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The Interview

Pre-Interview Preparations
Interview Process
Types of Interview Questions
Standard Interview Questions
Difficult Interview Questions and Responses
Schedule of Interview Workshops

Types of Interview Questions

1. Verifying Credentials – Objective measurements
   “What was your GPA?” and “How long were you at this job?”
2. Verifying Experience– Subjective evaluation
   “What did you learn in that class?” and “What were your responsibilities in that position?”
3. Opinion questions – Subjectively analyzing your response to scenarios
   “What would you do in this situation?” and “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
4. Are you capable of thinking on your feet?
   “What animal would you like to be?” and “What color best describes you?”
5. Math questions – Evaluating mental calculation skills and creative ability to formulate an estimate
   "What is 100 divided by 73?" to "How many ping pong balls could fit in a car?"
6. Problem-solving ability and how you analyze and work through potential case situations
   "How many gas stations are there in Europe?" to "What is your estimate of the global online retail market for books?"
7. Behavioral questions – Anticipate future behavior based on past behavior
   “Can you give me a specific example of how you did that?” and “What were the steps you followed to accomplish that task?”
8. Competency questions – Align past behavior with specific competency required for the position
   "Can you give me a specific example of your leadership skills?" or "Explain a way in which you sought a creative solution to a problem."

• The first four interview questions have a 10% predictive validity for on the job success.
• The predictive validity of success for behavioral and competency interviewing is about 55%.
• Past performance is the most reliable indicator of future success.  For that reason, trained interviewers rely heavily on behavioral and competency interview questions to best predict future behavior.  
• Interview questions target behaviors that provide the highest correlation with the required competencies for highly predictive positive results.
• Focus on skill areas that are most important to the hiring manager

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