3 Brilliant Job Interview Questions Every Boss Should Ask, and How the Best Candidates Answer
from Inc. Magazine – link at end of article
My favorite job interview question used to be “What skill do you possess that will most impact our bottom line?” The answer told you whether the candidate knew anything about the business; it’s hard to say how you will impact a company’s bottom line when you don’t understand what truly drives value for that business. More important, if I listened and then asked simple follow-up questions, that almost always led to a natural, more relaxed conversation about the candidate’s skills, experience, and accomplishments.
When I help friends hire new employees, I still ask that question.
But now, courtesy of Codie Sanchez and her Hiring Matrix, I have a few more interview questions I always ask.
1. What will past bosses say are your three biggest strengths and weaknesses?
Granted, the answer involves hearsay. But that’s OK. For one thing, it forces the candidate to think about themselves from an outside perspective: to judge themselves as a direct report, as a colleague (since the best candidates typically talk about working with and not just for people), and through the lens of how their strengths created value for the business.
Now for weaknesses. As an interviewer, what kind of answer do you hope to hear?An actual weakness, not the “my weakness is actually a strength” card, because no one is perfect. While it’s too much to ask that the candidate share a weakness he or she can’t seem to overcome — if I’m answering, that would be my tendency to be snarky, or to procrastinate, or to get fixated on one thing to the exclusion of other things that are just as important, or (yep, my list goes on and on) — it’s great if the candidate shares a weakness they’re actively working to improve.
As for the hearsay aspect? As Sanchez writes, “There’s always a real possibility that you will call (past bosses). You’re more likely to get an honest answer with the (implied) threat alone.”
2. How did you prepare for this interview?
Great question, one Sanchez says reveals how the candidate thinks.
- Maybe they researched your company. Make sure to ask how; that will give you a sense of how they approach analyzing a problem.
- Maybe they talked to present or past employees. Ask how they connected; that will give you a sense of their network, and how they approach networking.
- Maybe they prepared a demo, or mock-up, or idea. Ask why they chose what they presented; that will give you a sense of what they feel they can bring to help improve your business, and whether they can hit the ground running.
The key, as with most interview questions, is to follow up on the initial answers. Ask why. Ask how. Ask who.
And if all you get are generic, boilerplate answers? That’s a red flag.
3. Walk me through your last project. What should have been different?
(If the role is entry-level, restate this as “Walk me through your last job. What should have been different.” Or, “Walk me through your school. What should have been different?”)
While the answer is interesting, the framing is more important. Does the candidate blame others for problems, or take some degree of responsibility? Does the candidate recognize the role they played in a negative situation? Does the candidate expect others to change, but not themselves?
For example, I rose through the shop floor ranks to become a supervisor, manager, and plant manager. As a result, I tended to identify more with hourly workers than with “suits,” even when I was the suit in the facility. And that wasn’t always a good thing.
Consider this story about Steve Jobs from John Rossman’s book, Think Like Amazon::
Jobs told employees a short story when they were promoted to vice president at Apple. Jobs would tell the VP that if the garbage in his office was not being emptied, Jobs would naturally demand an explanation from the janitor. “Well, the lock on the door was changed,” the janitor could reasonably respond. “And I couldn’t get a key.”
The janitor’s response is reasonable. It’s an understandable excuse. The janitor can’t do his job without a key. As a janitor, he’s allowed to have excuses.
“When you’re the janitor, reasons matter,” Jobs told his newly-minted VPs. “Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering.”
“In other words, when the employee becomes a vice president, he or she must vacate all excuses for failure,” Jobs said. “A vice president is responsible for any mistakes that happen, and it doesn’t matter what you say.”
The same premise applies to personal responsibility. Many people feel success or failure is caused by external forces — and especially by other people. If they succeed, other people helped them. Supported them. Other people were “with” them. If they fail, other people let them down. Didn’t believe in them. Didn’t help them. Other people were “against” them.
To an extent both are, of course, true. No one ever does anything worthwhile on their own.
The best candidates don’t totally rely on others — or blame others. They accept responsibility because they know the only thing they know they can control is themselves: if they succeed, they caused it. If they fail, they caused it.
Which means they don’t point fingers.
Unless it’s at themselves.
