Having the right skill set isn’t enough to make someone right for a job. As an employer in the material handling industry, you will interview many people with the right skills and background. However, soft skills and cultural alignment are what set great candidates apart. Unfortunately, many generic interview questions hiring managers ask do not provide real insight. The best advice about interviewing you can get is to customize the question list to gauge the candidate’s emotional intelligence. Here are some questions you want to ask candidates.
If You’re Failing at this Job One Year from Now, What Might be the Reason?
One way to gain insight into a candidate’s emotional intelligence is to see how they react to failure. Listen closely when a candidate talks about their failures in the past and weaknesses they still have. Self-awareness is at the heart of success. Someone who understands that great people still fail will learn from mistakes and become better. Someone who breaks down at the first sign of failure is not going to be a good employee. You want to find candidates who view failures as opportunities.
How Do You Respond When People on Your Team Are Struggling?
You want to ask about approaches to teamwork early in the interview. These types of questions will tell you a lot about the candidate’s attitude and interpersonal skills. You can also ask about a time they had a conflict with a colleague. These types of questions will tell you a lot about the candidate’s attitude and interpersonal skills. You don’t want an employee who stirs up drama and can’t be a team player. You want someone who will build up the other team and positively influence the team.
What Do You Think Will Keep You Here?
You also want to see what your candidate cares about. The interview is your first opportunity to find out what type of praise and benefits are important for a potential team member. Not everyone likes the same type of praise or incentives. Utilizing this insight can help you better lead current and future employees.
Finding a candidate who checks all the right boxes on paper is easy. But you can’t tell if someone’s a good fit by looking at only their resume and cover letter. You want someone who will have self-awareness, support their team, and happy to contribute to the mission.
ABOUT PIONEER SEARCH GROUP
We recruit the old fashioned way. That’s what makes us different. We use a personalized selection We use a personalized selection process to match individuals with employers. We are skilled recruiters who know how to find someone who isn’t necessarily looking for a new opportunity. Know what you’re looking for in an employee? We’ll find it! To learn more about how Pioneer Search Group can help you, contact us.
