Second interview questions cannot be a repeat of the first interview. Instead, this set of questions need to serve two purposes.
First, you want to clarify any misunderstandings or any confusion arising from the first interview. As you review your notes from the first interview, you might identify follow up questions you missed. There might be some confusion as to exactly what the person did in a particular situation.
The second interview gives you an opportunity to create questions to dig deeper into the person’s background. You can explore any confusing situations or issues.
Finally, this is your opportunity to get additional information. Imagine you are working through your evaluation and you just don’t have enough information to come up with a confident evaluation. This is your opportunity to to ask additional questions, get more examples and add to your data.
Use the second interview to get more examples.
The types of questions you ask in the second interview are the same as the during the first interview. The have the same common characteristics. Create them the same way you did for the first interview.
See the article on creating questions for a full discussion on how to create questions.
Here are a few examples of the types of probing and additional question you might ask:
- How long did you work on that project?
- What other tools did you use to complete the repair?
- What other new procedures did you implement on the ABC project?
- What additional improvements did you make to the procedure?
- What was the financial impact of your efforts on that project?
In conclusion, the second interview is not a re-hash or continuation of the first interview. The second interview questions are your opportunity to clarify and get additional information. The data you get makes the evaluation process easier and leads to better hiring decisions.
