Whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee, it is important to be prepared for the conversation by having solid questions to ask the other person. If you are the hiring manager, aside from asking a candidate questions about their background/resume, the job itself, and how they will succeed in the position, it is just as important to get a good idea of how one will perform in the workplace and how they will handle certain situations. Asking these types of questions can give you an idea of how one responds/reacts to successes or failures within the workplace.

According to the World Economic Forum, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) describes the ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others. People who are emotionally aware of the feelings of others, approach relationships and work-related interactions in an empathetic manner and help effectively solve problems in a compassionate manner. A study found by TalentSmart shows that EQ is the strongest predictor of workplace effectiveness, accountable for 58 percent of success across roles; nine out of ten top performers the company studied were high in EQ while just 20 percent of low performers were.

If you are looking to hire star performers to add to your team, ask these ten EQ questions in an interview.

1. Tell me about a time when you were criticized about your work. How did you handle it and what did you learn from it?    
2. Tell me about a time when you were most proud of your work and why?
3. If two of your coworkers on your team were disagreeing, how would you help resolve the situation?
4. Tell me about a time where you disagreed with a colleague. How did you resolve the situation?
5. If an upset client called to complain about a product/ service being too high, how would you handle the situation?
6. Tell me about a time where you had a dilemma at work that prevented you from doing your job on time. What did you do?
7. How do you de-stress after a tough day at work?
8. Who are two people that you look up to the most and why?
9. Have you ever felt burnt out in the workplace? How did you deal with it and recover from it?
10. How would some of the people who you are closest to describe you?

Asking these questions that are specific to one’s EQ will allow you to dive deeper into the way a person perceives emotions and uses these perceptions to react. How one responds to these questions can give you a good sense of how they will fit into the company and the culture. Another thing to keep in mind when asking EQ questions is to gauge how genuine and thought-out their answers are. You should be able to easily determine any ‘red flags’ by their responses.

The next time you conduct an interview, keep these questions on hand. Hiring an employee that demonstrates high levels of emotional intelligence will only be an advantage to your team and organization.

 

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