Most people looking for a job can rattle off a series of the most common interview questions without even thinking about it. At its core, the interview process is a way to get to know how your candidate will perform at work. Conventional wisdom says the old standby interview questions will get at those core answers; after all, if they didn’t work, why would people still be using them?
We’d like to suggest that looking beyond the most common interview questions can generate some insightful conversation. A small business owner can’t afford to spend time just going through the motions, especially in a period of exciting growth. Once you’ve identified the best candidates, we have some ideas for the best interview questions to ask.
Leave the Vague Questions Behind
People active in job searching will likely have answered some version of “Tell us your best and worst attributes” many times over. A rehearsed answer may not help the people on either side of the table gain any insight. LinkedIn gathered interviewing feedback from hundreds of participants and the key indicator was that a connection with those going through the interview process is a primary indicator of a job offer.
Far from just a self-help term, connection is the way to engage your candidate so they are comfortable revealing aspects of themselves that go beyond the lines of the resume. It says you’re willing to engage in a dialogue that isn’t just the interviewer asking a question and the candidate giving the expected answer. It invites the job seeker to ask questions during the process, which can demonstrate collaboration and open communication. It can put both parties in the interview at ease and open to meaningful interactions. Connection releases the interviewer from a strict question list. It allows organic conversation that reveals the right person for the job.
Interrogate your list of interview questions with this thought: Do I actually care about the answer to this question? If your answer is “not really,” it’s time for some new questions.
Interview Question Examples
The following examples are for two categories of questions: Behavioral and Leadership.
Behavioral interviews allow the candidate to describe and assess reactions to professional situations. Ideally, they feel comfortable offering candid and introspective answers.
Leadership questions might be used when promoting internally or considering a new role for an existing employee. Since you likely have some experience with the employee’s strengths and weaknesses, you can focus your questions on how they might respond to a promotion or added managerial responsibilities.
Behavioral Question Examples
Describe some of your best working relationships or collaborations. What made them work well? This question shines a light on collaboration as a company value, and lets a candidate show you how comfortable (or uncomfortable) they are with teamwork.
Tell me about a time you were under a lot of stress. How did you cope? Did you take any lessons away from that experience? This question helps you see what situation a candidate classifies as stressful and how they handle it.
Have you ever had a job with numerous responsibilities? How do you keep organized and give appropriate attention to all of it? This question probes the candidate’s ability to multitask and can reveal their personal organizational systems. It can indicate if they are familiar with task management software or applications that your company also uses.
Can you think of a difficult conversation you had with a client or co-worker? How did you handle it and what lessons did you learn? All prospective employees may not be able to answer this question candidly, but what they choose to tell may still be revealing about conflict management style.
Tell me about a professional role model or mentor. What did they teach you? This question gives insight into teachability, how someone values a mentor relationship, and maybe even whether they see themselves as a potential mentor.
What are previous job responsibilities you’d rather not do again? This question invites the candidate to be introspective and honest. It shows empathy for the reality that every aspect of every job isn’t perfect.
What job responsibilities have you enjoyed the most? Conversely, this question offers a chance for them to be positive and describe their talents from a different angle.
What do you do for work/life balance? This question helps you learn about the person’s hobbies (always within legal question parameters) and shows the company values prioritizing life outside work.
Leadership Question Examples
Are you excited by the challenges of leadership? How would you describe those challenges? This question is a fairly direct way of asking someone if they feel ready to take on a more managerial role. Body language may be an important answer along with what’s said.
What is your ideal team structure? This question helps you learn the candidate’s prior experience on teams and how they prefer to work.
Think of a project that hasn’t gone smoothly. How do you collaborate with team members to address issues? This question can help you learn about the candidate’s tolerance for confrontation or avoidance and the methods they use to communicate with co-workers.
What process do you use to determine time requirements for your projects? This question can help you learn what software programs or systems the candidate uses for time management.
Have you ever served as a trainer or mentor? What did you like or not like about that role? This question ideally allows the candidate to be honest about things that did and didn’t work for them in the past. A follow-up question might be something about what they might have learned being mentored themselves.
