How to interview people using personality discovery questions. May 16 2018

How to interview people using personality discovery questions. What do you think are some good personality discovery questions?

Building your team is the most important process you undertake as a leader. Does your team gel and complement each other? Are they all pulling their weight? If not, you need to make a change.

Finding the right people for your team can take awhile, takes patience and determination. It can take years to build the perfect team. It’s very important to make adjustments as deficiencies reveal themselves. Don’t hesitate.

Your team defines and decides your success as a leader. As you uncover those bad apples that bring the team down, don’t wait to replace them. It costs way more in the long run.

Sometimes we need to go through as many as ten people to find the right person that enhances your team. Do it. Spend the time and the money. Make a plan and stick to it. Don’t give up.  

Write down exactly what you want in a team member. Be specific. Do you want the person to have resilience? What hard and soft skills do you want them to have? Hard skills are things like computer skills or specific trade skills. Soft skills are things like communication skills and reliability.

Plan your interviews and questions to uncover those skills. You could make up little quizzes to test hard skills.

You can plan some personality discovery questions that uncover their true soft skills.

Personality discovery questions often start with; “Tell me about a time when…” Here are 15 to consider:

1. Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with a co-worker. What happened? How did you resolve it?
2. Tell me about a time when you had an irate customer. What happened? How did you resolve it?
3. What were the biggest challenges you faced in your previous position?
4. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss. What happened? How did you resolve it?
5. Tell me about a time when you were inappropriately corrected in a work situation. What specifically happened? What was your response?
6. Tell me about the boss you had that you most respected and why:
7. Tell me about the boss you had that you least respected and why:
8. Tell me about a time when you were late for work. What happened? How did you handle it? How did your supervisor handle it?
9. Tell me about a process or procedure you put in place to improve the efficiency or accuracy of your job:
10. Tell me about a time when you had to rely on a co-worker to complete a project. How did it go?
11. Tell me about a time when failed to complete a task on time. What happened? How did you resolve it?
12. What interests you most about this job and what type of work is your favorite
13. What was your reason for leaving last position?
14. Are you flexible? Willing to do more than one job?
15. We understand that people learn in different ways. What kind of learner are you? Do you learn easiest by listening, or by being shown? Do you learn quickly by reading?

Don’t forget to check the references and ask about soft and hard skills. Plan your questions for references. Compare what they said in the interview. Compare what they wrote on their resume. Don’t just check personal references. Phoning past employers (supervisors) are the most important reference checks.