“Let me see your list of questions,” I asked. I could see by the furtive glance that Claire didn’t have a list.

“I didn’t have them written, just in my head, but I could probably write the questions down for you, if that would help,” she responded.

“How many questions did you have in your head?”

“Well, none really prepared, I had the resume, so I just asked questions from that.”

It’s not Claire’s fault. No company had ever trained her to conduct a job interview. No company had ever trained her to create interview questions that reveal valuable information to make a hiring decision. Hiring interviews are one of the most critical management skills for the successful manager.

I see many managers conduct the hiring interview solely from the candidate’s resume in their hand. Change this one thing to make your interviews better. Craft your interview questions from the job description rather than the person’s resume. Every question should have a specific purpose to give you data about the candidate relative to the role you want them to play in your company. It’s not what the candidate has done (though it may be fascinating), but what the candidate has done related to the role. -TF