Questions to Ask a New Employee Before and After You Hire Them

Introductory interview questions

You can teach a skill, whether that’s through training or a certification course. But you can’t teach attitude. We’re strong believers that one coachable and enthusiastic person is better for your business in the long run than a highly skilled bad fit.

Read through these other interview questions to ask a new employee with that in mind.

Tell me about yourself.

The best fit for your company is a combination of professional experience and personal compatibility. This introductory question about the candidate is a great way to learn about their previous work and also a little more about them as a person.

Why are you the best person for this job?

This is a great no-nonsense question for you to open or close an interview with. It works whether you found and recruited the candidate or they applied to your posting. It will show you how much time, if any, they’ve spent reviewing the job posting and your business.

More importantly, this question gives the candidate an opportunity to highlight their values and past achievements. They might emphasize their commitment to showing up every day, on time, or they might tell you about their past success leading an efficient team.

Whatever their answer, it will tell you a lot about what energy and experience they would bring to the team. This will give you an idea whether or not they’re a good fit.

READ MORE: How to hire your first employee

Why do you want to work with our company?

Look for knowledge of your company and enthusiasm at the potential to join your team in the answer to this question. Candidates with an intentional interest in your company are more valuable in the long run.

What do you know about our company?

Without approaching this question as a trap, a candidate who knows about your company demonstrates a willingness to research their prospective employer and take genuine interest in the business.

What are your long-term career goals?

You can’t put a price on ambition, and a candidate with drive and determination that can clearly express their long-term goals sets realistic expectations for their future with your company. It also gives you the opportunity to create a plan to help them achieve their goals.

How would your previous employer describe you?

It’s not an official reference, but a candidate that is open and honest about their relationship with a previous employer shows self awareness and transparency when dealing with leadership. You should still check those references though.

READ MORE: Attract the best employees with these top tips from a hiring expert

What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

A standard question for most interviews, a candidate’s ability to highlight strengths and weaknesses helps you understand where they are most valuable to your business and where you can help them improve.

Skill and experience questions

Once you’ve figured out if your candidate has the right personality to fit into your company, you can use these questions to make sure they have the skills and experience to get the job done and keep your customers happy. 

What was one of your favorite jobs and why?

This question will reveal what motivates a candidate. They might describe a position where they ran their own crew, signaling that they value autonomy and can handle responsibility.

Maybe their favorite job involved working alone with minimal customer interaction, and the position you’re looking to fill requires a lot of customer face time. That might be a red flag.

Don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper if the response is minimal. Ask them why they feel they did a great job leading that crew, or if they have any other experience interacting with customers.

Can you describe a challenging project you completed?

Not only does this question allow your candidate to share additional experience, it also allows them to showcase their problem-solving abilities and specific skills.

How do you handle tight deadlines?

You want to ensure your candidate has experience meeting tight deadlines to maximize the work you can take on and keep your clients satisfied.

READ MORE: Stan Genadek’s top 7 small business hiring tips

What specific skills do you bring to this role?

One of the most important aspects of the interview is learning more about a candidate’s relevant experience and expertise. You want to make sure the applicant can perform the duties set out in the job description. There are also unique skills a potential hire may possess that are more valuable to your company.

How do you ensure high quality in your work?

Results and customer satisfaction are everything, so understanding how a candidate ensures quality in their work helps you feel confident your reputation will be upheld with your client base.

Explain what teamwork means to you.

The answer your candidate gives to this question can tell you a lot about how they work with others and how they might work with other employees on your team.

Whether you’re a team of 4 or a team of 14, teamwork is essential to the success of your company. Even if you’re hiring for an office manager who might be on their own at the office all day, they still have to communicate with your team in the field and problem-solve issues together on the fly.

Teams that work well together share accountability when things go wrong (or when things work out!). Teams also work towards the same goal and people generally work better together than they do on their own.

If the candidate struggles with answering this question or can’t give you an answer to what they think teamwork is, they might not be the right fit for you.

Most of our customers hire us for the same reason. What do you think that reason is?

A candidate’s answer to this question can give you insight into how much research they’ve done on your company and why they want to work with you.

