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The Manager's Book of Questions: 751 Great Interview Questions for Hiring the Best Person
The Manager's Book of Questions is the first of its kind tool for recruitment managers and executives a powerhouse of terrific interview questions for hiring top-notch talent for any job. Is the applicant a team player? How does the applicant handle stress? Can the applicant think on his or her feet? How do you determine aggressiveness in sales people or creativity in a product designer? You find hundreds of questions on these and many more topics to make your interviews more productive and give you the ammunition you need to make a smart decision. For anyone who does any hiring, regardless, of level, this is the "must-have" guide.
- GenresBusiness
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
6 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
John Kador
33 books3 followersJohn Kador is the author of 12 business books. His latest book is "Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust."
John Kador is an independent business writer whose best-selling books and insightful articles have been helping business leaders work smarter and more profitably for more than three decades. John has written more than ten books under his own name as well as an equal number for which he served as ghostwriter.
John’s most recent book is Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust.
John Kador is an independent business writer whose best-selling books and insightful articles have been helping business leaders work smarter and more profitably for more than three decades. John has written more than ten books under his own name as well as an equal number for which he served as ghostwriter.
John’s most recent book is Effective Apology: Mending Fences, Building Bridges, and Restoring Trust.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2022
The edition I read was published in 2006. Kador lists 7 basic type of questions and they are:
1. Icebreaker and background questions. Examples such as "Did you find us/the place okay?" or "What did you enjoy least about your last/present job?"
2. Behavioural questions. These typically start out with "Tell me about a time when you..." or "Describe a situation in which you..." Kador says the main strength of these questions is that it holds candidates accountable for their past performance and claims that a skilled interviewer can easily figure out how to get at the specific behaviour that contributed to that outcome by asking more probing questions. Examples given were questions such as, "Tell me about a time when you set your sights too high," or "Tell me about a time when you surmounted a major obstacle."
3. Questions to determine fit. These questions look at craftsmanship, commitment to quality, fit with corporate culture, passion for work, personality, flexibility, and willingness to accept constructive criticism. Examples include, "What 2 or 3 accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction? Why?" or "Do you prefer working with others or working alone?"
4. Core competency questions. These questions address competencies such as: (a) Individual competencies such as integrity, independence, risk taking, flexibility, decisiveness, and tenacity, (b) Managerial competencies such as ability to take charge of other people in such ways as leadership, empowerment, team management, strategic planning, and management control, (c) Analytical competencies such as innovation, analytical skills, numerical problem solving, practical learning, and detail consciousness, (d) Interpersonal competencies such as empathy, communication, persuasiveness, teamwork, openness, and self-awareness, and (e) Motivational competencies such as resilience, motivation, energy, achievement potential, initiative, and quality focus. Examples of core competency questions include "What does the word failure mean to you?" or "How, specifically, do you contribute towards an environment of teamwork?" or "Describe your organizational skills."
5. Ethics questions. Examples include, "Tell me about a time when, by your actions, you made a lasting, positive impact on the ethical culture of your organization," or "Tell me about a situation that would exemplify your integrity."
6. Brainteasers and business problems. Examples include, "Have you done your best work yet?" or "What is the worst thing you have heard about our company?" or "What makes you unique?"
7. Closing questions. Examples include, "Is there anything else I should know about you?" or "What implications have you drawn from the information you have learned today?"
In part two of this book covers 40 types of interview scripts to ask based on the role or the experience level. For example, there are interview scripts for entry level roles, project management, customer service, and sales.
In part three of this book, Chapter 8 - Acceptable and Unacceptable Personal Questions, they go over legal ways you can get information. For example, there are ways to determine if someone is married and has a family or is planning to have a family. You can ask them, "Do you foresee any long-term absences in the future?" I found this chapter to be rather disturbing, Kador says that there is no such thing as illegal interview questions, which I think is misleading. He says certain questions are not illegal, however he considers them ill-advised. I've filled out many applications in my day and quite often see companies asking "What languages do you speak, read, or write fluently?" I never thought much of this question, however, after reading about it in this book, I am a little disturbed that companies ask it. Kador says employers can ask that instead of asking questions such as, "Where were you born?" or "In what city/country did you grow up?" I guess asking what languages you speak fluently can potentially be used as a form of hiring bias. I should hope employers are using this information wisely and not in a biased manner. I can see it being useful to ask when needing people who are multilingual or bilingual such as working as an enumerator or customer service.
