Successful business owners often ask great questions in job interviews. You’ve gotten into the habit of not wanting to waste your time on boring or irrelevant questions.
Because of this, they often have a “must ask” question. It’s the kind of question that tells you everything you want to know about a job seeker. There are various tendencies, such as asking difficult questions that require a twist of the brain to test their ability to think logically, or asking questions that make them tell stories and seeking creative answers.
Startup executives often ask unique questions in job interviews because they want to see if job seekers are creative thinkers and can bring new perspectives to their teams.
Some job interview questions are easy to answer straight, while others are deliberately asked to annoy the job seeker. The last question asked in almost every interview turns out to be very important to the manager.
We asked corporate executives what they liked most about the questions they asked job seekers during job interviews. This article introduces 20 selections from the answers.
Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group)
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson says in his book The Virgin Way that he doesn’t really like traditional job interviews.
“It’s nice to have a good résumé, but if you’re going to hire someone based on what’s on the application, why waste time interviewing them?” writes Branson. Following this line of thinking, the question to ask is:
“What didn’t you write on your resume?”
Tony Hsieh (Former CEO of Zappos)
One of Zappos’ core values is to “create something fun and a little quirky,” former CEO Tony Hsieh previously told Business Insider.
To find people who fit this unique company culture, Shay always asks questions like:
“Rate your eccentricity on a scale of 1 to 10.”
The numbers don’t matter so much, he says, but how you answer the question matters. “If the answer is 1, I think Zappos is a little too serious.
Zappos also often asks people, “How lucky are you, on a scale of 1 to 10?” Again, numbers don’t really matter in this question.
But those who answer 1 don’t understand why life has bad luck (or often attribute bad luck to others). And those who answered 10 still don’t know why they’re lucky in life (or perhaps they lack confidence in their abilities).
Michelle Peruso, Chief Marketing Officer, IBM
Michelle Peluso, current VP of Digital Sales and CMO at IBM and former CEO of Gilt, often asks job seekers:
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who know you. Your food delivery man, your former co-worker, the person you hate the most, your best friend from high school, your next-door neighbor, your kindergarten teacher, your sweetheart. My high school math teacher who gave me this, and my boss from my previous company.So if you asked them, “Name three adjectives that best describe you,” what do you think they would say? ”
Peruso told The New York Times that this question tells you a lot more than the mundane question, “What are you good at?”
If a job seeker gives all three positive adjectives to this question, it whispers, “Some people in this virtual group don’t like you.”
General Motors CEO Mary Barra asks a similar question during a job interview, according to news site Quartz at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School People Analytics Conference.
1. If your co-workers could describe you with 3 adjectives, what would they say?
2. If your boss could describe you with 3 adjectives, what would they say?
3. If your employees could describe you with 3 adjectives, what would they say?
According to Barra, the three adjectives shouldn’t be too different. “Because if you want to hire someone with integrity, you don’t want to hire someone who treats their boss differently than they treat their subordinates. You want someone who treats their colleagues and subordinates as well as they do with their boss.” Having these consistent people is key to empowering a team.”
Larry Page and Sergey Brin
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are known for asking strategic questions during job interviews. Former Google executive Tim Armstrong told Business Insider:
“This is the first time I’ve ever told this story, but the first time I interviewed them, they asked me a few simple questions, and then I said, ‘I don’t really know what to ask…’ I got it.”
“If you were us, what questions would you ask yourself?”
According to CNBC, Armstrong wasn’t the only one who was asked this question. You’ll also be asked famous brain teaser questions like “How many times a day do clock hands overlap?” and “Can you guess how many gas stations there are in Manhattan?” I’m saying that.
Hannah Paramore (Founder of Paramore)
Hannah Paramore, founder of Nashville-based interactive advertising agency Paramore, told The New York Times it was one of her favorite questions.
“How old were you when you got your first paid job?”
Paramore told Business Insider, “I’m asking this question because I want to see how well work ethics and independence take hold with age.” “People who have been working part-time since they were in high school or college out of necessity show that they are people with a high level of responsibility, especially if the work is demanding. I really like people who have gone through many twists and turns in their career.”
