ok as i said yesterday i was going to give up some of my interview questions that i used over the past few days and a few from my partner in crime. The faces that we got at times were more then a little difficult not to laugh at. I will say i am not going to give any names or particular details as i dont feel like getting my ass sued. But i feel by putting this information out there i can help any future souls that dare apply for a job with me.
First and foremost lets start with the resume.
I dont expect everyone to be an english major or be really eloquent because I am not. Take your time and give me something that shows that you want to impress me not something that looks like you tried to write it while taking a shit. There were quite a few that my eight year old could have done better. On the other side there were 3 -4 that really impressed me. They put a lot of time into the resume and thier work ethic showed in a major way.
Next the pretest - we required everyone and i mean everyone to take to prescreening tests. Nothing major or truly difficult if you knew the job you were applying for. In this we actually had a few people that i am pretty sure they had someone else take the test for them. Dumbass i guess they did not know they were going to be stuck in a room with 2 computer geeks for the interview.
THE INTERVIEW -
now i must say this just to get this out of the way. There were purposely thrown in a few questions just to see if they woudl lie to me or not. I dont claim to be a major pro at this but i can generally spot someone lying a mile away. Eye movement and body language are always the give aways. The eye movement is the first if you can not keep eye contact with me when i ask you Have you ever tried drugs then i am pretty sure you are lying to me. I could really care less if you did it when you were younger just dont do it now period. The other is the body language, when you reach up and touch your ear, nose, or cover your mouth you are LYING. I know this to be a fact sorry tough shit i am unforgiving in this. The other item as far as body langauge is two things if you do not sit all the way back in your chair and you are sitting on the edge like you cant wait to leave. WARNING WARNING they are hiding something. The next item it by crossing your arms that is the signal i am being defensive right off the bat. Lastly one this section if i am looking you in the eye be polite enough to keep eye contact. Now for the questions.
first i will give my partner in crimes questions as i thought bother were very very good questions even though i gave him hell over one lol.
1. if you could be any animal what would you be and why?
now there is no correct answer but this does give you some insight as to the person. and as to thier mental state i am not going to go into all of the answers i got but i did get one that i had not heard before and that was a zebra along with a good reason i was very impressed.
2. in detail tell me how you would make a ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce and mayo? now this is a fairly simple one that about everyone missed but it is purely an exercise in detail and also to see how you work with odd questions on the spot. You would not believe how many people forgot to tell us to get the bread out of the cabinet or bread box.
now for my questions i am going to skip all the standard ones that you hear from every interview. I will start first with the questions that are purely in there for throw off questions or lead to the psychology of a person.
1. what is your favorite color? there is a reson to this madness
2.what is your greatest accomplishment? this one is fairly easy for everyone to answer but i am looking for more then the scripted answers interact with me tell me a little story something.
3. what is your greatest failure? this question i asked for the reason to see if a person was able to admit that they have made mistakes in thier life it shows a certain level of maturity.
4. what time do you get up in the morning ? this tells alot about the persons works habits and thier jobs in the past.
5. two reasons i shoudl hire you? now this one is pretty standard but there is a reason to the madness and leads to my next question.
6. give me two reasons i should not hire you? this is the deer in the headlight question. Most people looked at me like i was 3 shades of crazy or why in chirst name woudl i give you reasons not to hire me. The reason for this once again is a maturity thing. If you can not be honest with yourself about your weak points then how can i expect for you to be honest with me.
there were many more questions but only these were odd or freshly used questions. I must state as much as every candidate was nervous so were my partner in crime and i. This was something that literally took it out of us and wore us out. This is never an easy process. You sometimes come down to a list of people that you just dont want to cut down you wish you could hire 3 - 4 because they were all very good and were very impressive. But there are always alot of factors that come into in the interview process. I dont look forward to the next time we have to do this and honestly dread having to fire someone much more than this.
I just want to give some people pointers for the interviewing world and i hope this helps at least one person.
