Cutting to the chase: Questions that will spotlight the A-players you’re looking for
Ever wish you had a list of sure-fire questions you were confident would identify the best job candidates?
Well, serial entrepreneur Mitchell Harper, who’s hired a lot of people to run his five businesses, thinks he’s come up with one.
He put it together after reviewing his experiences with applicants — especially A players, the candidates all companies crave. “I thought about the commonalities between them … and I also thought about my actual interviews with them ?— ?even the interviews back in the early 2000s,” Harper wrote. “When I asked myself, ‘What do they all have in common that would form the foundation of an A-player?’, I came up with a series of personality traits and past experiences.”
And from that exercise came a list of interview questions. Some highlights:
- Have you been promoted in a previous role?
A-players rise through the ranks quickly. Harper says, “(Being promoted) once is great, twice is amazing and three times is out of this world.”
If a candidate’s never moved up in the ranks, chances are he or she’s not in that stratosphere. - Have you led a big project?
This will show you if a previous manager had enough confidence in the person to lead others. - Is this the same role as your last job?
Harper believes A-players don’t change companies, they change roles – because they like challenges and being put in new situations. - Are you committed to continual learning?
Having a commitment to adding new skills is critical. Ask what candidates plan to learn with you and how they plan to learn it. - What do you like about us? What would you change?
A-players do their homework. So they should be able to provide constructive feedback on what they like about your business, as well as what they aren’t so sure of. - What would you like to know about us?
This shouldn’t be a one-sided affair, but rather a conversation. The questions candidates ask are often way more informative than the answers they provide to the tired old queries like “Where do you see yourself in five years?” - There’s one more question interviewers need to ask themselves: Is the candidate confident without being cocky?
There’s a fine line to walk here, Harper says. Ideally, the candidate is candid and concise about his or her accomplishments, but also acknowledges the assistance of co-workers and mentors.