Randy Garutti (CEO, Shake Shack)
Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack, said: “We want to make sure that job seekers have researched the company well before an interview, that they understand the company and the role they’re going to play, and that they really want to do the job. I want to make sure that they are there,” he said.
“Job seekers should not only be able to talk about how good the past year has been, but also have a strategic vision to put the company in perspective. And why? Do you want to work for this company? Garuti’s favorite question is this.
“If we’re sitting here a year from now and congratulating you on your amazing 12 months in this job, what do you think we’ve accomplished together? mosquito?”
Peter Thiel (Paypal, Palantir co-founder)
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Palantir, and Founders Fund, says he always hires people who are not afraid to speak their minds.
That’s why he always asks job seekers and companies looking to invest.
“If you have something that most people don’t believe, but it’s true, please let me know.”
In a 2012 Forbes interview, Thiel said he likes the question because it “tests the originality of your thinking and at the same time it tests how brave you are to speak up when you’re asked a difficult interview question.” Says.
Brad Jefferson (Co-Founder and CEO, Animoto)
Brad Jefferson, co-founder and CEO of video slide production service Animoto, shared three of his favorite interview questions.
One of his favorite questions, he says, is what motivates job seekers.
“What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?”
You can find out what they are passionate about and what motivates them to take action. “They want to get a peek inside their heads to see how they can stay motivated at work.”
What is the source of employee motivation? It’s important to really understand that, says Jefferson. “Every job has its ups and downs. I want to see if people can stay as motivated as they always have been, even if it’s harder than usual.”
“When you’re passionate about what you’re doing and you’re doing it with someone who motivates you, work can be really fun even in difficult times.”
Larry Ellison (Oracle co-founder)
As Dartmouth College business professor Sidney Finkelstein puts it in his book Superbosses, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison only hires the brightest and the brightest. It is said that it emphasizes that. That’s why interviewers trained by Ellison are told to ask questions like this.
“Are you the smartest person you know?”
If the job seeker answers “yes,” the person is hired. If you say “no,” the interviewer will ask, “Who is that?” and try to hire him, Business Insider previously reported.
Finkelstein says superbosses like Ellison are so confident in their abilities that they don’t worry that their employees are better than them. On the contrary, he wants to hire people who are smarter than him. Such employees challenge him to come up with better ideas and solutions to problems.
Elon Musk (Tesla CEO)
Elon Musk likes to ask job seekers these riddles to test their intelligence, according to Elon Musk.
“You are now standing on the surface of the earth. Walk 1 mile south, 1 mile west, and 1 mile north. And you are back where you started. Now you are.” where is the place?”
There are multiple answers, one of which is the North Pole. The Ladders also reported that Musk also asked:
“Tell us the story of your life. What decisions did you make in that story, why did you make those decisions? And what was the most difficult problem you have ever faced? Please let me know if there were any and how you resolved them.”
Jeff Zwelling (ZipRecruiter COO)
Jeff Zwelling, COO of job search engine ZipRecruiter, says he sometimes asks a little tricky question in an interview to get a better sense of who a job seeker is.
For example, in the middle of an interview, I often give this math trick question.
“A hammer and a nail together cost a dollar and ten cents. The hammer costs a dollar more than the nail. Now, how much is the nail?”
“Some people just don’t think twice and say 10 cents. That’s a mistake,” he told Business Insider.
“The answer is 5 cents, but I don’t have to give you an exact answer. But I’d at least like to see the thought process that went into getting there. I don’t think many people are good at math, but the answer is 10 cents.” If that’s the case, isn’t it too easy, and if the answer is that simple, why bother asking such a question?”
Karen Davis (Former Senior Vice President, Hasbro)
Karen Davis, former senior vice president of philanthropy at toy and game giant Hasbro, previously told Business Insider, “I value giving back in my work.” . “We’re looking for people who are passionate and have a sense of purpose,” he said.
Davis says that by asking questions like these, you can get a sense of who the job seeker is and what they really care about.
“What’s your favorite quote?”
There is no right answer to this question, but they are looking for a job seeker who can answer something.
“Think about the world’s great leaders, and the ones you remember most are those who have put their hearts into making change,” Davis says.
He hopes that the people who will be hired in the future will follow the path of those leaders. “We want to hire people who have been searching for a fountain of inspiration.”
Davis is currently CEO of the North Star Impact Group.
