Even though WayUp makes it easy to hire qualified candidates, we know that interviewing students who haven’t had many years of experience can be a challenge. How do you know that your college age candidate will do a great job if offered the position?
Asking the right questions can reveal a lot about what a college student will contribute to your company as well as areas where the candidate may need a bit of support. As a company who has relied on students to support its branding and advertising efforts, we’ve put together a list of questions which will help you hire a student who can make a real difference at your company.
“Knowing what you know about the company and our offerings, what’s one thing we should change that would make us more successful?”
One of the assumed advantages of hiring young talent is that they can provide a fresh perspective on company practices and new ways of approaching projects – and while we have found this to be true for our company and many others, it’s important to test each candidate’s idea generation. When you ask this question, you ensure that the candidate has been paying close attention to your company (which implies that he or she is genuinely interested in the position) and that he or she is able to identify areas for improvement. Change is vital to any company’s growth and a candidate who can look critically at room for growth–and respectfully challenge and produce new ideas–is the type of candidate who can have long-term effects on your company, invigorating your employees and successfully repositioning your efforts.
“If I were to tell you to get 1,000 customers by tomorrow, how would you go about doing it?”
This is a question we ask candidates for our campus rep program – and when they’re hired, we tell them to move forward with their idea. Whatever the goal of the particular position (more content, user acquisition, higher product sales) set a high, hypothetical goal at the beginning of the question and ask the candidate to think big. The candidate’s answer will exhibit his or her creativity and work ethic, revealing just how hard he or she is willing to work to see success in the role. It’s also a great way of testing a candidate’s ability to think on his or her feet.
“What would your biggest fan say that you need to improve?”
A spin on the “What’s your greatest weakness?” query, this question allows you to get to the bottom of a fault that even your candidate’s biggest supporter wouldn’t be able to overlook. While college-age candidates are new to the workforce and are just beginning to discover their strengths and weaknesses, being self-aware at a young age shows an incredible amount of maturity. This question will allow you to evaluate their level of introspective examination. Not only that, but it can also help you to determine where the candidate may need support and training and if your company has the time and resources to meet that need.
Answers to these questions will be extremely important in determining how well the candidate will perform in the role, so make sure you’re keeping notes during the interview to accurately compare candidate’s responses. If you like what you hear, you’ll be well on your way to hiring a great candidate for the position.
