Google used to use questions like this a lot in their interviews, but they have recently banned this practice as a “complete waste of time”

The question is raising its head again – what is the best way to identify the best candidate for a role by simply interviewing?  Interviewing is such an important part of the selection process and getting it wrong can prove not only costly, but can also have an impact on your team, service delivery and reputation, all of which can take an awful long time to rectify.

Google say that brain teasers serve only to make the interviewee “squirm”, they don’t prove or predict anything.  Our candidates state that no matter how much they prepare for the interview, they are never completely ready when a brain teaser does pop up and this can leave them feeling that they have “fluffed” the interview.  Would you discount a strong candidate if they slipped up on the brain teaser?  What does it tell you?  Some may say it shows the logical and problem solving ability of the candidate.

If you simply ask a list of questions with yes or no answers, are you just testing the candidates knowledge or are they simply giving rehearsed answers?  Does this really give you an insight into the candidates ability or how they would integrate into your existing team?

Since past behaviour predicts future behaviour, one thing that many agree with is to ask scenario based questions of things that really relate to the role.  Asking candidates to explain how they have dealt with certain situations can really give the interviewer a window into how the candidate will perform “on the job”.  However, this is all very well if the interviewer has actual experience in the role that they are interviewing for or are a seasoned interviewer, but what if you are neither of these?

Consistency is the key when it comes to selection or shortlisting after first round interviews –

• Set questions to ask all the candidates
• Consider introducing a scoring mechanism to form part of the selection process
• Use scenario based questions based on recent issues or situations you or your colleagues have experienced
• Prepare a list of prioritised and measurable criteria
• Be prepared to justify the use of any required employment “test”
• Facilitate open communication

Even if this is not your area of technical expertise, to completely understand the role and what the technologies used actually do, asking the right probing questions will not only enable you to evaluate the candidates communication skills, but also, by the time you have completed two or three interviews, you should also have a good understanding, from a layman’s perspective, of the more technical side of the role.  It is not always necessary to be able to undertake a role to successfully interview for it, but simply have the confidence that you understand it.

Although now most consider brain teasers a no-no in an interview situation, I’m sure they will be back in vogue someday soon.  However, there is still very much a place for this technique in open training sessions and such like.