As the interviewer, there’s room to ask follow-up questions if you want more details, like “How did that change your view of your work?” or “What have you taken from that experience that’s influenced your professional life?” or “Is there anything you would do differently?” Follow-up questions show you’re engaged and listening and fostering the all-important connection during the interview.
Going into an interview organized is vital to encourage efficiency and connection. In particular, employees in a small business often wear multiple hats and need access to hiring information. A tool like ApplicantStack not only helps you keep track of your potential hires, but it can be a place for collaboration on the best interview questions and scheduling interviews with top candidates. When your company is growing, ApplicantStack can help. Try it for free today!
There are few things more frustrating than a tepid response to a newly-posted job description. The time that goes into identifying a need, writing the description, and posting is an investment in the future, and you need quality results. For small business owners especially, that time can be very precious and scarce.
Could it be that a lackluster job description is to blame for an inadequate candidate pool? We’ll consider some ways to improve job descriptions to attract ideal candidates for your open positions.
Common Mistakes in Writing Job Descriptions
Here are a few of the most common mistakes made when writing job descriptions.
Using clichés and jargon. People seeking employment could fill a bingo card with words or phrases in job hunting that have essentially lost meaning. Self-starter. Team player. Rockstar. Paradigm shift. Thinking outside the box. At best, they’re lazy; at worst, they’re intentional choices to obscure facts. It’s worth your time to eliminate the cliché words and phrases altogether.
Absent salary figures. The conventional wisdom that salary can be disclosed later in the hiring process no longer serves the contemporary job seeker. In fact, some states have laws requiring salary transparency in job descriptions. Including these figures shows you’re serious about pay equity and transparency. It inspires confidence in prospective employees that discussions about compensation are not off-limits now or ever.
Recycling old content. The job market is ever-changing. Most companies can define themselves pre- and post-pandemic in dramatic ways. What worked for hiring in one period may be almost irrelevant now, and taking the time to critically edit and revise job descriptions can make a huge difference in the quality of your inquiries. Even if the job you’re hiring for demands a lot of the same responsibilities and qualifications as the last time you posted it, the changing job market means cut and paste may not get you the candidates you’re seeking.
Vague or misleading phrases. Similar to using clichés and jargon, job seekers may be put off by vague or umbrella terms that don’t accurately describe the work. For example, if you’re hiring for call center representatives, it’s misleading to use the term “marketing associate.” Fielding applicants who drop out after they learn the actual responsibilities of the job is a waste of everyone’s time.
Presenting all requirements as equally important. Jobseekers run the gamut of overconfident to underconfident. An ideal job description offers both a reality check and encouragement by ranking requirements or specifying non-negotiables. This information provides meaningful clarity for candidates with a wide variety of education and experience.
Stop the Search With the First Sentence
The first sentence is the hook for the reader. Jobseekers will use this early information to determine whether the position aligns with their abilities, as well as if it’s something they want to do. They will also consider their goals and interests when assessing the first part of the description.
If your job title is “Marketing Specialist” consider the following two descriptions:
“We’re a tech startup growing faster than the speed of light with fresh and innovative ideas for the marketplace, and we need a marketing team to match. We’re looking for a social media rockstar who can hit the ground running on day one.”
or
“For 5 years, our company has seen consistent growth in the domestic application space, including apps for grocery shopping, household chores, and childcare reminders. We’re growing our marketing team in areas of social media, AI, content writing, and advertising. This role falls under the content writing umbrella but would involve collaboration with advertising and social media.”
The quick-talking cliché language of the first doesn’t offer any specifics and may be seen as an oversell without realistic expectations. It might also scare off someone who expects structured onboarding and on-the-job training. The second one briefly explains the company’s products and expands on the marketing specialist term to explain specific responsibilities.
Job seekers will almost always look at websites and social media to better understand what a company does, but this method gives candidates a snapshot into the market you occupy. Someone interested in app development around home organization knows right away that they could be a good fit.
