Help! I don’t know what to ask people I’m interviewing for jobs

Dear Aunty B,

I’m trying to hire a new staff member at the moment and have waded through the applications to come up with a short list.  What should I ask in the job interview? I feel that “where do you see yourself in five years time?” is too cliched but I need to know how to separate one person from the other.

Confused,

Geelong

Dear Confused,

Hiring the right people is so crucial to the success of your business that I can see why you’re nervous about this one.  I know I’ve made a few bad hires in my time, which have had me reaching for the gin bottle on more than one occasion.  Now I use the mantra hire slowly and fire quickly.

I try to throw a few quirky questions at people I interview, something that they won’t have prepared for. I liked these suggestions from David Politis, the founder of BetterCloud, who expounded on his job interview technique in a New York Times article.

He always asks:

“What would be your dream job if you could do anything in the world?”

His next question is: “Why aren’t you doing that?”

Politis says those two questions will tell you a lot about people’s passions and their fears.

He also asks: “What do you love every day when you go to work, and what do you hate?”

“Sometimes people are interviewing for a job, but they’ll never get to do what they love in that job,” Politis says.

Be smart,

Aunty B