Question: How do you work with others?
Response: “I work well with others and get along with everyone....”
Impression: If a candidate does give this answer, which is pretty general, you need to ask follow-up questions. Ask for a situation or incident where they think they worked well and got along with others. A good follow-up question once they give you a situation is, “What made you say or conclude that you worked well or got along with them?” or even “What made you say you were successful in working well with them or getting along with them?” This will help you see how the candidate sees situations and reveal to you the qualities of the candidate and how well he or she can identify the qualities needed to deal with others – eventually, once he or she handles her own team.
Question: How do you coach a person?
Response: “I coach a person in this way....”
Impression: If a candidate gives generic answers that I call by-the-book answers, make sure you ask for a situation where they had or needed to coach someone. Do not rely on answers such as “I listen to what they have to say..” or “I make sure I give the proper or right way to answer the phone, the way to talk to customers..” Again, these are generic answers. What you want to get out of the candidate is a combination of their knowledge of what coaching is and their own personal style of coaching. Do not forget to ask follow-up questions such as “What made your coaching a success?” and “How did the person react to your coaching?” “How did they accept it?” Once you get a grasp of how they coach, then you will have an idea of how they will deal with their team members once performance concerns crop up.
Question: What performance problem you have had in the past?
Response: A candidate can either say ”I have never had a performance problem....” Or he or she can mention one such as “The performance problem I have had before is tardiness..”
Impression: If a candidate does say he or she never had any performance problems in the past, you may want to check with her supervisor beforehand. His or her supervisor should provide you this information in his or her file before the interview occurs so you will know if the candidate is telling the truth or not. If the candidate does mention one, then you need to ask them follow-up questions like ask what it was and how the candidate dealt with it and what was done to improve such a problem. Follow-up questions such as was the candidate successful or not, what went well and what did not will really help you see how the candidate deals with not only his or her own performance problems but eventually, how he or she would deal with the performance of the team.
These are just some of the questions you may already be asking or would like to add to your current interview questions when you are interviewing for potential supervisors. Keep in mind that just because a candidate is doing well currently as a part of your team – performance-wise and productivity-wise, this does not mean that they will be good or great supervisors. Some candidates think this way. However, being a supervisor is different from being a subordinate. It takes a lot more than productivity and a clean slate of performance to be a supervisor. As a supervisor, you are not only responsible for the performance and productivity but also the learning and growth of every member of your team. Molding them to be the best in their profession and even as a person. This development and growth does not only affect them but affects you as well as a supervisor.
Response: “I work well with others and get along with everyone....”
Impression: If a candidate does give this answer, which is pretty general, you need to ask follow-up questions. Ask for a situation or incident where they think they worked well and got along with others. A good follow-up question once they give you a situation is, “What made you say or conclude that you worked well or got along with them?” or even “What made you say you were successful in working well with them or getting along with them?” This will help you see how the candidate sees situations and reveal to you the qualities of the candidate and how well he or she can identify the qualities needed to deal with others – eventually, once he or she handles her own team.
Question: How do you coach a person?
Response: “I coach a person in this way....”
Impression: If a candidate gives generic answers that I call by-the-book answers, make sure you ask for a situation where they had or needed to coach someone. Do not rely on answers such as “I listen to what they have to say..” or “I make sure I give the proper or right way to answer the phone, the way to talk to customers..” Again, these are generic answers. What you want to get out of the candidate is a combination of their knowledge of what coaching is and their own personal style of coaching. Do not forget to ask follow-up questions such as “What made your coaching a success?” and “How did the person react to your coaching?” “How did they accept it?” Once you get a grasp of how they coach, then you will have an idea of how they will deal with their team members once performance concerns crop up.
Question: What performance problem you have had in the past?
Response: A candidate can either say ”I have never had a performance problem....” Or he or she can mention one such as “The performance problem I have had before is tardiness..”
Impression: If a candidate does say he or she never had any performance problems in the past, you may want to check with her supervisor beforehand. His or her supervisor should provide you this information in his or her file before the interview occurs so you will know if the candidate is telling the truth or not. If the candidate does mention one, then you need to ask them follow-up questions like ask what it was and how the candidate dealt with it and what was done to improve such a problem. Follow-up questions such as was the candidate successful or not, what went well and what did not will really help you see how the candidate deals with not only his or her own performance problems but eventually, how he or she would deal with the performance of the team.
These are just some of the questions you may already be asking or would like to add to your current interview questions when you are interviewing for potential supervisors. Keep in mind that just because a candidate is doing well currently as a part of your team – performance-wise and productivity-wise, this does not mean that they will be good or great supervisors. Some candidates think this way. However, being a supervisor is different from being a subordinate. It takes a lot more than productivity and a clean slate of performance to be a supervisor. As a supervisor, you are not only responsible for the performance and productivity but also the learning and growth of every member of your team. Molding them to be the best in their profession and even as a person. This development and growth does not only affect them but affects you as well as a supervisor.