will help you in this job?
• Have you ever considered working outside of IT?
• What do you think is the most helpful skill you learned while working in IT?
• Do you have skills you wish to improve?
• How do you handle difficult co-workers?

Conclusion

Picking the right person to fill an IT staffing vacancy in your company is a daunting task. You need to choose a person with the necessary technical knowledge and skills while ensuring they can work harmoniously in a new environment.

An interview is an excellent way to assess an applicant properly. If you have a valuable set of questions, choosing the candidate who perfectly fits your company is relatively easier.

Technical Paradigm is one of the most trusted IT staffing firms in Chicago. We have connected hundreds of companies with top IT talents. Team up with us today and get the IT staffing solutions you need!