The Complete 2-Question Interview

Before I got into the training of recruiters and hiring managers and writing books about the trials and tribulations of all this, I was a full-time executive recruiter, for 25 years. Part of this was becoming a better interviewer than my hiring manager clients to ensure good candidates didn’t get blown away for bad reasons. These were the two questions that leveled the playing field:

The First Question: Can you describe your Most Significant Accomplishment (MSA)

I recently wrote a related post on this topic titled the Most Important Interview Question of All Time. You might want to try to answer the question for yourself to see why it’s so important. As you’ll see it involves asking candidates to describe their most significant business accomplishments in great detail. While it’s only one question, it’s repeated multiple times to ensure you’re covering all aspects of expected performance. Most jobs can be better defined as a series of performance objectives like “redesign the inventory management system to track returns” rather than a list of skills, e.g., “3-5 years of supply chain management experience and a BS.” I refer to these performance-based job descriptions as performance profiles.

Getting the full answer to the MSA question requires a great deal of fact-finding on the part of the interviewer. One way to do this is to ask SMARTe questions. After the candidate provides the typical 1-2 minute overview of the comparable accomplishment, ask the following:

• Specific task: Can you please describe the task, challenge, project, or problem?
• Measurable: What actually changed, or can you measure your performance somehow?
• Action: What did you actually do and what was your specific role?
• Result: What was the actual result achieved and/or what was the deliverable?
• Timeframe: When did this take place and how long did it take?
• environment: What was the environment like in terms of pace, resources, level of sophistication, the people involved, and your manager?

While this only covers a small portion of the fact-finding possibilities, using just this short list will give you a deeper sense of the accomplishment and how it compares to the performance profile. If you’re into behavioral questions, ask STAR questions, too, but make sure you ask these as a sub-set of the accomplishment under discussion. (STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result.) It typically takes 10-15 minutes “peeling the onion” this way to totally understand the accomplishment. A trend line of performance will quickly reveal itself when this same question is asked for different accomplishments.

The Second Question: How would you solve this problem? (PSQ)
The MSA questions represent the candidate’s best examples of comparable past performance in relation to actual job requirements. The second question uncovers another dimension of performance, including job-related problem-solving skills, creativity, planning, strategic and multi-functional thinking, and potential. Using the above inventory management objective, the form of this question would be, “If you were to get this job, how you go about tracking returns into our ERP system?” Based on the person’s response, get into a back-and-forth dialogue asking about how he/she would figure out the problem and implement a solution.

After trying this question out a few times, you’ll discover that the best people quickly obtain a clear understanding of the project or problem, and as part of this, they ask logical questions to obtain a clearer understanding of the problem. Based on this, you’ll be able to ascertain if the person can put together a reasonable go-forward plan of action. In fact, giving a detailed response without consideration of the differences at your company, including the resources available, the culture, and the challenges involved should raise the bright red caution flag.

The Anchor and Visualize Pattern
As long as it’s job-related, the problem-solving question (PSQ) is a great means to understand critical thinking skills in comparison to real job needs, but caution is urged using this type of question. While being able to visualize a solution to the problem or task at hand is a critical component of exceptional performance, it’s only part of the solution. Accomplishing the task successfully is the other part.

So after the candidate finishes answering the PSQ, ask something like, “Can you now tell me about something you’ve actually accomplished or implemented that’s most comparable to how you’ve suggested we handle this problem?” This is just a more specific form of the MSA question. Following up the problem-solving question by asking the person to describe a comparable major significant accomplishment (MSA) is called an Anchor. Collectively, the MSA and PSQ are called the Anchor and Visualize questioning pattern. The order doesn’t matter. What does matter is that for the critical performance objectives you ask the candidates what they’ve accomplished that’s most similar and how they would figure out and solve the problem if they were to get the job.

The ability to visualize a problem and offer alternative solutions in combination with a track record of successful comparable past performance in a similar environment is a strong predictor of on-the-job success. One without the other is a sure path for making a bad hiring decision.