More Quick Tips to Spice Up Your Job Descriptions
Need some more help? Here are some additional tips.
Use specific language. As discussed, clichés and jargon are easy to skim or bypass altogether. Take a hard look at your job description and look for anywhere you’ve used vague words. Explain job responsibilities with clear and specific language. “Travel required typically two weeks per month” instead of “exciting travel opportunities” gives a candidate something realistic to consider.
Incorporate inclusive language. Highlight equity and inclusion initiatives. Use gender-neutral language where applicable and be sure nothing in your description implies favoritism for one group over another.
Be honest about perks and benefits. Don’t try to oversell perks and benefits, especially if they’re not accessible to every worker. On the other hand, candidates can be excited by useful information about a great health plan, office lunches, gym memberships, PTO, and other perks that contribute to your company culture.
Use recognizable titles. The description is where to get creative and specific; prospective employees will search for the title they best recognize in themselves, or one they are seeking. Consider an SEO analysis to make sure you’re appearing wherever job searches are happening.
Be specific about location. One of the first details any candidate will want to know is whether the job is remote or in-person. Make your expectations about daily work, any in-person meeting requirements, and available hours (including time zone) very clear.
Good job descriptions aren’t just for hiring. They support accountability for the company to create a job contract and give the candidate something concrete to refer to during negotiations.Giving your job postings a critical once-over can bring the best possible candidates knocking at your door.
ApplicantStack is a perfect tool to help file away past job descriptions and call them up when the need arises. You can also utilize templates when you need a little extra help, and ensure your listings show up on the top sites and job boards. Try it for free today.
The average tenure of an employee aged 25 to 34 years is only 2.8 years, according to the most recently available stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a pretty quick turnaround that ends up costing organizations money in recruiting expenses, onboarding, training and more.
So, how can businesses improve employee retention and encourage qualified candidates to stick around longer? From the job listing itself to the onboarding process and developing a strong company culture, these strategies can help you achieve success.
What Is Employee Retention and How Is It Calculated?
Employee retention refers to the ability of an organization to keep its employees engaged and satisfied. When retention is high, turnover rates decline—which should be the goal for most organizations. When retention is low, it can cost your organization a lot of money.
According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), the average cost per hire is nearly $4,700. Some estimates claim that the total cost of hiring a new employee can be three to four times the salary for the position being recruited. Expenses related to high turnover include not only recruitment costs but lost productivity and disruptions in workflow as well, which is why developing and implementing strategies for better retention can be so valuable.
How To Calculate Average Employee Retention
Calculating employee retention involves measuring the percentage of employees who remain with the company over a certain period, usually annually.
Here’s a simple formula to calculate your employee retention rate:
Employee retention rate = (number of employees at the end of the period – number of employees who left during that period/number of employees at the start of the period) x 100
To break it down further, here’s an example:
Start by determining the number of employees at the beginning of the year. Let’s say the company had 200 employees on Jan. 1, 2023.
Next, determine the number of employees at the end of the year. For example, the company had 180 employees on Dec. 31, 2023.
Calculate the number of employees who left during the year. This is the difference between the number of employees at the beginning of the year and the number of employees at the end of the year. In this case, it would be 200 – 180) = 20
Now, calculate the retention rate using the formula presented above: Retention Rate = ((180 – 20) / 200) * 100
= (160 / 200) * 100
= 0.8 * 100 = 80%
In this hypothetical scenario, the retention rate is 80 percent.
Top Reasons for Employee Turnover
High turnover is seldom a mystery. In fact, employees are pretty good at indicating why they have left or are planning to leave their organizations—and the reasons vary.
According to SHRM, a few of the most prevalent reasons that lead to higher turnover include:
Compensation.
Unsustainable work expectations.
Uninspiring or uncaring leaders.
5 Employee Retention Strategies To Boost Employee Engagement
Having poor retention doesn’t mean your company is doomed. In fact, there are effective ways to help boost your retention rate, most of which involve improving your organization’s offerings and enhancing the employee experience.
1. Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits
To prevent high employee turnover, it’s important to provide competitive compensation and benefits packages, which are critical to prospective employees. A Forbes study revealed that as many as 40 percent of employers believe their employees have left their jobs to find employment that offers better benefits. According to the same study, only slightly more than half of employees are happy with the perks offered by their current employer.
So, the first part of a successful employee retention strategy is to ensure that employees are being paid fair wages for their work and solid benefits that can support them and their families’ well-being.
2. Offer Career Development Opportunities
Employees don’t want to feel stuck in their roles; they want something to work toward. According to research conducted in 2023, 75 percent of surveyed employees either agreed or strongly agreed that career development was a priority over the past year.
Here are a few ways employers can support employees in their mission to develop as professionals:
Offer ongoing training
Create a mentorship program
Provide more frequent feedback on performance
3. Provide Employee Recognition and Rewards for Jobs Well Done
Acknowledgment goes a long way in the workplace. A recent study by Gallup revealed a correlation between employee recognition and employee outcomes—including a 22 percent reduction in absenteeism, which can eventually lead to turnover.
To facilitate productivity and employee satisfaction, employers should reward employees for their contributions and achievements to their teams and to the wider company. This is done through formal recognition programs, performance-based bonuses or even simple gestures of appreciation like thank-you notes or public praise.
4. Enable a Healthy Work-Life Balance
It isn’t surprising that nearly everyone considers a healthy work-life balance to be important (94 percent), according to a 2023 Randstad survey. But what exactly does that mean today? In the same survey, 82.9 percent and 71 percent of global respondents consider flexible working hours and work locations to be essential, respectively.
Meeting employee expectations, like flexibility and aligning on value—and prioritizing people—will ensure that you’re set up for success in terms of increasing retention.
5. Streamline the Hiring Process
Creating a positive candidate experience directly impacts the employee experience and your retention rate, and it starts with the job listing. According to a Robert Half survey, more than half of qualified candidates lose interest in a position if the role responsibilities are unclear. So, first things first, job postings need to be accurate, updated and attractive.
Tools to help amplify listings; screen, select and interview candidates and onboard newcomers are invaluable. From posting to onboarding, the recruiting process should be informative, engaging and optimized to ensure the best possible results.
Streamlining the Hiring Process With Applicantstack
A company culture that touts values in alignment with employees and puts people first is a recipe for retention success.
Applicantstack optimizes all aspects of recruiting and talent screening to offer businesses and candidates a satisfying, streamlined experience for more engagement, increased productivity and heightened retention. To see firsthand how Applicantstack can help streamline your recruiting and hiring, candidate management and onboarding for a better candidate experience, start for free today.
It’s the last of our five-part series focused on hiring trends to expect in 2024, and we’re digging into the expansion of entry-level hiring. Across all industries, newcomers to the market are searching for positions that allow them to grow their skills and abilities. Check out the benefits of opting for entry-level workers whenever possible.
Recruiting Trends Coming in 2024
Missed any of the previous trends? Check them out!
Filling open positions has become increasingly challenging in the recent past. Between rising recruiting costs and smaller applicant pools, finding and bringing on talent can feel like an impossible task. But here’s one thing that many employers are overlooking: Asking for too much experience can rule out great candidates.
More than one-third of entry-level job listings posted on LinkedIn require at least three years of experience. This requirement essentially eliminates anyone who is a newcomer to the field, likely discouraging them from applying at all. And even those who do choose to apply despite not meeting all requirements may get filtered out before they even reach your desk.
As someone responsible for hiring, it’s worth opening your positions to true entry-level candidates. New graduates or those who are embarking on career changes can make excellent contributions to the team and can be great fits in a variety of roles.
4 Reasons to Consider Entry-Level Talent
In addition to the advantages outlined above, here are four reasons to consider people who are truly entry-level (or have no experience in the field).
Lower costs
It’s cheaper to hire an entry-level employee than someone with multiple years of experience, which can really help your company’s bottom line. According to research published by Zippia, the cost to hire and bring on an entry-level team member is approximately 180 percent less than an executive-level employee. Since the average cost to hire is around 20 percent of an entry-level employee’s salary, you can save a lot by opting for new talent rather than hiring a mid-level employee, which costs 1 to 1.5 times the salary amount.
