In this lesson, you learn how to develop effective behavioral questions and follow-up probes that get behind the resumé to explore a candidate's competency in key areas.
Plain English
Probe . A question or request that seeks specific information, clarification, or confirmation from a candidate being interviewed. Probes may be open or closed, depending on the purpose.
Structured behavioral interviewing is designed to minimize personal impressions and focus instead on a candidate's actions and behaviors. That's important because successful hiring decisions are based on objective behavioral evidence demonstrating a candidate's proficiency with identified job-related skills—not on subjective impressions.
Learning to develop questions that explore a candidate's past behaviors is key. Become proficient at it, and your "successful hire" numbers will start to skyrocket.
One reason that structured behavioral interviewing is so effective is its use of consistent questions. You achieve consistency when you ask the same behavioral questions of each candidate and align each question to a mandatory success factor within a specific skill set.
Whether you're interviewing for chief executive officer or custodian, these are the skill sets that you'll want to consider:
Caution
In developing questions and follow-up probes, remember to keep them focused on the mandatory success factors of the job being sought. As tempting as it may be to wander into more personal areas, avoid doing so. Seeking information unrelated to the job is looking for trouble.
Technical skills (or competencies)
Functional skills
Self-management skills
Interpersonal skills
In Lesson 1, "Analyzing the Position," we discussed the importance of analyzing a job to identify mandatory success factors for each of the skill sets. Once identified, mandatory success factors are weighted by order of importance, and behavioral questions are developed for each factor.
The objective is to discover behavioral evidence of a candidate's level of competency in each of the skills required for success. Follow-up probes are used to ensure that each key skill has been thoroughly explored, and to confirm information or challenge inconsistencies.
Behavioral questions seek responses from candidates based on their real-life work experiences. Each response should demonstrate the practical use of key skills and abilities necessary for success in the job under consideration.
Asking each candidate the same behavioral questions ensures fairness and consistency in the interview process. But more than that, the procedure provides a fair and equitable means of objectively comparing each candidate's qualifications—and protects you from charges of illegal hiring practices.
Prepare open behavioral questions for all identified mandatory success factors. Their purpose is to reveal key behavioral information by encouraging a candidate to talk about past situations in which the use of a particular skill was important.
Plain English
Open behavioral questions . Questions that cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." They require a candidate to discuss at length an incident from the past that required a working knowledge of specific skills.
Because open behavioral questions seek descriptions of real-life personal and interpersonal situations, they usually begin with phrases such as these:
"Tell me about …"
"Describe a time when you …"
"Give me an example of a time in which you …"
"Describe the most significant …"
"What did you do in your last job when …"
"Describe a situation in which you …"
"Relate a personal story in which you …"
"Relate a scenario where you …"
"Narrate a situation in school when you …"
"Describe an opportunity in which you …"
"Tell me about an occasion in which you …"
Tip
Don't worry about silences during the interview, when candidates attempt to think of appropriate behavioral responses to questions. Your questions are not only causing them to think, but to openly discuss areas that may be sensitive.
Occasionally a candidate will have to be prompted to provide more information about a disclosed situation or problem. You can accomplish this by using additional open probes such as these:
"Oh?"
"Tell me more."
"Really?"
"Please go on."
"What happened then?"
"I'd be interested in knowing more about that."
Probes such as these not only encourage a candidate to provide more information, but they also offer assurance that you're listening and interested in what's being said.
Tip
Structured behavioral interviewing is not designed to find a candidate with "all the right answers." In fact, the ideal candidate should be one who demonstrates a steady growth in competence and skill over time. Candidates who are courageous enough to reveal behavior that they now recognize to be faulty demonstrate growth and maturity.
Follow-up probes can be either open or closed, depending on the information that you seek. Open follow-up probes are used to search for further behavioral evidence of a skill, to provide more information about a specific event, or to resolve inconsistencies. Open follow-up probes can also be used to guide a wandering candidate back to the question at hand.
Because they are responsive to information provided by a candidate, open follow-up probes are always impromptu and usually begin with one of these phrases:
"Tell me more about …"
"Help me to understand why …"
"Could you explain …"
"I'd be interested in hearing more about …"
"Let's talk more about …"
"I'd like to return to my original question, which is …"
Closed follow-up probes are used to solicit very specific information. This kind of probe can usually be answered with a "yes" or "no" or with just a few words. Closed follow-up probes are used to obtain confirmation of important information or to clear up misunderstandings. Here are a few examples of closed follow-up probes:
"You said that you have fully qualified for a state license to practice acupuncture?"