It can also show you what first impression your business gives potential employees (and customers!). You might discover that your current employees have said good things about your company in the community or maybe your many positive online reviews attracted your potential employee.

What are your pay expectations?

You want to be able to make a decision by the end of your interview, so confirm that they understand the pay if it’s set, or ask them about their expectations if there is flexibility.

With this question out of the way, you’ll have everything you need to make your decision and the next step can be an offer rather than spending more time negotiating.

Situational questions

Once you’re confident in your candidate’s skills and experience, it’s helpful to understand how they make decisions on the job and solve problems in real time. Use these situational questions to learn more about how your candidate operates in the field. 

Tell me about a time you experienced great customer service and horrible customer service.

Your ideal candidate should have a strong understanding of what good and bad customer service looks like. This is your chance to find out if that’s true.

The candidate might describe a time they’ve provided great customer service or been on the receiving end, and either way you’ll get a clear picture of what they value in these important interactions.

The answer to this question will tell you if the candidate’s own standards are a match for what you expect to see on the job.

How do you deal with difficult customers?

Customer service is one of the most important aspects of your business, but not all customers are easy to deal with. Knowing how your candidate deals with difficult customers shows their adaptability to any situation, communication skills, and professionalism.

Can you give an example of a time you went above and beyond for a client?

Taking the extra step for a client is a sure-fire way to retain and earn more business. Your candidate’s example can reflect a variety of benefits, including repeat business and company reviews.

What would you need from the company to make sure you’re delivering quality work and making our customers happy?

In a job interview, you’re usually looking for someone that is the right fit for your company. So, it’s easy to forget that candidates are looking for a workplace that’s the right fit for them too. This question will help both you and your candidate figure that out.

In answering this question, your candidate may tell you they want to get paid on time because they’ve struggled with that in past jobs. Or, maybe they value effective internal communication, such as getting reasonable notice for newly scheduled or canceled jobs.

It’s part of your job as a home service business owner to take care of your employees. When employees are taken care of, they do their best work and they stay with your business.

Kristen Hadeed said it best: “People would show up for work more if they knew that they were cared for.”

Understanding what your employees value not only makes your employees happier, it also makes you a better leader, and it improves employee retention. You work hard to find great employees—you want to make sure not to put your efforts to waste.

Do you have any questions for me?

Save this interview question for the end, once you’ve asked all of your questions. A candidate might have some questions prepared. Or, they may have already asked their questions earlier in the interview.

Unless they’ve asked questions throughout the interview, the right candidate should have something to ask. It’s a sign they’re interested in the job and curious about the potential opportunity in front of them. It also means they’re trying to figure out if your company is the right place for them.

Questions to ask during onboarding

Now that you’ve hired your ideal candidate, it’s important to get them up and running in your company. These onboarding questions ensure your hire feels comfortable in the new position and has what they need to do their job well. 

How was your first day?

Get an idea of the overall first impressions about your company and identify any issues that may be affecting your new hires experience.

Do you have any questions about your role?

Use this opportunity to further clarify the roles and responsibilities of your new hire should anything arise early on in their tenure.

Is there anything you need to do your job better?

It’s important to identify any roadblocks your new employee might experience early on in their time with your company. Make sure they have everything they need to succeed.

How was your experience with the onboarding process?

Every new hire presents the opportunity to improve your onboarding process. Get valuable feedback while it’s still fresh to make sure you’re ahead of the curve when it comes to recruiting.

30-60-90 day review questions

Checking in on our new employee 30, 60, and 90 days after their start date is a great way to check in on their progress, make sure they’re on the right track, and hear feedback that could improve their experience and benefit your company.

How are you finding the role?

Any and all feedback about the role will help you understand the pros and cons of the position and how you can improve moving forward for the benefit of your company.

Any challenges or concerns so far?

Identify blockers or areas in need of improvement to ensure your new employee has every opportunity to succeed.

Is there anything that could help you be more effective in your role?

Learn if you’re making all of your company’s resources available to new employees to ensure they are getting the most out of the position and providing the most value to your business.

READ MORE:Learn how to build a business where employees want to work