Emotional Intelligence Interview Questions And Answers

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.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability of an individual to understand his or her own emotions and the emotions of others. Testing job applicants for their emotional intelligence (in the form of psychological-based tests) is a growing trend in employment today.

If a worker has high emotional intelligence, he or she is more likely to be able to express his or her emotions in a healthy way, and understand the emotions of those he or she works with, thus enhancing work relationships and performance.

Instead of asking that outright, you might tell a quick anecdote about a family member or colleague who annoys you. Then ask if there's anyone at the candidate's last job who really bothered them and how they dealt with that.

Of course, a savvy candidate will focus on solutions-like how they've smoothed that relationship over-but it can still give you valuable insight into how they perceive other people. You'll probably also learn something about how well they understand the effect of their behavior on others (and its limits).

Emotional Intelligence is commonly defined into five traits

► Self regulation: The ability to control where necessary, redirect your emotions and impulses, adapting to changing circumstances

► Self awareness: It is an ability to understand your strength, emotions and goals and their importance
Empathy: It is an ability to relate and understand the feelings of others

► Motivational skills: It is an ability to push yourself towards a certain goal or outcome

► Social skills: It is ability to communicate well with others and building relationship

Strategies you can employ to develop your self-control are

► In stressful conditions, analyze the "self-talk" that drives your emotional reactions
► Introduce a pause before speaking
► Give adequate thought to the impact of your words and actions on other

Every good relationship starts with trust and aligned values. Insight into a person's priorities -- as well as honesty and integrity -- can emerge in the candidate's answer

The answer to this question can determine whether a person is selfless or selfish. "When people talk about their own success, listen to whether someone talks about 'me-me-me' or 'I-I-I.' Or whether they talk about 'the team,' 'we' or 'us.'"

Interview questions that assess emotional intelligence tend to focus on how the interviewee manages oneself and manages relationships with others.

The questions asked are often behavioral questions, meaning that they ask the interviewee to explain how he or she acted in a past employment-related situation. Below are some examples of typical EI interview questions.

Consciously or otherwise, we tend to model some of our behaviors after those we admire. Ask your interviewee to reflect on that. Is the object of their admiration a "people person," someone who inspires and encourages others, or more of a tactical thinker who's better left down in the weeds, working things out on their own? There are no categorically wrong answers here, and sometimes the person a candidate says they admire reflects attributes they wish they possessed, not those they do.

All this is useful to find out. Listen carefully, then dig further by asking if there's anything they've picked up from the person they admire. You can even ask whether there's anything about that person the interviewee doesn't like, in spite of the things they do.

EQ question should be asked in interview to check if

► The person has a strong understanding of the driving force behind his behavior
► Is the candidate's reaction is intentional or does he/she react to something or someone
► Is the candidate defensive? Is he self-aware
► Do the candidates reveals much about him or herself

► It helps you respond in ways that show others that you understand, notice and care
► It creates trust in relationships by sending nonverbal signal that match up with your words
► It reads the unspoken messages that they are sending

A good model to build EQ in the workplace includes

☛ Training
☛ Evaluation

Shifting priorities happen in every company, and every job, so look for candidates who are flexible and possess the skills to help carry out change. Hire employees who are self-aware, motivated and display empathy advises DeLeon. "These skills will help employees better work in teams."

Here, too, you can start out by giving them an example of one of your days from hell. It isn't about feeding them a scenario you're looking for your interviewee to spit back; you're just modeling the type of situation you want to hear them reflect upon.

So don't just ask them to describe a bad day; ask how they dealt with it. Does it seem that they dwelled on the problem or blamed others (even if they put it differently), or really looked for solutions? Listen for evidence of any surefire coping mechanisms. You want to hire someone who's got the flexibility to deal with uncertain and unpredictable situations-a hallmark of emotional intelligence.

