Monday's Opening Thought: April 25, 2022

This week’s opening thought: If you’re a recruiter, HR “professional” in charge of recruiting efforts for an organization, hiring manager, or hiring committee member in 2022, and you’re still asking the following questions (or some version of these questions):

“Tell me about yourself.”

“What would you say are your strengths?”

“What would you say is your biggest weakness?”

“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“Have you ever been fired?”

“What was the worst trait of your previous manager?”

“What did you like least about your last job?”

“Why do you want this job?”

“How does your experience relate to this job?”

‍“I’m interviewing other candidates for this role. Why should I hire you?"

“Where do you live?”

“What year did you graduate?”

“Describe yourself in three words.”

“Describe yourself in one sentence.”

“What country are you from?”

“What is your race?”

“What is your current salary?”

“Have you been convicted of a crime?”

“Have you ever been arrested?”

“Do you have a disability?”

“Are you married?”

“Do you have kids you have to drop off and pick up from school every day?”

“Are you a religious person?”

“Are there any religious holidays you observe?”

“Are you pregnant?”

“Are you planning on starting a family anytime soon?”

“Do you have kids? How many?”

“What are your child care arrangements?”

You shouldn’t feel the need to question why you’re losing awesome candidates to other companies. You shouldn’t feel the need to wonder why candidates keep removing themselves from the running halfway through your recruiting process. You shouldn’t feel the need to wonder why Global Majority folx, people of color, and folx from marginalized communities are leaving your company.

All of the answers you seek are in the questions you ask.

P.S.: Before you ask, yes, people are still asking these questions in interviews. I had an interview last week, and the recruiter asked me three of these questions - and he only asked me five questions. I'll let y'all guess which three. People regularly tell me about the questions they get asked in interviews, and this list only scratches the surface.