Following are five interview questions small business owners should ask prospective employees:

1. Can you tell me a little about yourself? Most interview strategy books describe this one as the "killer question." You can bet that a well-prepared candidate has a well-rehearsed answer. A confident applicant can give a brief summary of his strengths, significant achievements and career goals. Your main job? To make sure that the answers are consistent with the applicant’s resume. A rambling answer with few specifics may indicate a poorly focused or incompetent candidate.
2. What interests you about this job, and what skills and strengths can you bring to it? Nothing tricky here, but it’s a solid question all the same. Note that the question is not "What are your skills and strengths?" but "What skills and strengths can you bring to the job?" The answer is yet another way to gauge how much interest the applicant has in the job and how well prepared she is for the interview. Stronger candidates should be able to correlate their skills with specific job requirements. (E.g., "I think my experience as a foreign correspondent will be of great help in marketing products to overseas customers.") They will answer the question in the context of contributions they can make to the company.
3. In a way that anyone could understand, can you describe a professional success you are proud of? This question is especially good when you’re interviewing for a technical position, such as an IT manager or tax accountant. The answer shows the applicants’ ability to explain what they did so that anyone can understand. Do they avoid jargon in their description? Do they get their points across clearly? Failure to do so may be a sign that the individuals can’t step out of their "world" sufficiently to work with people in other departments, which is a growing necessity in many organizations today.
4. How have you changed the nature of your current job? A convincing answer here shows adaptability and a willingness to "take the bull by the horns," if necessary. An individual who chose to do a job differently from other people also shows creativity and resourcefulness. The question gives candidates a chance to talk about such contributions as efficiencies they brought about or cost savings they achieved. If a candidate says he didn’t change the nature of the job, that response can tell you something as well.
5. I see that you’ve been unemployed for the past months. Why did you leave your last job, and what have you been doing since then? This question is important, but don’t let it seem accusatory. Generally speaking, people don’t leave jobs voluntarily without another one waiting in the wings, but it happens. It isn’t unusual for highly competent people to find themselves unemployed through no fault of their own. Keep an open mind, but try to get specific, factual answers that you can verify later. Candidates with a spotty employment history, at the very least, ought to be able to account for all extended periods of unemployment and to demonstrate whether they used that time productively – getting an advanced degree, for example.