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What's One Question You Ask on Every Job Interview?
Smart entrepreneurs know an economic downturn can be a great time to hire. We asked our Board of Directors what they like to see from job candidates.
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While unemployment holds frustratingly steady at nearly 10 percent, some businesses are still hiring right now -- many of them small businesses. In fact, small businesses added approximately 26,000 jobs in August, according to a recent survey by Intuit. Since October 2009, small businesses have added roughly 340,000 jobs. Not enough and not quickly enough to dig us out of the hole overnight, but politicians and economists alike continue to tout the job-creating abilities of small businesses. For many entrepreneurs, bucking the trend and helping right the economy is a big source of pride.Why? Smart entrepreneurs recognize that an economic downturn also brings opportunity -- including an abundance of potential employees looking for work, who businesses can scoop up at a bargain.
So we know small businesses (at least some of them) are looking to hire, even amid the continued economic malaise. But what exactly are they looking for in job candidates? Our Board of Directors has created thousands of jobs over the years, and many of them are still intimately involved in the interview process. We asked them for the one question they always ask potential job seekers.
Warren Brown
Founder, CakeLove and Love Café
"Are you good at troubleshooting? If they ask me what I mean, the interview is over."
Julie Jumonville
Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, UpSpring Baby
"I don't ask this question on a regular basis but it has never failed me in a job interview. If I left you with a large, long haired dog for 15 minutes and asked you to count/estimate the hair on the dog's body, how would you approach getting me the most accurate hair count? The interviewee that said they would not count the dog hairs and would pet and make friends with the dog instead is who I hired and they still work for me today."
Tate Chalk
Founder and CEO, Nfinity
"Why do you want this job? From that question, you can tell a lot -- how fast they think on their feet, how much they actually know about our business, how full of it they are? All good things to know. Plus, I want someone to work for me that actually wants to work for me, not just wants a job."
Clint Greenleaf
Founder and CEO, Greenleaf Book Group
"Rather than get a list of references that I never call, I like to make it clear that I am going to call previous bosses. When I call Mr. Sacamano, what will he say about your attention to detail? It's not 'if' but 'when.' You get surprisingly honest answers when people realize you're going to get a real honest answer from a third party."
Rob Adams
Director, Texas Venture Labs at the University of Texas
"Where are you and what are you doing 10 years from now."
Jennifer Hill
Chairwoman, Astia NYC Advisory Board
"What is the question that you wished I'd asked you? Then, I ask for the answer. When I've been on job interviews, I ask if there is something else they are looking for which they have not seen. The question tends to elicit an honest response and invites an opportunity to address other issues. Sometimes you don't get asked the questions that you want to be asked. Find a way to understand the unspoken questions, so that you can infuse your responses with information to make the best impression possible."
Lawrence Gelburd
Lecturer, The Wharton School
"Why are you interested in us and why not stay where you are?"
Tom Szaky
Founder, TerraCycle
"In efforts to see if the candidate can think outside the box I always ask, If you had to create awareness of a program on the other side of the country without a budget, and in fact had to generate $10,000 in revenue in creating the awareness, what would you do? It's always interesting to see how people solve this question, since the more out of the box you think, the better your answer will be. And it is solvable -- even though most people's knee jerk reaction is that it isn't.
Eric Ryan
Co-Founder and Chief Brand Architect, Method
"At Method, every candidate who makes it as a finalist gets asked the same question: How will you help keep Method weird? This is always the third and final question during the 'homework assignment,' which is the final stage of our interview process. We give candidates 45 minutes to present three questions, which are given to them several days in advance. Kind of a live audition. We find it to be a much higher predictor of success than relying just an interview and reference checks, so it has been a cornerstone of our interview process for over five years. "A big advantage of this approach is that it allows you to get a real sense of chemistry and cultural fit by prototyping what working with a candidate will be really like. Since 'Keep Method Weird' is a cultural value, we ask them directly how they will support this, which is a tough question to answer in an interview in front of an audience. It forces people to show us who they really are, so we can see if they have courage, confidence and creativity. Because when you are trying to disrupt traditional categories, you need weird people who see the world a little differently."
Phil Town
Investor and Author of Rule #1 and Payback Time
"Tell me why you are the best person in the world for this job."
Gary Whitehill
Founder, The Relentless Foundation and New York Entrepreneur Week
"If you had one wish, and it was the only wish that is guaranteed be granted in your lifetime, what would it be and why?"