Jack Dorsey (Founder of Twitter)
At a Goldman Sachs event in 2016, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey addressed a small audience.
Dorsey says it’s important to have a deep understanding of the company’s purpose if you want to work at Twitter. It is important to show that you are passionate about your work. That’s the question Dorsey asks in interviews.
“Why are you here now?”
“People who have passion and a sense of purpose can work with us and do great things together,” explains Dorsey.
Stewart Butterfield (Flickr, Slack founder)
Slack co-founder Stewart Butterfield likes to ask job seekers this same question that teachers and parents have answered since childhood.
“What kind of person do you want to be in the future?”
“A good answer is to tell us what areas you’d like to grow in, what you’d like to learn, or what you’d like to accomplish that you feel you’ve never had the chance to do,” says Butterfield in New York. – Tells the Times. “So a very short answer to this question is in itself a bad answer.”
Brian Chesky (Airbnb CEO)
“Now, let me tell you your story.”
Many executives put absolute faith in this question, and they tend to always ask job seekers, “Tell me your life story.”
Finn Partners Executive Officer Richard Fannes said in a LinkedIn post:
“It may sound trivial to a job seeker who is asked this question in an interview, but in today’s world where you have to sell yourself and your company, it tells the story. And this question is: It’s also a question that gauges the ability of a person, whether it’s a product or a person, to tell a story that sells the brand and to create an atmosphere in which the brand sells.”
Fannes says he’s looking for creative answers that show he’s broad-minded enough to apply his skills to the business.
Brian Chesky put a time limit on this question.
Chesky told The New York Times in 2014 that he usually asks job seekers to summarize their life in three minutes or less. The Muse article calls this question format the ultimate “elevator pitch.”
In an interview with The Times, Chesky explained, “I’d like to know what decisions and experiences that shape a job seeker’s character have influenced their ‘personality’.”
Jeff Weiner (CEO, LinkedIn)
In 2019, former LinkedIn CEO and current executive chairman Jeff Weiner told CNBC how valuable the following questions are.
“What is your dream job?”
“Once you know what you ultimately want, you’re much more likely to achieve it,” Weiner said.
Some job seekers respond to this question by saying that their dream job is the job they are applying for. Weiner cautions, noting that the answer is often not sincere.
Speaking of Weiner, he’s also known to ask job seekers, “Looking back at your career, what would you say you’ve accomplished?”
Drew Houston (Founder of Dropbox)
Dropbox founder and 33-year-old billionaire Drew Houston told The New York Times that he has five favorite interview questions he always asks.
1. Who in the world can do your job best?
2. Who is affected?
3. What did you learn in the last year?
4. If you could go back 10 years, what advice would you give to yourself then?
5. What is the most valuable lesson you have ever learned?
Houston explains that these questions can help determine if job seekers are always enthusiastic and wanting to improve.
Susan Wojcicki (YouTube CEO)
YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki previously told The New York Times that she often asks this question in interviews.
“How would you improve this product?”
For specific products YouTube has released in the past, and other company products that job seekers are known to use, it asks, “How would you improve this product?”
Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber CEO)
The Economic Times reported that Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi asked this question in an interview about travel:
1. What was your best trip ever?
2. What was the most unlikely thing that happened to you during your trip? How did you deal with that happening?
3. What are the essential items when packing for a trip? Or do you have any packing tips?
Art Pappas (Bullhorn Founder and CEO)
“It takes patience to get an honest answer to this question,” Bullhorn founder and CEO Art Pappas said in an article. The question is this.
“What do you not want to do?”
This question, like any other question, reveals a lot. Pappas said in an interview that there were sales job seekers who said they weren’t good at meeting new people, and accounting job seekers who said they didn’t like checking jobs.
*This article first appeared on November 5, 2020.
[original text]
(Translated by Yukari Watanabe, edited by Ayuko Tokiwa)
Source: BusinessInsider
Emma Warren is a well-known author and market analyst who writes for 24 news breaker. She is an expert in her field and her articles provide readers with insightful and informative analysis on the latest market trends and developments. With a keen understanding of the economy and a talent for explaining complex issues in an easy-to-understand manner, Emma’s writing is a must-read for anyone interested in staying up-to-date on the latest market news.