► Why is this role of interest to you?
► What results do you want to achieve?
► How will this role help you to achieve what you want?
► What do you consider to be a few of your strengths?
► Who is responsible for your results?
► What makes you laugh?
► When is the last time you were embarrassed?
► What happened? How did you handle the situation?
► What activities energize and excite you?
► How do you have fun?
► What are two personal habits that have served you well?
► How good are you at accepting help from others?
► How good are you at asking for help?
► What is one of the internal battles to have each day?
► What makes you angry?
► What aspect of your work you are passionate about?
► How could you create more balance in your life?
► Who inspires you? Why?
► On an "average day" would you consider yourself a high or low energy person?
► On an "average day" is your main focus on results and tasks or people and emotions?

► what you are looking for in an applicant.
► signs that indicate a "red flag," such as:
► ► criticizing others they have worked with.
► ► demonstrating poor social skills or impulse control in the interview.
► ► showing a lack of interest / preparation.
► ► treating others with disrespect.

► the hiring method you will use:
► ► Situational Interview: Interviewer provides a scenario and asks the applicant a series of questions on "how they would handle the situation."
► ► Behavioral Interview: Interviewer delves into the applicants past experiences and asks job specific questions. Example: "Tell me about a time when…"

► Are you good at reading people?
► Are you charismatic? Can you give me an example?
► Can you tell me about a time you made a gut decision?
► How do you socially engage people who seem shy or distant?
► Why is eye contact important?
► Why is humor important?
► Can you tell me about a time you used humor to achieve a business result?
► Can you tell me about a time you had difficulty collaborating with someone?
► What is the key to motivating your team?
► You have an important meeting with your boss. You need to sell him/her an important idea. However, he/she seems to be in a bad mood. How do you handle situation?
► How do you recover from a bad first impression?
► How do you help a coworker who seems stressed out?
► Can you tell me about a time you facilitated the resolution of a conflict?
► Why is body language important?
► Can you give me an example of how body language can be used to communicate when you're giving a speech or presentation?
► Why do people resist change? Are you open to change?
► What's the most difficult professional criticism you've received? How did you handle it?
► How do you soften criticism?
► Can you tell me about the last time you criticized someone at work?
► Do people trust you? Why / why not?
► What techniques have you used to establish trust?
► What was the last time you inspired someone? How did you do it?
► Do most people like you? Why / why not?
► Is it possible to please everyone all the time? Why / why not?
► What steps do you take to build rapport with your coworkers?
► Do you have a strong sense of curiosity? If so, can you give me an example?
► How long can you focus on a task?
► Can you give me an example of a time you focused to achieve a result?
► Do you spend a lot of time thinking about work?
► How do you come up with creative ideas?
► Are you optimistic in your work? Can you give me an example?
► What's the difference between optimism and wishful thinking?
► Can you tell me about a time you collaborated with a difficult person?
► Are you assertive? If so, can you give me an example?
► Do you have an open mind? If so, can you give me an example?

► Are you aware of your limitations, as well as your personal strengths, as a leader?
► Are you usually aware of your feelings and why you feel that way?
► Can you adapt smoothly to changing realities?
► Can you guide a negotiation to a satisfactory agreement, and help settle conflicts?
► Can you usually sense the feelings of the people you interact with and understand their way of seeing things?
► Describe a difficult issue you had to deal with.
► Describe a time when understanding someone else's perspective helped you understand them better.
► Describe a time when you had to deliver difficult news.
► Describe the people in your team and discuss what they need and how they feel.
► Do you have a knack for persuasion and using your influence effectively?
► Do you keep your focus on your main goals, and know the steps it takes to get there?
► Do you work well on a team, or prefer to work on your own?
► How do you achieve work/life balance?
► How do you build relationships with people?
► How do you develop rapport with people?
► How do you handle multiple demands?
► How do you handle stressful situations?
► How do you measure success? What results do you achieve?
► How do you overcome obstacles and setbacks?
► How do you relax?
► How do you understand what your team members are feeling?
► How would your colleagues describe you?…tell me more
► Tell me about a time when you got angry. What did you do?
► Tell me about a time when you had a great success.
► Tell me about a time when you made a big mistake.
► Tell me about a time when you needed to influence someone.
► Tell me about a time when you received feedback.
► Tell me about some challenging goals you have set?
► Tell me about what you would do to gain respect as a new manager.
► Tell me about your strengths and your limitations.
► Tell me about yourself.
► Tell me how you build networks within your company.
► What do you do to stay up-to-date with industry developments?
► What do you do to understand someone else's behavior?
► What do you do when someone comes to you with a problem?
► What motivates you?
► When do you feel most under pressure?
► Why do you work?

