Want to Hire Great People? Stop Asking Irrelevant Interview Questions!

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By Perminus Wainaina,

Having worked in the recruitment industry for over 13 years, I have met with all kinds of interviewers. I have met interviewers who ask irrelevant questions like, “What does your partner do?”, “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?” or “Do you find me attractive?”

Apparently, some employers/business owners ask these questions to “see if you can think on your feet” or “to throw you off balance”.

Here is the thing: Your interviewing skills matter a lot! If you change how you interview, you can hire great people whenever you want to. You have to be just as willing to sell people on your company as you are willing to let them sell you on themselves. And when you do that, recruiting becomes the easiest HR function.

The truth of the matter is, by asking these irrelevant questions, you will fail to assess the candidate’s job skills and suitability for the role.

Hiring Managers, here are reasons I believe you should refrain from asking these questions:

1. You are wasting both your and the candidate’s time

    You asking these irrelevant questions wastes time that could be spent discussing the candidate’s qualifications and experience.

    The person will judge you and the company based on the questions you are asking.

    2. The candidate will consider you and the company unprofessional

    Those irrelevant questions reflect poorly on the company and make the candidate question if they would want to work for a company that conducts interviews in this way. The candidate will be wondering, “Is this really how they do things here?”

    3. It fails to assess job skills

    Asking irrelevant questions does not provide any insight into the candidate’s ability to perform the job.

    4. You’ll miss your opportunity to learn more about the candidate’s relevant experience and qualifications.

    You’ll not delve into the candidate’s work history or qualifications, missing out on valuable information that could be used to assess their suitability for the role.

    What to do instead.

    • Be Purposeful. Every question should serve a purpose. What do you genuinely want to know? Ask focused job-related inquiries.
    • Probe for Skills. Instead of pointless imaginary hypotheticals, ask about real-world scenarios. Mix the behavioural style questions with situational scenarios that the candidate is likely to face. For example, “You’re likely to encounter some resistant stakeholders here. How would you handle it, and how have you handled it in the past?”
    • Respect Boundaries. Avoid prying into personal lives. Stick to professional matters. Candidates are not open books and do not owe it to you to reveal everything about themselves.

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