If you have hundreds of people applying for one job, how do you sort through all of the candidates to find the best of the best?

Easy. Group interviews.

It’s the fastest and most effective way to find the best cultural fit and identify the leaders in the group.

I studied a company called Mad Science out of Montreal that had a unique group interview process. It consisted of bringing eight candidates into a boardroom for 60 to 90 minutes. The candidates are told that they’ll be participating in a group interview in advance and then briefed on the group interview process before starting.  They advise the candidates that the interview is a ‘lightning round’ of sorts, and that they may be cut off once they answer.

When doing this, don’t appear disrespectful–although you want this to be a speedier process, a candidate should never be made to feel foolish. It’s a balancing act.

In a group interview of eight, you’ll usually find two to three candidates with whom you’ll want to do more in-depth interviews, and one that you’ll hire.

You can get the entire Group Interview system laid out for you from my book Double Double here in the chapter on People.  Or here from my DVDs on Culture or Growth.

The following interview questions are from a survey I found years ago and also include a bunch of my favorites.

I only listed the ones I really like best, categorized according to personal background, skills and abilities, academic preparation, and other topics.

This list of questions would be an excellent resource to use when preparing for interviews with prospective employees.

ABILITY TO DEAL WITH ADVERSITY, THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

• What are your personal goals, and have you achieved them? If not, why?
• Who was the most difficult person you’ve dealt with? How did you respond?
• Describe a frustrating experience from work. How did you deal with it?
• What are some of the greatest personal challenges you have faced?
• How do you handle rejection?
• What aspects of your past jobs were most frustrating?
• What life experiences have given you the greatest reward?
• Can you tell me about the toughest job you’ve ever had?
• What was the most difficult aspect of obtaining a college degree?

CAREER GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

• What are your career interests?
• What are your standards of success/goals for a job?
• What are your goals and aspirations for the next three years?
• What are your long-range goals and how are you preparing to achieve them?
• If you could create the perfect job for yourself, what would you do?
• Please tell me about your plans for the future.
• What work would you like to do that really interests you?
• What is your timetable for achievement of your current career goals?

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

• What skills do you possess that will help make you successful in this job?
• Why should we hire you?
• Have you ever worked in a similar position with another organization, and what did you enjoy most about and least about it?
• Please discuss some of your past jobs and what you accomplished in them?
• What prior work experiences have you had?
• What were your accomplishments in these prior work experiences?
• Please tell me about the duties/requirements of your last job.
• Elaborate on one of the work experiences listed on your resume.
• What did you enjoy most about your previous job experiences? Least?
• In addition to your educational and professional experiences, what else would you like us to know about you in order to make an appropriate decision?
• What skills will you bring to the job that will enhance our team or company?

LEADERSHIP

• What are your major strengths and weaknesses?
• What did you see as your major strengths and/or weaknesses on this job?
• What would your last two employers say about you, good and bad?
• How would you describe your supervisory/leadership style?
• Who or what had the greatest influence on your life?
• Describe the difference between motivation and inspiration, and how these apply to you in the work environment.

INITIATIVE AND FOLLOW-THROUGH

• What are your greatest achievements at this point in your life?
• Tell me about your accomplishments during college that make you proudest.
• If friends/colleagues were to describe you to a stranger what would they say?
• What do you consider most important when evaluating yourself?
• What were your most significant achievements?

COMMUNICATION

• How would you describe your style of communication?
• Tell me about a time you had to sell an idea to someone else.
• What do you enjoy doing most?
• Tell me about a time you had to present information to a large group of people. How did you feel and how successful were you?

WORKING EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS

• How well do you work with others?
• What are some of the pros and cons of working on a team project?
• When have you led a team to achieve a specific goal, what were the results?
• What have you admired in people who have previously supervised your work? What haven’t you admired in these individuals?
• How would you resolve conflict in a group situation?

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

• What changes would you make in your school’s academic program?
• Tell me about a time you found a new and better way of doing something.
• What was the largest, most creative project you’ve been involved in to date?
• Tell me the most creative solution you have come up with to solve a problem.
• Tell me a time when you had to bring out the creativity in others.

DECISION-MAKING

• Please tell me about a conflict and how you resolved it.
• Tell me a time you had to make an important decision with limited facts.
• Tell me a time you had to make an unpopular decision.
• Tell me about a bad decision you made and what you would do differently?

DELEGATION AND ORGANIZATION

• How do you organize your day?
• Tell me about a time you delegated a project effectively.
• Describe to me a time when a supervisor delegated a task to you when you had a full workload. How did you handle the situation?
• Describe what your closets and garage look like today.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SALES

• What personal qualities do you bring to this firm?
• Tell me about when you dealt with an irate customer.
• What does the term “the customer is always right” mean to you?
• What’s the best example of awesome customer service you’ve provided?

GENERAL

• What starting salary do you expect as an employee?
• When comparing one company offer to another, what factors will be important to you besides starting salary?
• Please tell me about yourself. How would you describe yourself?
• Name three people who have inspired you and why.
• What personal qualities do you bring to this firm?
• What do you know about our company?
• Why are you interviewing with us?
• Why do you want to work in the position you are seeking?
• What are your expectations of us?
• Why did you select us?

• Deliver What You Promise
• Respect The Individual
• Pride In All You Do

Those were the corporate values of College Pro Painters when I worked for them from 1986-1994.  During those years is when I also really learned how to build companies, core values were part of that.

Those core values stuck with me.  They are clear, simple, and impacting.  They were well thought out by the leadership team who brought them to us.  And I remember calling people on them, including myself & my own boss at one time.  They worked.

Those values still work today.  They are ones that I judge business dealings on frequently.  It’s interesting to me that those values ring so true still for me, even though I have my own values for BackPocket COO below – I occasionally judge the business moves of others based on the first core values I learned to live by – College Pros.

Here are mine:

Do What You Love

Be Authentic

Deliver What You Promise

Balance Is Key

For more information on this topic, check out: Building a World Class Culture.

When interviewing job candidates, use what I call ‘The Reverse Sell.’

It involves being in a position of power throughout the interview and getting the candidate to sell themselves on the company and also on their skills in handling the job. When the interview is over, if the candidate is more excited than ever and really knows they can do the job and that you’ve raked them over the coals and might not offer them, then you’ve done your job.

Ensure any fears the candidate has are addressed during the interview.  Don’t handle them as they come up – instead, jot down their concerns or fears until later in the interview for just the right moment. This ensures you will handle them so the candidate isn’t worried about them and sees a few reasons within your system to minimize them.  “So, about an hour ago you asked about…”

Reverse selling occurs by emphasizing how hard a position will be and getting the candidate to sell you on why he or she is right for the job.

In addition, ‘reverse selling’ also occurs by stating the concerns you might have about a candidate’s weaknesses. For example, you might say, “It appears your computer skills are very poor and will hurt you. Can you address that with me?”

And all of your questions should be asked by the end of the interview. Leave no stone unturned.

Regardless of what department you’re hiring for, if someone can’t passionately sell themselves to you on why they’re what you’re looking for, walk away.  You’re doing them a disservice if you hire them.

By the way, this works in franchising too – don’t sell franchises, award them to qualified candidates who really sell you on their skills.