10 questions to ask young job applicants

Hiring young people can be tricky but it is well worth the effort. When you have an engaged and driven Millennial who is motivated to work for your organisation, they’ll bring a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to your team.

You may however find the CV’s of some Gen Y candidates can be a little light on experience, making you feel like you could be taking a risk. To dive deeper into the history or talents of a less experienced job seeker, here are 10 questions to ask in order to get the most out of your interviewee.

1. Where do you see yourself in five years?
2. How would you say your educational experience has shaped you for this role?
3. Describe a time you didn’t get along with your boss. What happened?
4. Why do you think you are a good fit for our company?
5. If you were required to sign a contract requiring you to work here for three years, would you?
6. Tell me about a time at University or school when you had to deal with conflict between classmates.
7. If you were faced with a situation where you disagreed with a co-worker, what would you do?
8. If you didn’t know how to complete a task on a project list, what would you do?
9. What is your best personality trait?
10. How do you like to receive feedback?

These type of questions are key in hiring Millennials because they evoke answers that will help you determine emotional maturity, intelligence, and loyalty, rather than simply discovering depth of work experience.

Situational questions will help you get the best out of Millennial candidates so if you can incorporate one or more of these questions into your interview guide, you’ll get a very clear idea of which candidate is right for your organisation.

Saxon Marsden-Huggins is the managing director of Recruit Shop, which offers recruitment services to small businesses in Australia and New Zealand.