A reader asks:
I know you’ve talked about common questions interviewers ask. However, while a candidate can prepare for those types of questions, for behavioral interview questions (“tell me about a time when…”) it’s sometimes tough for candidates to come up with answers when I’m asking them to draw on their experience and give me examples of specific situations on the spot.
Are there any disadvantages to supplying these sorts of interview questions to candidates ahead of time so they can prepare thoughtful answers? I’ve never had a potential employer offer them to me prior to an interview, but I see only advantages to doing so. For example, for people who get very nervous in interviews, it seems to me that it would help to level the playing field since they wouldn’t have the stress of having to answer on the spot. In addition, it also seems the interviewers would get better quality answers from all candidates who took the time to prepare. The only potential disadvantage I see is that people could used canned responses, but since situational interview questions draw on their experience, it seems like it would be difficult to do that.
Green responds:
Giving candidates a heads-up about some of the topics you plan to discuss in the interview can be a real benefit to both of you.
Read the full article @ Inc.