Steve Strauss
Columnist and Author of The Small Business Bible
"I like the off-beat question that evokes answers that can't be rehearsed. What is your favorite book or favorite movie? That's good because it makes the interview more personal and usually ends up revealing something interesting about the person."
Lexy Funk
Co-Founder and CEO, Brooklyn Industries
"Why do you want to come work for Brooklyn Industries?"
Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Q - where do you see youself in ten yours ?
A - With your wife
most of these so called managers slept their way to the top. they have the best jobs money can buy
i look at these and the questions asked and think, 'some of these are really stumpers.".
The questions posted by these leaders say more about their egos and lack of experience than discovering whether the candidate is a fit for the position and company culture.
I have been in management for 40 years, both hiring and firing personnel.
I have hired people from every race, based on their experience, with or without a resume you can tell if the person is qualified.
Some of the best personnel were not caucasion, some of the worst were caucasian! I have worked with teamster personnel in new york, they were reasonable, put in a good days work, I always treated people fairly and made sure that everyone's work was acknowledged. I am caucasian but prefer to hire minorities as they still have a work ethic, unlike many caucasians who feel they should be paid just for showing up in the morning. I still get calls and emails from former employees telling me about their famlies and how they are doing. When I was in the army the minority soldiers had it harder but they toughed it out and became better men, today many of them have their own businesses!!
All we know of Obama is what we read in the newspapers, see on the evening news, and hear on talk show radio stations. We are not in washington dealing with the politics and backstabbing of politicians.
Presidents come and go but senators and congressmen can stay in office for 50+ years! Obama has his work cut out for him. Now we are dealing with all of the political ads with candidates attacking each other, after the elections we won't hear from them again until they come up for reelection. People are losing their homes, the banks and mortgage companies are taking as many homes as they can, But if they were made to pay the property tax and home owners association fees for the properties they "own" many municipalities would not be in the financial trouble they are in!
The questions have always been simple;
Why, do you want this job?
Why did you leave the last job?
How long do you intend to stay working here?
Do you understand your job requirement and our company policy?
And at departure I always asked, Why? Do you know what went wrong, your part or ours?
Sweetie:).. The race thing is "old news" to WHO??? Exactly! Because you run around town.. with your head down.. sniffin' sand for air.. doesn't mean peoples mentality is where your imagination runs. Hilarious!!!! Boy I guess you're standing on that bridge they sold ya and all Native Americans feels quite cozy on their reservations, huh:D)))) Mr.Cheese it up. I still see white women adjusting their purses when people of color walk by and white women sneer about the rescue me black men running in their direction meanwhile leaving behind unlatched doors to hte homes they've found shelter in and unpaid debts through children being untended to financially and a culture that degrades their own women out of self-hatred fostered through the "OLD NEWS" you tell us is now fishwrap.
So let me get this straight. White people f**k it up for everybody.. through their narcissistic politicking and rabble rousing world wide.. then get us damn near blown up on 9/11.. after years of counting cards, so to speak when it comes to international politics and finally someone Trumps their cheating ability by getting folks willing to die for this sick game to fly into two world wide monuments in NYC and then get the piece of crap President that held this country hostage for 8 LONG years to only then finally get us into a spending frenzy of a war with a country that didn't even attack us and create a long standing situation where we'd have ongoing dying Americans daily for a frame of consciousness that suggests that unless one comes from what we understand, we simply will act buck fool to the tune of domestic lynchings for over 100 years and more now and irrational sick anti-social behavioral disorders..RAcism the last known form of accepted insanity once DNA confirmed scientifically that we differe only by environment not composition outside of outer appearance and Whites have bucked this reality for more than a reasonable amount of time and had a sick addiction to it that is soooo sickly they walk inside of this notion as though it is something of pride to behold and it's a goddamn embarassment to the very fabric of mankind is what it is, my dear good Native American INdian. I wonder how assimilated you are, actually that you dared speak such a non-sensical rhetoric. How good are they treating you now that you've drunk the kool aid. YOu maybe don't have to crawl now but simply beg.. and it all works out fine. Yeah, that's why we have to go there Mr. That's why and if you don't have the gumption to know and do you homework and learn American's and Americas history then do us all a favor and just stick to the porn sites where you shut but still use your hands. YOu sound like a dumb blonde for cryin' out loud. Jeezus! Yeah, I said dumb blonde cuz it's ironic and somehow I know you'll get that better than a really clever comment. It might just blow your mind. We wouldn't want that. What's left of it.
