Interview Questions You Need to Spot Top Talent

Hiring managers often fall in love with certain interview questions, but do your questions reveal what you really need – top talent? It is easy to get in a rut when asking interview questions, therefore, these questions have shown to provide great insight into a candidate and whether they will be a great addition to your construction team.

Describe a big (long) project, and how you were able to maintain your level of interest. This question will show the level of ambition and how a candidate is able to focus on the project at hand. Ask them to give you examples of how they were able to achieve their focus, and during their answer, pay attention to their enthusiasm and tone.
In construction, you often need to work independently – would you describe yourself as independent? It is important that you understand if the candidate can manage their time and how they feel about the value of project time. Ask them to provide an example of how they were able to work independently and still complete the project timely.
What would you do if you ran into a problem during your work on a project? Knowing if they will struggle to find an answer, or ask for help is something you must be aware before hiring. Time can be wasted on a project if they are too “proud” to ask for help.
What skills (if any) are you looking to improve or acquire over the next 5 years? This will show you if they truly are dedicated to their career and are willing to continue learning more. You want talent that is willing to expand their knowledge base, which helps you on projects.
What methods do you use to focus on the project tasks, when on a busy construction site? This will give you a look at how they can handle their tasks with other work going on around them.

While there are many good questions for construction workers, these will give you a glimpse at some top talent and how they handle situations that are important to the success of a project.