► are passionate about their work.
► offer a variety of experiences and perspectives.
► interact well with others.
► listens to what is being said and then responds.
► are interested in continuing to develop their own social emotional intelligence skills as well as those of others.
► demonstrate non-verbal cues that match what is being said.
► model the core values of your culture.
► have the ability to focus on everyone in the interview process, not only the leader.
► talk about others in a positive light.
► to the best of your knowledge, answer the questions honestly.
► have the ability to work independently as well as with others.
► have the ability to be in control under stressful situations.

► What is one of your weaknesses? How do you overcome that weakness?
► What motivates you to do your work?
► Describe a stressful work situation you've had. How did you resolve that situation?
► What are one or two things that make you angry or frustrated at work. What do you do when you get angry or frustrated at work?
► Tell me about a time when you received feedback on your performance and you disagreed with the feedback. How did you handle the situation?
► Tell me about a setback you had at work. How did you handle it?
► Describe a time when you made a big mistake at work. How did you handle the situation?
► Tell me about a time when you had to handle multiple work assignments at once. How did you feel? How did you handle the situation?
► Tell me about a time when you took on a task at work that you was new to you. How did you feel doing it?
► How would you handle a coworker who consistently does not pull his weight on group assignments?
► How do your colleagues benefit from working with you?
► Tell me about a time when you did or said something that had a positive impact on an employee, coworker, or customer.
► Have you ever noticed that someone at work was having a bad day? How did you know? What did you do?
► Tell me about a time when you had a dispute with a colleague. What did you do to deal with the situation?
► Describe a time when a colleague came to you with a problem. How did you respond?
► Tell me about a time when understanding someone else's perspective helped you accomplish a task or resolve an issue.
► Tell me about a time when you motivated someone to accomplish a task. How did you motivate him or her?
► Why is it important to develop a rapport with your colleagues?
► How do you build a rapport with your colleagues?

► don't ask questions that can clearly be answered by reading the application or the resume.
► vary the questions you ask - factual questions and situational / behavioral questions.
► make the majority of your questions behavioral description questions.
► determine the type of response you are hoping to receive.

► Has there ever been a time where your performance was affected by your mood? Please describe.
► How have your life experiences helped or hindered you?
► Describe your top three strengths?
► What tasks or processes are hardest for you? What practices have you implemented to help develop this area?
► Have you ever been in a situation where…
► Tell me about a conflict you had when…
► Is there a person in your life that has influenced your career? How did they influence you?
► What would you want people to say about you at your retirement party?
► What would you put on your tombstone?

The relationships people build with others can tell you a lot. For that matter, so can the way they perceive those relationships. Based on the candidate's account, how do they see themselves, and what do they value in others? You'll also get some insight into your interviewee's self-awareness. Humor, unless it's sarcastic and demeaning, is always a good sign. If the relationship they describe sounds too formal and humorless to be true, it probably is.

► How will this role help you to achieve what you want?
► What makes you laugh?
► When is the last you time you were embarrassed? (What happened? How did you handle the situation?)
► What activities energise and excite you?
► How do you have fun?
► What are two personal habits that have served you well?
► How good are you at accepting help from others?
► How good are you at asking for help?
► What is one of the internal battles to have each day?
► What makes you angry?
► What aspect are of your work are you passionate about?
► How could you create more balance in your life?
► Who inspires you and why?
► On an average day, would you consider yourself a high energy or low energy person?
► On an average day, is your main focus on results and tasks or people and emotions?

People with better EQ, they would deal with difficult people in following ways

► They establish boundaries with difficult people
► They focus on solutions and not on the problems
► They focus on their strength and weaknesses
► They use previous experience with difficult people
► They ignore negative talk
► They don't involve any type of conflict with difficult people
► They get disconnect themselves with difficult or negative situations
► They stay connected with the likeminded people for support