Awe yes I see the RACE CARD thrown at the top STEPH! WE VOTED FOR A BLACK PRESIDENT STEPH! GET OVER IT! Why must we go there? This has nothing to do with race although I find some of the questions stupid...if I was interviewing maybe I'd ask some dumb questions like this to play with someone's mind (because I could) But some did make me think. Although not all of them. But I am 51 and I have never been asked any of these questions except why did you leave your last job. And I have been working since I was 15. STEPH the RACE THING IS OLD NEWS! GET OVER IT! I'm Native Ameirican. Don't here me bitch about taking the country back! I Don't want it! White men have messed it up and now a BLACK president is doing the same! Let's face it! Obama doesn't walk on Water but never does anyone else! Wow I feel better....
My thinking is that likely, as unfortunate as it is, as you're likely a bit of a soft straight shooter.. that someone in your position would likely have to play even more or at the least as much politicking, in your own way, as anyone else.. since you're in a position where people are likely to have prejudices perhaps because of your disability and the normal.. who can help me keep my job in a tough spot or get a promotion when it's time.. mentality, be it warranted or not, as a form of protection and business savvy which adds up to the same thing. It also allows you to be a bit more self-reliant depending on the environment and quality of individuals you're working with, as someone may actually manage to understand your abilities and disabilities and work assets and go to bat for your before you even have to lift a finger or say a word. No man is an island and people want to feel like they can navigate the waters they're in and if you're in the boat but don't mingle as well as others, in that regard, then people tend to put their guard up and stick by those they feel offer them security through relationships and acknowledgment of their talents..I say look at it like upgrading your networking skills to benefit your skill and talents.. as annoying as that may seem, I think it can be helpful..hopefully.
I go through some of that too but I'm learning to play the game to get where I wanna go and change the rules when I get there..or before if possible. It also helps to like the place you work and love what you do.. but that's tough if youre out of your field and haven't lucked up on the similar feeling under different circumstances professionally. Good luck!!!:)
I find these questions to be revealing. Some of them are clever and probably provide some good insight into the interviewee's potentional. Some of them represent an invasion of privacy, or are downright stupid.
Yet, the big issue, to me, is how one has to play a big game to get past these bozo interviewers--and the rest of the applicaton process--to snag a decent job. I have two college degrees (and a history of some disability). After little luck getting work in my field, I worked my tail off to get clerical jobs with the city college district, then with the city. I did get two of the jobs I applied for, eventually, but found the departments to be chock-full of manipulation, abuse and mind-games. Lots of supervisors and executives--it seems--are elitist schmucks who have little respect for someone who just wants to do the job and go home, and not play stupid games and brown-nose them.
With the first one, the supervisor (a hypercritical neurotic who wanted to micromanage EVERYTHING) lied through her teeth about my supposed incompetence and impertinence. When I insisted on a meeting with the college president to address the complaints, this worthy interrupted me after a couple of minutes to ask if I were finished. She subse-quently "put the kabosh" on any possiblity of rehire in the system. In the second, my immediate supervisor was pretty decent (She admitted that I was weak in but one area...not quite making the weekly EMS report count), but no one had explained that our quota was not adjusted for our occasional parties and other events. I had figured that participation in these was an important aspect of the job, but this ended up screwing me. Then, although this supervisor said I should have no trouble with another city job which was not so geared to "production," her supervisor went out of her way to evaluate me in the worst possible terms, and emphasized that she would not support rehire. Incidentally, the job manuals at both locations had problems. What is the deal with these monsters in the work-place?!!
The questions are stupid. Who would want to work for someone so lame as to think those questions should even be answered to satisfy their own agenda?
Have to agree with Steve. And Fongool. What relevance to anything did most of those questions have? Certainly little to do with qualifications, talent, experience, desire or enthusiasm. I would question the qualification of the interviewer if asked some of that nonsense!
