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So if you’re looking to hire for a customer-facing tech position, this is the blog for you.
By conducting a behavioral-based interview, you are able to learn about the candidate by reading between the lines. Yes, that’s super cliche, read between the lines, but it’s true. For example, you could ask “Tell me about the last project you were involved with where there were substantial cost/schedule overruns.” The candidate would probably give you a brief overview of the project, and then explain briefly explain how the handled the situation. But what does that answer really tell you? Instead asking, “Think about the last project you were involved with where there were substantial cost/schedule overruns. What was the main cause? What could you our or your team have done differently to reduce the risk of these overruns? Was it the customer’s fault, or yours?” This question encourages the candidate to provide more details, thus enabling you to evaluate how they handled the situation, the outcome, etc.
Another example is asking, “What would you say are your greatest weaknesses?” The candidate likely has an answer rehearsed and is going to say something like “I’ve struggled with time management in the past, but I’ve done this and that to improve.” What does this tell you about the candidate? Well it shows they Googled the same thing you did, and knew you were going to ask a question along those lines. Instead you could ask, “What is the biggest misperception people have of you.” This shows their level of self-awareness and will likely result in a more genuine answer.
Great, so now you have two solid questions to ask during your next interview. What now? Download our free guide for eight more questions to ask when interviewing candidates for a customer-facing tech position. After that, make sure you register for our upcoming webinar on hiring technologies!
