High levels of Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient (EQ) play an important role in employee performance.
EQ interview questions give recruiters and hiring managers a deeper understanding of a candidate’s ability to:
- be aware of their own and other people’s emotions
- recognize and regulate their behavior
- and manage their emotions to adapt to different environments.
These qualities are an important decision factor in a successful hire, because employees with high emotional and social intelligence:
- collaborate effectively with their teammates
- embrace open communication
- and adapt well to change
Among employees who fail to meet expectations during their first 18 months on the job, 23% fail due to low emotional intelligence. That’s the second most prevalent reason new hires fail, following only general lack of coachability.
To help you sift through the rehearsed responses and dig deeper into a candidate’s real level of emotional intelligence, I have curated the following list of interview questions. Hope this helps in your next hire!
1. Can you tell me about a time you tried to do something and failed?
Asking a candidate to explain a failed project is not only a great way to see how they cope when things don’t go as planned, it’s also an opportunity to see whether or not they’re comfortable taking full responsibility for their actions.
Look for a candidate who can straightforwardly describe a recent failure without shirking the bulk of the blame on other parties or unfortunate circumstances. Even if some external factors played a hand in the mishap, you want a candidate who is comfortable being held fully accountable, and can discuss even the nitty-gritty details of a failed project with fair-minded focus.
Does the candidate seem like they were able to fully bounce back from the issue without getting defensive?
2. Can you tell me about a conflict at work that made you feel frustrated?
Everyone gets frustrated sometimes. It’s how you handle that frustration that really matters.
Hearing how a candidate explains a work conflict can offer some valuable clues into their level of emotional intelligence. Conflicts can stir up a lot of difficult emotions, and asking a candidate to describe a dispute and how they dealt with it can give you meaningful insight into how they manage their emotions and empathize with others.
As they explain the conflict situation, consider the following four areas:
- Can they clearly articulate the emotions they experienced during the conflict? (self-awareness)
- Were they able to move past any negative emotions and work towards a resolution? (self-management)
- Do they seem aware of the other person’s motivations and challenges? (social awareness)
- Were they able to mend the relationship and move past the conflict? (social skills)
3. Who inspires you and why?
The job candidate’s answer often gives the interviewer a peek into who the interviewee models him or herself after. The response can also highlight the sorts of behavioral patterns the interviewee respects, says Craig Cincotta.
Look for fake answers where a candidate will give a respected individual or personality’s name. Ask them questions about this person, what are their qualities that inspires them and what have they been doing about it?
4. Tell me about a time you received negative feedback from your boss. How did that make you feel?
One of the most easily recognizable qualities of an emotionally intelligent person is their ability to deal with criticism. People with high emotional intelligence are well-equipped to handle negative feedback without losing stride. They can process even unexpected feedback without letting it damage their self-worth.
Look for a candidate who can specifically describe the feelings they experienced upon receiving negative feedback. A response that acknowledges the specific emotions they experienced and shows an empathic understanding of their manager’s point of view indicates a high level of emotional awareness.
5. What skill or expertise do you feel like you’re still missing?
Curiosity and the desire to learn are vital signs that a prospective employee wants to get better at something. “People who struggle with this question are the people who think they already know it all,” warns Alvarez. “These are the people you want to steer away from.”
6. Can you teach me something, as if I’ve never heard of it before? (It can be anything: A skill, a lesson or a puzzle.)
A job candidate’s answer to this question can reveal several qualities:
- Whether the person is willing to take the time to think before speaking.
- If the candidate has the technical ability to explain something to a person who is less knowledgeable in the subject.
- Whether the candidate asks empathetic questions to the person being taught, such as, “Is this making sense?”
7. What would your co-workers say is the most rewarding thing about working with you? What about the most challenging thing?
It takes a deep, well-developed sense of self-awareness (and humility) to recognize what really makes you tick. To gauge how well candidates understand their own strengths and limitations in the workplace, ask them to explain how they think others perceive their positive and not-so-positive qualities.
The question is likely to catch some people off guard, but look for candidates who appear comfortable offering up frank commentary without making excuses or immediately invaliding their co-workers’ perceived criticisms.
8. Can you tell me about a time you needed to ask for help on a project?
Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident without being overconfident. They have a realistic understanding of their own strengths and limitations, and they aren’t afraid to admit what they don’t know. They know that asking for help and collaborating with others is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Be wary of candidates who seem hesitant or embarrassed to admit they need help sometimes. Look for someone who can confidently discuss a time when they sought the help of a colleague due to a gap in their knowledge of a subject.
Emotionally intelligent people will be transparent about their weak points, and will show a real drive to better themselves by collaborating and using all the resources available to them.
How to assess candidates’ emotional intelligence
Give your candidates some time to think of something from their personal experience. Or, give them a hypothetical scenario to test how they’d react. Choose something that they’re likely to face if you hired them. If your candidates describe a past experience, they should be able to elaborate and give you the entire picture. If necessary, ask further questions.
- “What did your coworker say after that?”
- “How did your relationship with your supervisor change?
- Or “did you face a similar situation with a different client?”
Pay attention to your candidates’ reactions and body language as they answer your questions. Do they still seem unhappy when talking about negative feedback they received from their manager, or can they explain how they improved as a result of the feedback they received?
Tailor your questions to scenarios that match your company operations. For different roles, some emotional intelligence qualities matter more than others.
Translate the answers you get into real work experiences. Avoiding conflicts can be considered an advantage in some cases. But in a professional team, it’s an indicator of an employee who suppresses emotions and could cause collaboration and performance issues in the long-term.
This article was curated using content from the following published articles. Please check them out also.
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