Key Questions to Reveal Candidate Character in Interviews

When recruiting new employees, the character of candidates holds significant importance. In addition to their skills and experience, a candidate’s character can be indicative of their work ethic in a new environment. Therefore, recruiters need to have a clear strategy to explore the character of candidates.

The right questions are necessary to uncover a candidate’s character during the interview. What steps should be taken? What questions should be asked? Read more here!

Understanding the Company Culture 

The first step before formulating questions is to study the company culture. For example, does the company encourage open communication or prefer a formal approach?

Understanding the company culture can help you tailor the questions you ask. This understanding also allows you to assess the compatibility of the candidate’s character with the client’s culture.

Crafting the Right Questions

The next stage is to craft the questions. Ensure you prepare the right questions by focusing on several key aspects that can describe the candidate’s character as a whole.

So, what important aspects should be asked?

1. Leadership Style

Questions about leadership can vary widely. You can start with questions like, “How do you delegate a task?” This question can help understand the candidate’s leadership style—whether they prefer to give clear directions or allow team members to discuss and find solutions together.

After that, you might ask how they choose the person responsible for each division in every project. This question can help delve deeper into how candidates manage responsibilities within the team.

2. Problem-Solving Ability

The candidate’s ability to face challenges is also crucial. During their work, candidates will undoubtedly encounter problems that need to be solved both individually and collectively. Therefore, it’s important to understand how candidates solve problems individually and as a group.

You can pose questions such as, “When faced with criticism, how do you inform the team? How do you address the issue?”

Do they see criticism as an opportunity to learn or as a threat? This will also show how they communicate with team members when resolving issues.

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3. Helping the Team Achieve Targets

The contributions made by the candidate to the team are also a crucial aspect. To assess this, you can provide a case study of a common problem within a team and ask, “In this situation, how would you help your team resolve the issue? What concrete steps would you take?”

Through this question, you can evaluate the candidate’s critical thinking and collaboration skills. Additionally, pay attention to how they explain their role in solving problems—do they tend to take the initiative or wait for instructions?

4. Digging Deeper

After asking the core questions, don’t hesitate to pose follow-up questions based on the candidate’s answers. This can help you dig deeper and understand their perspective.

For example, if the candidate explains how they resolved conflicts within the team, you could ask further, “What did you learn from that experience?”

5. Reading Body Language

In addition to verbal questions, also pay attention to the candidate’s body language. Their manner of answering questions, facial expressions, and posture can provide further insight into their character.
Confident candidates typically show good eye contact and open posture. Conversely, if they appear anxious or avoid eye contact, it might indicate discomfort or dishonesty in their responses.

6. Creating a Relaxed Atmosphere

Finally, it’s important to create a relaxed interview atmosphere. Candidates will be more open and honest if they feel comfortable.

This can start with some light questions or friendly statements to ease tension, such as asking about their hobbies outside of work. This can help them feel more at ease in sharing information about themselves.

Uncovering the character and personality of candidates is not easy, but with the right strategy, you can gain insights that assist the recruitment process.

With this approach, you will more easily find candidates who are not only skilled and experienced but also have a character that fits the company culture.

If you are looking for the right candidate for your company, consider using the services of RecruitFirst.

With effective recruitment strategies, as an outsourcing company, we are ready to help find the best talent that meets your needs. Contact us to start a more efficient recruitment process!

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