"Did I hear you say that you think your present employer is a crook?"
"Is it correct that you graduated from Dartmouth in June of 1992?"
"When do you expect to take your CPA examination?"
"Tell me about a time when you were completely over your head with work on a particular project. How did you deal with the situation?"
The purpose of the question is to assess the candidate's ability to manage time. This question would be asked if being skilled in time management was one of the identified mandatory success factors.
Follow-up probes could include questions such as these:
"That's interesting. Tell me more about what you did to get control of the situation."
"How did you decide which task to do first?"
"What was the outcome of your actions?"
"What could you have done differently?"
"How did the experience change the way you work today?"
Note that the purpose of each of these open follow-up probes is to more fully explore the candidate's personal thoughts, feelings, motivations, and behavior. Questions that begin with "why," "what," or "how" accomplish this objective particularly well.
Use open follow-up probes freely. In fact, it's helpful to continue to probe until you've discovered the result of a given action or learned how the situation turned out. And in some cases, it's entirely appropriate to ask the candidate what could have been done differently or better.
Occasionally follow-up probes make it plain that a candidate is not providing truthful behavioral information at all. ("You indicated in your answer that you began your research project in April of 1994; your resumé, however, indicates that during that period you were a full-time student. Could you please explain further?") Confronted with behavioral questioning, candidates sometimes attempt to fabricate stories rather than to discuss real-life situations. On catching a candidate in a lie, some interviewers politely end the interview and disqualify the candidate from further consideration.
How you handle a deceitful candidate is up to you. But if you elect to continue to interview a candidate who has been untruthful, at the very least make careful note of the situation so that the matter is taken into account in the evaluation phase of the process. Telling boldfaced lies in an interview reveals much about a candidate's character and sense of personal integrity. This kind of information should not be ignored.
At first, this type of question seems tricky and may feel uncomfortable to ask. But the intent of contrary evidence questions is not to trick or trap a candidate, but to drill down to reveal what's behind a candidate's past work experiences. Contrary evidence questions are an effective tool to use in exploring the degree and refinement of a candidate's skills.
Contrary evidence questions have two parts: the first part describes a situation that is somewhat negative; the second part asks for behavioral evidence that demonstrates action taken by the candidate that was contrary to the precipitating situation. The second part of the question is asked only after the first part has been answered. For example:
Interviewer: "What things make you angry?"
After candidates answer the question by telling the interviewer all the things that make them angry, the second part of the question is then asked:
Interviewer: "How do you deal with each of those situations?"
Here are a few more contrary evidence questions to consider:
"Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision about a matter that wasn't covered by a company policy. What did you do?"
"Do you have job-related areas that you need to improve? Tell me about a time that illustrates your need for improvement."
"What experience have you had dealing with subordinates with performance problems? Give me an example of a recent problem and how you resolved it."
"What were the major obstacles that you encountered in your present job? Tell me how you overcame each of them."
At least one contrary evidence question should be included in every structured behavioral interview. The ability to positively impact negative situations is of vital importance. Questions that begin with behavioral negatives tend to take candidates off guard a bit, but result in excellent behavioral evidence that is very valuable.
Another kind of question that provides valuable insight is the continuum question. Continuum questions place candidates between two positive qualities, one of which is an identified mandatory success factor and critical to the successful performance of the job being sought, the other of which is something that may be a commendable skill but not a mandatory success factor for the position.
Here are some examples of effective continuum questions (remember to ask for specific behavioral evidence for the answer):
"On a continuum between being a team player and working independently, where do you see yourself?"
"On a continuum between being a loner and being a people person, where do you fit?"
"On a continuum between hating new technology and loving it, where do you fit?"
Try using a continuum question to explore areas of personal preference. Use follow-up questions to explore responses thoroughly, and don't be afraid to ask for behavioral evidence for the answers provided.
Self-appraisal questions present an opportunity to learn how candidates think others perceive them. Make an effort to include a self-appraisal question in every interview. The question asks a candidate to evaluate how others perceive his or her performance of a mandatory success factor. This can be very revealing.
Here's a typical self-appraisal question:
"If I were to call your present supervisor, how would she describe your ability to meet deadlines on a timely basis?"
And here's a bonus for those who followed my earlier recommendation and already talked with the candidate's supervisor: You'll immediately be able to compare a candidate's response with the actual report of the supervisor. The supervisor may have also provided enough additional information about the candidate's work experience to know whether a more thorough assessment of other key areas is warranted.
