Fill and Sign the A Pre Interview Questionnaire for Improving Candidate Form

Candidate Pre-Interview Questionnaire Resumes and applications provide us with useful information but we find that is also helpful to provide candidates with an opportunity to provide additional information on their interests, skills, etc. Please help us understand you better by answering these questions. It is important that you answer the questions honestly, so that we can accurately assess your “fit” with this job and the organization. Please be aware that your answers may be verified during your interview or during reference checks. Your Name _________________________________________________ Job Title for which you are Applying: ____________________________________ Please answer each of these questions to the best of your ability. We don’t expect any “deep thoughts,” so just answer the questions quickly and as honestly as you can. Please remember that some of the questions require you to assign points or weights to your answers, while others ask you to list your preferences in descending order (i.e. to list the most important one first and the least important last). Category 1. Your Strengths and Weaknesses A. List the job responsibilities and duties at which you excel? In order to ensure that this job allows you sufficient opportunity to perform the duties where your performance is clearly excellent, we need to know which jobs duties and responsibilities at which you are most proficient. Using the job duties and responsibilities listed in the job description for this job (if it is not available, just list the responsibilities for your desired job) list the No. 1 responsibility that you do best. Then list the remaining job duties in descending order. Note: Please start the list with the job duty or responsibility where your performance is the highest. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ B. What technical skills and knowledge areas are your strongest? In order to ensure that this job utilizes your best skills, it’s important that we know which of the skills and knowledge areas at which you are most proficient. Using the job skills and knowledge areas listed in the job description for this job (if it is not available, just list the skills for your desired job), rank the ones that you excel at in descending order. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ C. What people, team, and leadership skills are your strongest? It’s important that we know which people, team and leadership skills at which you are most proficient in order to ensure that this job fits your skill profile. Referring to the job skills and knowledge areas listed in the job description for this job (if it is not available, just list the skills that you utilize in your current job) rank the people and leadership skills at which you excel (in descending order). Please start the list with the people, team or leadership skill that is your strongest. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ D. Do you have any supplemental skills, knowledge areas or experiences that we should know about? We like to provide candidates with an opportunity to highlight any skills, knowledge areas, or experiences that, although they are not directly utilized in your current job, may provide value in our organization. Examples might include language skills, knowledge of equipment, sales or leadership skills, etc. Please list any below. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ E. Can you provide us with a sample of your best work? In many jobs, it is possible to demonstrate your expertise and capabilities by providing samples of your actual work. Can you describe or name your best work that could be demonstrated, read, or reviewed by others? Examples of work might include reports, presentations, plans, metrics, software you’ve written, descriptions of processes or products, pictures of things that you have designed, sales scripts, websites we can visit, etc. Description of work: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Would you be willing to bring this demonstrable work to the interview? Yes ___ No ____ F. What interview question would best allow you to demonstrate your qualifications for this position? Our firm uses a standard list of behavioral interview questions during our interviews. However, on occasion, we find that some individuals (particularly innovative, creative, or diverse individuals) leave our interviews wishing we had asked them a specific question. Every manager has his or her own preferences, but if time permits, is there a particular interview question that you would like us to ask? If you have one, list the question and also explain what skill, knowledge or capability that question would reveal: ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ G. What are your key strengths? Please list in descending order your job-related strengths (even if these strengths have been listed in other questions): ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ H. What are your most obvious weaknesses? Please list the job-related weaknesses that your supervisors and co-workers have pointed out to you in performance appraisals, team debriefings etc. (even if these weaknesses have been listed in other questions). List what others have said is your biggest weakness first: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Category 2. Motivation A. What are the key motivators that excite you to perform at your very best? It’s important that a job and organization be able to provide the right motivators to new hires so that they can excel. Help us understand what motivates you by listing your key motivators in descending order below. Typical motivators might include pay, benefits, recognition, schedule flexibility, new challenges, learning opportunities, promotional opportunities etc. Please list in descending order of importance to you. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ B. What makes a job fun? We try, whenever possible, to provide a stimulating environment for our employees. Please help us understand what excites you by listing anything that in your experience makes a job fun for you: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ C. What are the changeable aspects of a job, manager, or organization that normally frustrate you the most? If you’re hired, we will do our best to try to avoid similar issues in your new job. Please list in descending order of importance. Note: Please start the list with the factor that frustrates you the most. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ D. Why specifically did you quit your last job? Please provide us with this information so that we can be sure that this opportunity does not contain any of those factors. If you’re hired, we can try to avoid similar issues. Note: Please start the list with the primary reason that you left. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ E. What management approaches are most effective in maximizing your performance? One of the key criteria that can be used to assess your “fit” with our organization is whether we can provide you with the type of management supervision that allows you to flourish. Assign points to the most desirable management behaviors and no points to the ones that are less important. Make sure your total points equal 100. Desired Management Behaviors Points  Close supervision and control ______  Loose supervision and control ______  Regularly scheduled contact and communication ______  Only occasional contact and communication ______  Verbal recognition ______ Monetary reward and recognition ______  Mostly individual projects ______  Mostly team projects ______  Opportunities to lead ______  Flexibility to follow others ______  Provided with varied tasks ______  Allowed to focus on the same tasks each day ______  The volume of output being the most important ______  The quality of the output being the most important ______ Note: Please assign points to only the most important behaviors. The total should equal 100 points. F. Where would you expect to be in two years? If you were to get this job and you were to perform up to your own highest expectations, what job title, rank, or other level would you expect to be at.  After completing your first year? _____________________________________________  After completing your second year? Category 3. Recruiting-related questions A. What decision criteria will you use to decide whether you will accept your next job offer? It’s important that we know your job acceptance criteria so that we can provide you with relevant information in each of those areas. List them in descending order of importance. Typical job acceptance criteria areas include pay, benefits, schedule, development opportunities, promotional opportunities, job responsibilities, resources, management style, etc. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ B. What other firm’s have you applied to recently? Please list the other firms you’ve applied to recently in descending order of your interest: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ C. Is there anyone (by title) that you would like to talk to during your visit for an interview? Candidates can make better informed decisions about whether this position is the right fit for them if they have an opportunity to talk to key individuals. If time permits, is there anyone (by title or name) whom you would like to talk to if you are selected to visit? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ D. Would you be willing to participate in a telephone interview? To save travel costs and inconvenience on the part of candidates, we sometimes conduct interviews over the telephone. Would you be amenable to an initial telephone interview? Yes ____ No ____ E. What is the minimum starting yearly salary that you will accept for this position? In order to avoid wasting a great deal of a candidate’s and hiring manager’s time, it’s important that we know at the beginning of the process whether our salary target for this position meets your minimal expectations. Please be candid, because we do not make counteroffers. My minimum yearly starting salary is: $___________ Category 4. Notifications and useful information Before coming in for an interview, there are several things that we would like you to be aware of:  You must take and pass a drug test before you can be hired.  Business casual dress is appropriate for interviews at our firm.  Because we are a government contractor, no hire can start a position until after the completion of the appropriate security clearances.  If you should be selected for an interview, you can help facilitate the scheduling by providing us with the best days and times that you might be available for a interview: _________________________  Are there any accommodations that we can make to assist you (as a result of any disabilities you might have)? __________________________________________________________  For jobs requiring certification or licensing, please bring your original license with you if you are invited for an interview. I certify that the information provided here is accurate. Signed ______________________________ Date ___________