Overall I thought this book was ok.
1. Icebreaker and background questions. Examples such as "Did you find us/the place okay?" or "What did you enjoy least about your last/present job?"
2. Behavioural questions. These typically start out with "Tell me about a time when you..." or "Describe a situation in which you..." Kador says the main strength of these questions is that it holds candidates accountable for their past performance and claims that a skilled interviewer can easily figure out how to get at the specific behaviour that contributed to that outcome by asking more probing questions. Examples given were questions such as, "Tell me about a time when you set your sights too high," or "Tell me about a time when you surmounted a major obstacle."
3. Questions to determine fit. These questions look at craftsmanship, commitment to quality, fit with corporate culture, passion for work, personality, flexibility, and willingness to accept constructive criticism. Examples include, "What 2 or 3 accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction? Why?" or "Do you prefer working with others or working alone?"
4. Core competency questions. These questions address competencies such as: (a) Individual competencies such as integrity, independence, risk taking, flexibility, decisiveness, and tenacity, (b) Managerial competencies such as ability to take charge of other people in such ways as leadership, empowerment, team management, strategic planning, and management control, (c) Analytical competencies such as innovation, analytical skills, numerical problem solving, practical learning, and detail consciousness, (d) Interpersonal competencies such as empathy, communication, persuasiveness, teamwork, openness, and self-awareness, and (e) Motivational competencies such as resilience, motivation, energy, achievement potential, initiative, and quality focus. Examples of core competency questions include "What does the word failure mean to you?" or "How, specifically, do you contribute towards an environment of teamwork?" or "Describe your organizational skills."
5. Ethics questions. Examples include, "Tell me about a time when, by your actions, you made a lasting, positive impact on the ethical culture of your organization," or "Tell me about a situation that would exemplify your integrity."
6. Brainteasers and business problems. Examples include, "Have you done your best work yet?" or "What is the worst thing you have heard about our company?" or "What makes you unique?"
7. Closing questions. Examples include, "Is there anything else I should know about you?" or "What implications have you drawn from the information you have learned today?"
In part two of this book covers 40 types of interview scripts to ask based on the role or the experience level. For example, there are interview scripts for entry level roles, project management, customer service, and sales.
In part three of this book, Chapter 8 - Acceptable and Unacceptable Personal Questions, they go over legal ways you can get information. For example, there are ways to determine if someone is married and has a family or is planning to have a family. You can ask them, "Do you foresee any long-term absences in the future?" I found this chapter to be rather disturbing, Kador says that there is no such thing as illegal interview questions, which I think is misleading. He says certain questions are not illegal, however he considers them ill-advised. I've filled out many applications in my day and quite often see companies asking "What languages do you speak, read, or write fluently?" I never thought much of this question, however, after reading about it in this book, I am a little disturbed that companies ask it. Kador says employers can ask that instead of asking questions such as, "Where were you born?" or "In what city/country did you grow up?" I guess asking what languages you speak fluently can potentially be used as a form of hiring bias. I should hope employers are using this information wisely and not in a biased manner. I can see it being useful to ask when needing people who are multilingual or bilingual such as working as an enumerator or customer service.
Overall I thought this book was ok.
June 2, 2014
This is a tremendous resource for all manager's just not those who conduct interviews. I found it incredibly helpful in picking the right questions for the right position. The author breaks down questions into different types (ice breakers, behavioral, ethics, etc.). This helps insure that your interview questions, on the whole, are well rounded and balanced.
The book isn't all about questions though. The author challenges you to take a few steps back and think about what type of culture you have and want in your work environment. He discusses the point of interviews, common missteps, how to avoid receiving overly rehearsed answers in response, and more.
Because of it's format you can get through this in a couple of hours, easily. You can then use it as a reference text as you construct interview questions.
The book isn't all about questions though. The author challenges you to take a few steps back and think about what type of culture you have and want in your work environment. He discusses the point of interviews, common missteps, how to avoid receiving overly rehearsed answers in response, and more.
Because of it's format you can get through this in a couple of hours, easily. You can then use it as a reference text as you construct interview questions.
June 6, 2008
I really liked the interview questions in this book. I've looked at a lot of these books and haven't cared for the questions, but have found this one very useful.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews