Hiring Experts Favorite Interview Questions

Interviews are often stressful, but being prepared never hurts. 

Below, eight hiring experts share the questions they love to ask 

in interviews. 

Who do you most admire and why? 
— Michael Yormark, President, the Florida Panthers and Sunrise Sports & Entertainment

"The answer reveals a lot about who the candidate is, who she aspires to be, and whether she has the DNA to be part of a company's culture. It will also force the interviewee to make a decision between brutal honesty and telling the interviewer what she believes he wants to hear." 

In your last employee review, what areas for improvement were identified? 
— Andrew Shapin, Chief Executive Officer, Long Tall Sally

"When candidates are honest, it illuminates self-awareness and potential weaknesses. It also helps ensure I get the best out of them. The response can easily be verified with the previous employer. I also ask what progress has been made." 

Why are you here? 
— Andrew Alexander, President, Red Roof Inn

"I always ask this the minute a prospect sits down. After the initial shock wears off, I hope to hear a passion for the hospitality industry and a deep respect for customer service. I find this to be a tremendously effective way to gauge whether the person is interested in working for us or simply seeking a job." 

So you're a Yankees fan. If you were their owner, how would you make the team better? 
— Bonnie Zaben, Chief Operating Officer, AC Lion Recruiting

"I ask the applicant about their hobbies, and then we do role-play. I want to see how they think quickly and compose coherent presentations. Are they recommending specific player changes? Can they quote stats to back up a position? Can they present a cogent argument in five minutes without dead air? You'd be surprised." 

What is your passion? 
— Hilarie Bass, Co-president, Greenberg Traurig

"Passion leads to success. I have turned folks away who could not frankly answer this. The people attracted to us must show absolute commitment to the practice of law and solving clients' problems." 

You're a project manager? Tell me about a time you had a delayed project. 
— Susy Dunn, Vice President of People, Jama Software

"I always have a candidate provide a past situation similar to what they will encounter in a new position. The answer provides huge insights into their level of critical thinking, adaptability, awareness of their impact, and creativity." 

Describe an environment in which you would not thrive. 
— Larry Drebes, CEO, Janrain

"The candidate is less likely to have a scripted answer, and you see some on-the-spot introspection. You can learn a remarkable amount about personality, as well as cultural and organizational impact, which is hugely important. If this question is asked early in an interview, it often yields color for a richer conversation." 

If you could do anything, what would be your ideal job? 
— Liz Bingham, Partner, Ernst & Young

"A resume can tell you about their previous experience, but this question helps indicate the individual's passions and strengths and whether they're well-matched to the job. From aspirations in politics, to cafe ownership, to entrepreneurship, the answers are revealing.”

IT to create maximum jobs in 2014: Assocham

Information technology, banking and agriculture-related businesses are going to be among the key job creating sectors in 2014, according to a study by industry body Assocham.

"Information Technology (IT), pharmaceuticals, banking and agri-related industries such as farm equipment, fertilisers and seeds, will remain the largest employment generation sectors in 2014," the chamber said in its study.

All these sectors will stand out despite the present state of the economy where net employment is being lost and not created in a large majority of sectors.

IT will remain the net aggregator of jobs in 2014 due to recovery in the US economy, it said.

"The US economy is showing signs of improvement... A large number of American firms are expected to increase their IT spend as consumer sales pick up there," it added.

Continuous pressure on rupee will help increase the net income of IT companies and they will keep hiring, it pointed out.

"Since our economy still remains a good mix of organised and unorganised, large corporate and small enterprises, a large number of people in rural India are dependent on agriculture and tertiary industries; there are inherent and inbuilt strengths which come handy when the chips are down," Assocham President Rana Kapoor said.

Pharma sector will continue to hire in 2014. But because of some setbacks and tightening of regulations in the US and some other markets, the companies will have to invest more in improving their manufacturing and Research & Development.

Further, the study said that agri-based industries are expected to do better in 2014 on the back of a good rabi crop.

"The positive spin off would be evident in a whole lot of industries which are directly linked such as tractor and farm equipment manufacturers, irrigation firms and those involved in developing and selling seeds and fertilisers", it said.

On banking, the study said that 2014 is expected to be a better year for the sector.

"The NPAs would be reduced since the focus is very much there on the issue and there are signs of recovery in some segments of the economy. Besides, a huge number of backlog vacancies have to be filled up in public sector banks."

For the private banking sector, new licenses, which are likely to be given before April, will throw up new job opportunities.

While the new banks will leverage technology, job opportunities will arise both in brick and mortar as also in development and implementation of technology solutions, the study added.

HCL new destination is Lucknow which will create 25,000 jobs

Technology group HCL said it will set up a 100-acre IT city in Lucknow, a move that will help create job opportunities for about 25,000 people in Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh government has awarded the project to Vamasundari Investments, the investment arm of HCL, the group said in a statement.

No financial details were available. About 60 acres of the proposed IT city will be allotted to IT and ITeS, including a hi-tech skill development center with a capacity to train more than 5000 people, it added.

The remaining 40 acres is intended for support infrastructure and initiates of social impact, it said.

"IT City shall play a crucial role in the overall economic development and boost up industrial growth of the state. Apart from this, it will directly create approximately 25,000 job opportunities for the youth of the state," UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said.

Ancillary support services required for setting up IT industry such as hardware manufacturing, telecommunication equipment and several others shall also create huge career opportunities, it added.

Yadav said the move will also stop the state's talent from migrating to other states in search of better career opportunities.

"Four decades ago, we dreamt of positively impacting the world with microprocessors and the journey then began in partnership with UP government...The development of IT City will further the momentum for innovation-led growth and social development in the state," HCL Founder and Chairman Shiv Nadar Foundation Shiv Nadar said.

Headquartered in Noida, the $6.4 billion HCL group offers indirect employment to one lakh people in UP. Of its total direct workforce of about 90,000 employees, about 30,000 work out of the state.

HCL also has a 46-acre SEZ campus in Noida. In its full capacity, the campus will seat 25,000 employees and generate export revenue to the tune of $one billion.

The group also runs the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which operates Shiv Nadar University in Dadri, VidyaGyan Leadership Academies in Blandisher and Sitapur and Shiv Nadar School in Noida.

Opportunity to create 2 Lakh R&D jobs in India by 2018

India, which has a presence of 228 of the top 500 firms globally, has the opportunity of creating 200,000 jobs in the research and development (R&D) space in the next five years, global advisory and management consulting firm Zinnov said in a report.

According to the report, Crossing the Value Chasm, China is the leading destination for R&Dinvestments with a total of 385 G500 companies having a presence there as compared to 228 global 500 companies in India and 220 firms in the Bay Area in the US.

"In keeping with the historic trend that companies with a higher R&D spend find India more attractive for investments, there is a clear opportunity to create additional 200,000 R&D jobs in India by global 500 companies in the next 5 years," the report added.

The top 500 R&D spenders contributed over $577 billion, with the top 100 R&D spenders alone contributing 66 per cent to the global R&D spend, it said.

Of the total global R&D spend, 40 per cent of the overall is from organisations headquartered in North America, followed by 34 per cent from Europe, 18 per cent from Japan and 7 per cent from Asia-Pacific, Zinnov said in the report.

"In 2012, 26 firms increased their global R&D spend by at least 20 per cent and contributed over $19 billion. Fourteen of these companies have a presence in India and have increased their global R&D spend by $14 billion, of this only $129 million was invested in India," the report said.

At present, close to 50 per cent of the global 500 firms present have over 10 per cent of the global R&D head count in India.

While software/Internet companies tend to achieve the milestone of locating 10-20 per cent of their R&D headcount in India faster than others, fee companies seem to have reached a ceiling at a minimal 1-4 per cent of the global head count.

"A factor is that many of the India centres lack strong leadership and global stakeholder buy-in. Currently, only 11 per cent of the companies with centres in India have global roles in engineering, product management and support functions," it said.

Only 15 per cent of the India leaders are proactive, influential and have a global impact, indicating a need to grow strong a leadership pipeline, the report added.