Most of the questions I read are irrelevant to jobs being advertised. I want to hear questions that apply to the job, or questions that would suggest I fit with the "corporate" lifestyle. Counting the hairs on a dog don't fit any corporate lifestyle(unless you're working for a vet, and then it is still a stupid question). Unfortunately, most of the jobs on the job boards don't actually exist. You go to the trouble to fill out your job history, hit submit, and the job doesn't exist. If the job boards list a company name now, I go to the company and see if the job actually exists before I waste my time filling out the on-line application, and most of them do not exist. And employment agencies have a quota they need to fill, and are advertising jobs that do not exist just to get you in the door, and then tell you the job you responded to is not available. The heck with interview questions! Those questions that have nothing to do with the job qualifications, or how you will fit into the coroporate lifestyle are a bunch of horse poopy. And how about those potential employers who require you to take assessments that cost you money, and then require "assignments" be completed to be considered for a position?--the assessments which put $$ into their pockets? Do understand, in this economic climate, the "employers" can ask any dumb-a** question they want, simply because they can!! Nobody in this climate has ever heard of "transferrable skills," they want experience in a particular field. Today's job market is a bunch of bulls**t. And yes, discrimination is rampant--age and otherwise...only you'll pay h*ll trying to prove it.
What is wrong with America Obama will never be able to fix (although for some reason he likes to try--it must be hope that it will change)..."deficient" white men projecting themselves onto others, and then there are the "desperate" women who love them.
I really don't care about the race issues, or the blue collar / white collar type job issues. I am just tired or the interview process all together. Giving people all these questions and then grading them at that (per Eric Ryan Co-Founder and Chief of, Method). Sometimes it just feels like a waiste of time. And yes, sometimes people just want a "job". Stop making people feel like a criminal for just wanting a job! Money does not grow on trees!...As for Gary Whitehill's question "If you had one wish? etc" some people do like to work, but there are alot of us out there that would just love a Billion Dollars so that we would not have to work for the rest of our lives. Is that the proper answer during an interview? For you, no, and for those of us who are just trying to land that job - you won't hear that from us, but we would love to say it...Who knows, maybe someone will say it to you one day, then you will have to deal with it.......
Perhaps more to the point, is how we get rid of these people and intall those who simply want an honest day's workday, with a bit of intelligence and creativity thrown in. Why--the hell--should we have to jump through hoops like this just to "bring home the bacon?"
I will add that, while I was job-hunting in the nineties, I took a retail hardware job (had had some previous experience in that field), in a large firm in S.Calif. This position was very satisfying at times, but had some of the same management B.S. described in my last post. Though I was soon made head of a department, I was given very little decision-making authority, and found myself treated with a certain amount of derision and invalidation. And, the salary was "bargain-basement."
Sharon...Thank you for your intelligently phased and very perceptive observations. This woman is "on the money!" zounds456@aol.com
Simple: Peace on earth and good will toward all.
Oh, and by the way...I am an American tax-paying, unemployed professional person who has been actively seeking employment. I am 60+, and have been a working tax-paying citizen all of my life, and my qualifications and work ethic are exemplary. But now, in this country, to get a minimum wage job(or next to) working with the public, you have to be BILINGUAL!! Because the non-tax-paying Hispanics are not only taking our tax paying dollars to educate their children, pay for their health care (when I can't get health care for free!), and now they want me to speak Spanish to get a minimum wage job so I can "interact" with them!!! What is wrong with this picture, people?!!? We are in America, we are Americans, and if you don't speak English, you need to learn it. I know how to say, "No habla Espanol." And I can say good-bye, and hello in Spanish--but I am beside myself that as a medical receptionist I should have to be able to speak eloquently in medical Spanish to communicate with people in my own country who, if they want to continue to live here, need to learn to speak English. It will be soon that employees working at Wal-Mart and McDonald's will be required to speak Spanish to deal with the illegal immigrants in this country who choose not to learn the language of their "adopted" country.
It always amazes me that some people can never comment on the article itself; whether or not they found it to be useful in some way. All the negative comments aside, I found the article to be very useful. I have worked since my early 20s as a legal secretary, the last position in a national law firm, but when I decided to move to a corporate setting, I looked for articles such as these (not only reading about the company I was interviewing for) to gain some knowledge about what perspective employers are looking for, what qualifications were needed, etc. in the job market, degrees or not. I hear more and more of quirky questions and I am not offended, but hope I can think on my toes if someone asks me "what fruit am I and why?" I also share articles such as these with my children who are entering or will soon be entering the corporate world. I thought it was very good :)
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