Easy to train
Another advantage of entry-level employees is their trainability. They are less likely to bring highly developed workplace habits or ways of doing things, so department leaders and executives can train them to handle work in the way that is best suited for the company. Additionally, newcomers to the workplace may be more likely to build healthier professional habits, which contributes to the overall morale and culture.
Familiarity with technology
In most cases, an entry-level employee is part of the younger generation, which means they are probably more familiar with today’s technology. Younger jobseekers are generally comfortable with current hardware and software platforms, which can serve as a significant asset to your business.
Enhanced diversity
People who aren’t as seasoned in the workplace bring unique perspectives that can promote enhanced diversity. It’s worth investing in people who are excited about the prospect of what your company can achieve and willing to put in the work to bring organizational goals to fruition.
With the right approach, adapting to this 2024 hiring trend can transform the way your company finds and onboards talented individuals. Skills don’t necessarily equate to talent and ability, so make sure to broaden your search and widen your pool of applicants in roles that lend themselves to on-the-job training and education.
Employee recruiting is a powerful part of your hiring toolbox. Asking employees to flesh out an applicant pool capitalizes on a natural human response to invite others to positive experiences. A referral program incentivizes and rewards employees for their contributions to the company.
A Jobvite survey in 2020 found that, after internal hires, employee referrals were the second-most effective hiring source and the second-most useful resume consideration factor. Here are some tips to build an internal referral program that really works.
Your Employees are Your Best Brand Ambassadors
From posts on social media to relaxed after-work happy hours, we all tend to share stories and experiences about work with friends and acquaintances. Ideally, that content is positive and encouraging. Employees who are engaged in and excited about their work – and share it – become the best ambassadors for the company’s brand or culture. If your company sells an end-user product, that’s free advertising. If your company needs to fill positions, that’s expanding your potential applicant pool.
You can reward this behavior by creating opportunities for internal referrals for hiring. Rewards can vary; no one referral program fits all companies. The first steps involve examining company culture so your employees feel inclined to bring qualified candidates to the table.
Employee Recruiting Requires a Strong Foundation
It may seem overly simple, but the most important foundation for collecting hiring referrals from your employees is their job satisfaction. You can’t control each employee’s feelings about every aspect of their job, but you can provide a company culture that values each member of the team. Some tangible ways to achieve this include:
Maintaining Good Company Culture. Conduct surveys that help identify where company culture is thriving and lacking. Then, take that information to improve where possible. Good company culture includes well-known and accepted values like trust, diversity, mentorship, and autonomy. It has clear policies on work and dress code flexibility, automation, and tangible and intangible benefits.
Paying Employees What They’re Worth. Ideally, employees will have been hired at a salary they’re happy with. Implementing a program of consistent salary reviews and an open-door policy for negotiations goes a long way in helping employees feel valued.
Communicating Perks and Benefits Consistently. While keeping some benefits confidential might seem important, it can lead to gossip and jealousy among employees. When people feel cheated or left out of perks, even if the company feels it has valid reasons, it can negatively affect employee morale. A well-communicated and consistent benefits policy encourages transparency and unity.
Communicating Clearly Open Jobs and Responsibilities. Clarity and detail in job postings is important, allowing potential candidates to see all the requirements, benefits, and salary from the first interaction. For internal recruiting, you should provide all the same detailed information, along with any additional tidbits a current employee might need to know, especially if the job opening isn’t in their department. Facts like which team a person might work on, sample projects, details around the office layout, and access to perks are conversational and can help an employee sell the position to a friend.
Rewarding Referrals and Employee Recruiting Efforts. Consider the cost of hiring an employee from a wide open pool. The Society of Human Resource Management puts the median number at around $1,200. If an employee helps you circumvent that cost, a gift card for lunch may not be quite enough. Recruiter Rikka Brandon suggests, “Offering your team an incentive that actually makes a difference to them may just give them the motivation to be intentional and active about recruiting.”
