When preparing to interview candidates for a role, it’s natural to focus on the questions you will ask them, and what responses you’d ideally like to receive. But have you considered how you will frame your answers to questions candidates will ask you in return?
Your responses are just as important as the candidates’ ones, as they can greatly increase your chances of securing your ideal employee. If framed properly, your answers give the potential new hire an accurate and enticing insight into the role on offer, as well as the company as a whole. And in a talent-tight field, it’s imperative to put your best foot forward.
To ensure you’re prepared to tackle any question that comes your way, below is a range of questions interviewees may ask you during an interview, along with our advice on how best to answer them.
General Tips for Answering Candidate Questions
Before getting to the questions themselves, let’s begin with some general advice on answering candidates’ questions.
1. Be prepared
When it comes to candidate interviews, preparation is paramount. Ensure you have a full understanding of exactly what you’re looking for, how the role fits into the wider business, as well as specific role requisites (for instance, expectations, technicalities or KPIs associated with the position).
2. Be consistent
If you have a number of people involved in the recruitment process, it’s a good idea to ensure everyone is well prepared to respond to candidate questions in a consistent way. This is where the services of a good recruiter can be hugely beneficial. We have unified best practice recruitment processes in place, ensuring your candidate interviews not only run smoothly but accurately showcasing your role and company.
3. Be honest
When trying to sell your role to a great candidate, you can unintentionally err on the side of embellishment or exaggeration. But by striving for honesty and authenticity, you set the right role expectations from the outset, which helps you achieve the greatest match possible (as the candidate is able to accurately assess if they can see themselves succeeding in this position). If you don’t have the information to hand and find yourself floundering in answering a question, it’s perfectly acceptable to let them know you’ll find out and follow up with an answer at a later stage.
Top Questions Candidates Might Ask
There are a range of questions that may come up during an interview, so to help you prepare, we have arranged them into key categories with a list of possible question variations underneath, followed by tips for answering them.
When you’re asked any of these questions, the candidate is attempting to understand the realities of the role.
The first two questions give them an insight into how the role may have changed over time, perhaps in response to a shifting company need. In answering these, aim to explain how you responded to the change and why, as well as the ‘big picture’ impact the candidate can make by working in the role.
The next two questions directly relate to the challenges faced, and the exact skills and abilities required to succeed. Being honest here pays dividends as it allows candidates to fully grasp role expectations upfront (which is essential for long-term retention) and decide if they can meet the challenges. While it’s not necessary to give them a full rundown of the trials you’ve encountered or every single skill gap you’ve uncovered, an honest overview is recommended.
The last two questions relate to remote working and work flexibility. As a result of the worldwide pandemic, most employees have had a taste of working from home and appear to like it. A recent Skillsoft survey of more than 2,300 workers and jobseekers across Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore supports this. It found that only 11% of respondents are content to revert back to pre-pandemic working ways, with almost 60% wanting greater flexibility in their working hours, and 58% seeking a permanent work from home option.
If you have been able to shift your working practices to afford greater flexibility in work hours and location, you can showcase this when answering any of the final two questions in this category. Some areas to consider speaking about are:
- The types of software you provide to remote employees, both for work and to maintain connection
- Whether you cover costs for things like internet, office supplies, ergonomic chair and desk, etc.
- How often the employee has video conferences with their team and manager
- How accessible their manager is for questions and further support
The first question helps the candidate determine if their working style melds well with your management style. Reflect on the positive leadership traits you possess – it might be your agile approach, your ability to delegate or the way you embrace failure – and then form an answer highlighting these.
The rest of the questions in this category help the candidate understand who they will report to, their direct team, any staff they’ll oversee (if appropriate), as well as cross-functional teams they’ll regularly work with. This information assists them in making an educated decision about whether the position is right for them. Your answers to these will likely be straightforward, but if you haven’t considered an office tour or ‘meet-and-greet’ with their potential team or staff, you might like to. It’s a great way to give them a tangible taste of your work environment and culture.
If answered well, questions one and two will give the candidate concrete examples of what they need to do to succeed in the role. Try to not only explain the company’s priorities for the position, but provide examples of what achievement looks like for each milestone mark (30, 60, 90 days). You could even speak about ways they can attain this.
In today’s working world, top talent look for more than just monetary compensation – they’re also seeking a clear career progression pathway. The third question allows you to address what you offer by way of professional development. You can enhance your answer one step further by providing examples of employees who have grown with the company after undertaking specific training programs.
The last question gives you an opportunity to share details about your performance review process. You could touch on the timing of reviews, how they are conducted, and what (if any) the results are tied to, be it a salary boost or bonuses.
Both of these questions give you the chance to share your business’s roadmap, so the potential employee can effectively decide if it’s a journey they want to share.
While the first question might seem slightly challenging to answer, it can be done positively. This includes illustrating the company’s ability to self-reflect on areas that need improvement, alongside talking about the actions you put in place took to address it. An organisation that is resilient in the face of challenges and willing to adapt and grow is an attractive employment prospect.
A good company culture is an essential for employee engagement and long tenure. Any one of these questions is the candidate’s way of trying to take your company culture’s pulse.
A well-considered answer will effectively highlight the top reasons why your employees enjoy working with you – it could cover sharing how you live your values in your everyday work, what you offer when it comes to work-life balance, how you build and support professional relationships within the office or the ways you recognise employees for their hard work (or a combination of all).
Need Some More Support?
We hope this recruitment advice around answering candidate questions will assist you in preparing responses that paint your role and company in the most positive light. But if you’d like some further interviewing tips, please connect with our team of experienced Indigenous and non-Indigenous recruitment consultants. We’d love to help!
