CREATING LEGENDARY EXPERIENCES ONE PLACEMENT AT A TIME
Traits Based Interviewing Questions
Next time you interview a candidate for an office or clerical position, ask these questions and listen for answers which reflect the examples in the evidence of trait column.
| TRAIT: | Achiever |
| QUESTION: | What three accomplishments do you take most pride in? |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - examples mention personal recognition, awards, and freedom to act |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - difficulty naming accomplishments - examples give no evidence of personal need for recognition or autonomy |
| TRAIT: | Discerner |
| QUESTION: | Sooner or later we all have days or times when we are disappointed in our performance. Tell me about a time when this happened to you and what you did about it. |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - analyzed and tried to improve - asked others for feedback/criticism |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - has never been disappointed. - described disappointment as a result of someone else's fault. |
| TRAIT: | Empathetic |
| QUESTION: | You answer the phone and at the other end of the line is a customer who is extremely upset at your company and starts to take it out on you. What would you do? |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - sympathetic to customer plight - willing to listen s |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - gets defensive - shows no sensitivity to feelings of customer. |
| TRAIT: | Work Intensity |
| QUESTION: | What kind of a work day tends to make you the most tired? During days like that, what do you do to keep your energy level up? |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - slow day is tiring - likes to stay busy - takes on more work |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - fast paced day is tiring - takes time off |
| TRAIT: | Service Oriented |
| QUESTION: | What are some of the things that motivate or make a job fulfilling for you? |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - chance to be of service to customers or co-workers - working for a company providing quality service |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - non-service - non-altruistic focus, e.g. "recognition of my efforts" |
| TRAIT: | Proactive |
| QUESTION: | How is your attitude or outlook typically affected by the attitudes of others? |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - attitude is not appreciably altered by the moods of others - feels in control of their own attitude - not susceptible to ups and downs of others |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - when others are down or negative, they get down themselves or begin to lose focus - suggests the way others look at things has an impact on how they look at things |
| TRAIT: | Relates Well to People |
| QUESTION: | How important is it for other people to like you? How would you rate that on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being high? |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - eight or higher |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - six or lower |
| TRAIT: | Responsible |
| QUESTION: | Have you ever missed a deadline or failed to complete some task assigned to you that others expected you to complete? (If yes) How did you feel about that? Why did you feel that way? |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - no - yes, but shows acceptance of responsibility - takes ownership of task - shows concern that the deadline was missed - tried their best, but does not look for excuses or put blame elsewhere |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - yes, but unwilling to take responsibility or show concern - tries to fix blame elsewhere or make excuses |
| TRAIT: | Values-driven |
| QUESTION: | What principles guide your conduct? (Note: if they state "professionalism," ask what it means to them.) |
| EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - ethical content, e.g. honesty, integrity, truthfulness |
| NO EVIDENCE OF TRAIT: | - high performance, but no reference to ethics |