5 Ways to Involve Employees in Recruiting
Now that we’ve identified how to make sure your company is a rewarding workplace for employees to recommend, here are some ideas of how to build an internal referral program:
Start at Onboarding. Every time you bring a new employee on, explain the referral process. Help them feel like an important part of the recruiting team from their first day. Even if you don’t currently have openings, this effort ensures that future opportunities aren’t lost to “I never heard about it.”
Allow Talent Acquisition Team to Present at Company Meetings. Periodic presentations ensure employees can hear about new developments in the program and creates a forum for questions.
Remind Employees How to Find Open Listings. What seems obvious to those involved in the hiring process may not be so clear to busy employees. Ensure there is a centralized location for open positions that’s easy to access. Provide periodic reminders along with highlighting incentives.
Identify a Streamlined Process for Submissions. Every company will have a different preferred way to receive employee referrals. Make sure your organization’s process is simple and direct. You could create a web form or an email address that remains the same, even when people leave their roles. Periodically remind the staff how it works.
Encourage Feedback on the Program. If employee participation is low, you may need to take a hard look at the communication, process, or incentives. Ask for honest feedback without fear of retribution.
Manage Your Candidates with ApplicantStack
Once you’ve examined company culture, created an easy-to-use program for submissions, told everyone about it, and the referrals start coming in, you need a system to make sure none of the stellar candidates fall through the cracks. Even if you don’t end up hiring a referral, it’s vital to respect the efforts of your employees with follow-through.
ApplicantStack is the perfect tool to easily and efficiently sort, rank, and track the candidates in every step of the process. Internal notes can help you track where the referral came from. Your employee can receive their reward and your gratitude for a new valued member of the team.
Countless companies of all sizes and operating in all locations are planning to expand their teams in 2024. As you make plans to recruit and bring on top talent, explore our guide to trends to expect this year. We’re rounding up the 2024 recruiting trends to expect, regardless of the industry or size of your business.
Recruiting Trends Coming in 2024
Here’s what we have covered in our five-part series, and what’s still to come:
When thousands of companies shifted to allow employees to work from home for their safety, some emphasized that the change was temporary, while others expected to remain remote indefinitely. But as the needs of businesses have changed and employees have gotten used to the work-from-home life, conflicts have arisen between those who want to remain remote but are working for companies that expect team members to return to the office.
The shift to allow workers to perform remote work caused a lot of businesses to reconsider their operations and whether people really needed to spend 40+ hours a week in the office. And while there are certainly advantages of in-office work (improved collaboration, access to resources, a sense of belonging, to name a few), many workers love the option to work from home as well.
The hybrid workplace model is an ideal blend of the two worlds, offering employees access to what they want while emphasizing the importance of the company culture and team-based atmosphere.
Benefits of Hybrid Schedules
A hybrid schedule is a more flexible option, which appeals to people in all stages of life. Parents of young children may need a little extra time in the mornings to get everyone ready and out the door. Being able to work from home allows them to use the time they might have spent commuting to take care of the necessary tasks. School pick-up is also much easier to navigate when a worker is remote. Even those without children can benefit from a more peaceful atmosphere, such as a home office that’s free from the distractions of a bustling office.
For employers, a hybrid workplace model can cut costs. You can spend less on physical office space and supplies, as well as the costs associated with keeping the lights on and the workspace fully outfitted with desks for every member of the team.
From a health perspective, the original reason behind the shift to remote work, people may get sick less when working remotely. If an employee isn’t feeling well, they may still be able to knock out a few work tasks at home without the risk of spreading germs around the office. And those who do choose to work in-office will certainly appreciate not being exposed to colds, the flu, and other concerning illnesses.
If your company can swing it, consider how offering a hybrid schedule might work for new hires. This offering can serve as an appealing aspect of an open position, particularly for an applicant who is looking for flexibility. By including the option to create a hybrid schedule, your company can appeal to top talent while aligning with what today’s job-seeker is looking for in their next role.
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