But whether you contact references before an interview or afterward, the self-appraisal question is a valuable tool. It will help you assess whether there's congruity in the way candidates think they are perceived, and the way they're actually perceived by those who have supervised them and know them well. Lack of congruity in this regard could mean that the candidate may be out-of-touch with reality in some important way or simply attempting to mislead the interviewer.
Be sure to use follow-up probes to obtain behavioral evidence for a candidate's answer. "Why," "what," and "how" probes will help provide the necessary additional information. Be prepared to learn some interesting and useful information about a candidate using this style of question.
Tip
Some candidates may lack on-the-job experience. In those instances, ask behavioral questions that explore real life experiences from school or from volunteer service. Behavioral evidence of skills used in these settings is also a valid indicator of a candidate's likelihood of success on the job.
Behavioral questions are intended to make candidates think. Responses should tell a complete story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. You should expect stories of this nature to convey a considerable amount of factual detail. In fact, it's the lack of detail that often betrays those who attempt to fabricate behavioral stories.
I recommend using the STAR technique to ensure that a candidate's story is fully probed. Here's how the STAR technique works:
S and T = situation or task . A candidate should talk about a specific situation or task in which they had to use certain skills and abilities to deal with a real problem or concern.
A = action . Find out what actions the candidate took to resolve the situation or perform the task. Actions are important because they reveal the extent of the candidate's ability to use many of the skills required in a new employee. This area requires thorough exploration through the use of follow-up probes.
R = results . Don't forget to find out the result of the candidate's actions. Were the results those that were intended? What could the candidate have done differently or better?
This simple formula will help you explore behavioral situations completely and obtain valuable information about a candidate's ability to use key skills in practical ways. The formula also helps keep interviews focused and on track.
Sometimes, depending on the position, the first round of interviews will result in the selection of candidates for a short list. That means that a second interview eventually needs to take place.
But second interviews can be quite different from the first. A number of strategies work well for second interviews. Each of these strategies attempts to further evaluate a candidate's qualifications by having the candidate become involved in some form of actual work experience.
Plain English
Short list . A list of a few select candidates who achieved the highest scores in an initial interview and have been chosen to continue with the selection process.
In this method of evaluation, candidate finalists are assigned projects. For consistency and fairness, each candidate is assigned the same project.
Projects should require specific criteria and should be based on the job being sought. For example, candidates for a sales manager position might be asked to present a plan for keeping the sales staff motivated. Candidates for a marketing manager position might be asked to develop a strategic marketing plan for a specific product or service.
Assignments have deadlines, and project review assignments are no exception. Candidates usually are allowed no more than two or three days to complete the task. When projects are completed, a second interview is scheduled in which candidates present their work and answer questions from the interview panel. Candidates are evaluated based on the quality and content of their presentations, and the final selection is then made.
The on-the-job trial is a strategy that seems to be increasing in popularity. It offers employers an opportunity to observe a candidate as a functioning part of the unit, department, or division in which the job opening exists.
Candidates are invited to spend a day on the job with various members of the interview panel. During the day, the candidate is asked to perform specific tasks that relate to the highest-rated mandatory success factors.
Observers rate each candidate on demonstrated skill proficiency. But equally important are observations about the manner in which candidates relate to members of the panel and to those with whom they would be working.
The situational problem is an interesting variation on the project review model. Instead of a project, a candidate is assigned a situational problem to solve. Problems are usually complex, requiring several issues to be addressed.
Candidates are asked to solve the situational problem by doing all the things necessary to achieve a favorable result. Candidates may have to write letters or internal memoranda, hold staff meetings, convene brainstorming sessions, or even conduct independent research. Consistency and fairness are maintained by giving the same problem to each of the candidates being evaluated.
Candidates submit their solutions within established deadlines, and their work is evaluated by members of the interview panel. This method of further candidate evaluation requires some planning, but the results are usually well worthwhile.
Asking behavioral questions, which are linked to mandatory success factors, significantly improves your chances of hiring successfully.
Use follow-up probes to seek further behavioral information.
Use contrary evidence questions to explore the degree and refinement of a candidate's skills.
Use continuum questions to explore areas of personal preference.
Use self-appraisal questions to explore whether there's congruity in the way candidates think they are perceived, and the way they are actually perceived by others.
Remember the STAR technique to guide candidates into providing complete answers to behavioral questions.
When second interviews become necessary, consider the project review, on-the-job trial, and situational problem strategies.