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Even among innovative and forward-thinking companies, business culture typically lies on the conservative side. The interview process, for example, is driven by tradition and formality and usually varies very little with time, geography, or specific industry.

There’s nothing really wrong with this—after all, there’s a reason why some standard, clichéd interview questions stay in circulation for generations at a time. There’s really no responsible way to conduct an interview without asking a candidate to describe her background in the field, for example. And questions like “tell me about your strengths”, or “describe a time when you made a mistake”, are also indispensable.

But there’s been significant recent buzz in the modern job market about “non-traditional” interview questions and how these curve balls can help employers move past the clichés and get a real sense of a candidate’s resilience and personality. Some managers are placing their faith in questions like, “if you were a barnyard animal, which one would you be and why?” and “Do or say something right now that will make me angry.” Before you jump on this trend and start adding unexpected zingers to your interview-question line up, keep two tips in mind.

Stay Relevant

First, keep your questions relevant and on-task. If you’re interested in integrity, ask the candidate about an occasion on which her integrity was tested. Ask her if she’s ever been instructed to do something she felt was wrong. How did she respond? If you’d like to know more about her work ethic, temperament, or leadership skill, encourage her to talk about revealing episodes from her past. Here are a few examples:

Have you ever had to lead a team or push a person to act without holding any direct authority over this person/people? What happened?

Are there any tasks or aspects of this work that you don’t enjoy? How do you usually handle them?

What motivates you? What brings you joy?

Stay Respectful

Second, before you work a clever or quirky new question into your interview script, make sure the question is free of demeaning or disrespectful implications. If you decide to ask your candidate which barnyard animal she would be, that’s fine, but will you really learn anything important from her answer? And will these gains be worth the risk if she feels baited or insulted? Watch out for questions like these:

What’s your favorite cartoon from childhood and why?

If you could join a mission to mars, but you would never come back, would you go?

If I asked you to get up and dance the Macarena right now for this job, would you do it?

Keep your questions focused, insightful, and meaningful and you’ll earn the respect of the talented candidates in your applicant pool. For more guidance on this process, reach out to the Texas staffing team at Expert.

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