In my last post in the corporate world, one of my tasks is to do the final interview for entry-level posts in our account. These are the things I would look for in the answers to the five questions above:
Q1- How personable is the applicant and what are the things about him he values.
As mentioned, everything the interviewer needs to know about the interviewee is more likely in the CV already. If I see an impecable CV, I would love to see also a matching impressive in-person presentation, especially if this is a requirement in the role. If not, this provides me a glimpse on whether the applicant will be a good candidate for higher posts in the future.
Another take away on this question is the understanding of what is important for the applicant. If he mentions familial background, educational wins and achievements, etc, these are clear indication of what he values and may be useful on how the employee will be managed if hired. Example, if he seem to value his academic awards, it may be worthwhile to commend his/her hardwork.
Q2- The applicant has a good understanding of the post and the company
As mind-boggling as it sounds, some applicants would really come in unprepared, with zero to very little knowledge on the post and the company. Although unnecessary, I find that I am giving mental plus points to applicants who took the time to research on the company. This for me shows how much the applicant wants the role, by spending precious hours into research.
Q3- Understanding the personal timelines of the candidate for his career goals,and being transparent on what the company can offer.
There would be candidates who are extremely good, and would be envisioning themselves in a higher role in a year. If this is something the company cannot offer within the timeline viewed, we openly discuss about it and set the proper expectation. On the other hand, there would be candidates who do not aim for promotion at all and are more comfortable in certain roles with less responsibilities. This question also would help in future employee management should the applicant is hired. Additional note on this, unless a contractual post, I would personally prefer candidates who expressed interest in staying with the company for a while, as this would equate to time and $ savings (cost of hire/training).
Q4- A measure on how much the applicant see his worth.
Of course there will be a certain salary bracket the company would have for certain roles, this indicates however what is the applicant's valuation of himself/herself and if it is alligned to the nature of the job. It would be hard to hire someone say, applying for an entry-level work and asks for an executive salary.
Q5- We don't normally ask this as it is there could be a million varying answers which could all be true. A variation would be asking about a specific situation.
Sample question for an applicant with previous work experience "Was there a time when your team had been recognized by the company?"
Follow-up question will be: "What do you think enabled your team for this success?"
I find this to be a more directed approach and would result to less generic answers.
Unless the applicant is a known person in his/her industry, or personally knows the interviewer, the job interview is the only time an applicant can showcase himself to the hiring manager. Make the most of it.