Getting a qualified candidate in for an interview is only half the battle. Here are some questions the experts pose to ensure they’re hiring the right person for the job:

> “I always ask: ‘What is the job duty that has been most satisfying to you?’” says Shelly Kerber, a human resources consultant with Omaha, Neb.-based Peak’s Staffing and Training Center. “The candidate might say he or she enjoys meeting with clients or doing paperwork, which tells me if he or she is a salesperson or an administrator.”

> “We dig in and ask good behavioural questions, such as: ‘What would you do in a particular situation?’” says Julie Littlechild, president of Toronto-based Advisor Impact Inc. “Use a good example the candidate can walk you through, which brings to light not only his or her experience but how the candidate thinks and attacks problems.”

> “We will ask layered questions, such as: ‘Describe a recent situation in which you set a challenging goal and you achieved it’,” says Sharon Harrald, vice president of Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc. ’s Investor Group Institute.

This is an especially good question for candidates in career transition, she says: “Then we’ll dig a little deeper and ask, ‘How did you evaluate your effectiveness?’ and ‘What personal qualities related most to this success?’ In many cases, candidates may not realize that all of the things they’ve done really do speak to what we’re looking for.”

> “I tend to ask people off-point questions,” says Stephanie Bogan, founder and principal of Quantuvis Consulting in Redlands, Calif. “ ‘If you could choose between a bigger salary, a bigger office, a better title or more time off, what would you choose?’ That question gets at whether people are motivated by money, quality of life, status or recognition.”

Bogan poses additional peeking-under-the-hood queries, such as: “If you knew you were going to do something amazing in your professional career in five years, what would that be?” and “What type of co-workers get under your skin?”

“These questions really get to the issues of culture, commitment and compensation,” Bogan says. “The probability of getting a good fit is going to go way, way up.”

— MAUREEN HALUSHAK