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130228212434-15454-the-complete-2-question-interview

Job-seekers: How to Answer “The Most Important Interview Question of All Time” – Part 3

About 95% of the 325,000 people who read “The Most Important Interview Question of All Time” (MIQ) agreed. Here’s why I believe it:

1) As an outside recruiter, I never vote on who should be hired. However, by presenting concrete evidence versus fact-less claims, i.e. "not technically strong enough," or “the person just wouldn’t fit,” I’m in a better position to ensure my candidates are assessed objectively.

2) Asking a series of MIQ-like questions to determine the candidate’s trend of performance over time demonstrates consistency of performance in a variety of situations. This is far superior than asking a bunch of random behavioral interview questions.

3) The candidate’s answers to these MIQs need to be compared to a performance-based job description to accurately assess competency, motivation and fit with the actual job requirements. Without some type of performance benchmark like this, most interviewers default to their built-in biases: technical, intuitive or emotional.

4) Top candidates aren’t interested in lateral transfers and don’t want to work for managers who seem like weak leaders. Asking the MIQ demonstrates that the company has high selection standards and that the hiring manager knows exactly how to asses, hire and develop strong people.

As more interviewers use this style of performance-based interviewing, it’s important that job-seekers become fully prepared. Here’s how:

• Read the Most Important Interview Question of All Time and answer every follow-up question completely for your most significant career accomplishment. Write these down. Although it will take some time to do this properly, you’ll be more confident during the actual interview.
• For each of your past jobs summarize your other big accomplishments. Pick 3-4 and describe these in two or three sentences each, include dates, facts, and specific performance details. Use the list of follow-up questions in the MIQ for ideas of what’s important.
• Based on these accomplishments pull out your big strengths (4-5) and a few weaknesses. Tie each one to a specific accomplishment writing down a few extra details. Use a specific example from one of the accomplishmentrs to demonstrate each strength. For each weakness, describe how you overcame it, and how you’re dealing with it today. Describing weaknesses this way demonstrates that you're a person who can be coached and wants to become better. Saying you don't have any weaknesses means you can't become better.
• For practice, have someone ask you to describe each of the major accomplishments. Spend 1-2 minutes providing a good summary of each one. It’s critical that you talk at least one minute, and no longer than three. Short answers are too vague, and long answers are too boring.
• Practice describing each strength with the example. These should each be about one minute each. The examples are what interviewers remember, not general statements.
• Don’t try to fake this stuff. Everything must tie together. Writing everything down and practicing it is essential. Don’t take any shortcuts.
• If the interviewer doesn’t ask you the right questions, ask the person to describe some of the critical challenges involved in the job. Ask for details like those in the sub-questions to the MIQ. Then give your best comparable accomplishment.

For more on how to prepare properly, check out my post on how to Use Solution Selling to Ace the Interview. Caution: doing this as described will not help you get a job you don’t deserve, but it will help you get one you do. Good Luck!

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130128185005-15454-job-seekers-how-to-answer-the-most-important-interview-question-of-all-time-part-3

The ANSWER to "The Most Important Interview Question of All Time" Part 2

In a lively blog post last week, I suggested that the following was the most important interview question (MIQ) of all time:

What single project or task would you consider the most significant accomplishment in your career, so far?

So far over 300,000 people attempted to answer the question following the set of follow-up questions provided. It takes about 15 minutes to fully understand the accomplishment. When you try it out, you'll be amazed at how much you've revealed about yourself and your abilities. You'll also discover the answers can't be faked, unless you take a shortcut.

From a practical strandpoint, without knowing what job is being filled, there's really no correct answer to this MIQ. To get part of the correct answer, you need to ask the hiring manager this first: What's the most important project or task this person needs to handle in order to be considered successful?

You need specific details to fully understand the scope of the job, but at least now you can compare the person's biggest accomplishment to this benchmark to determine if the person is too heavy, too light, or a possible fit. Now we're getting close to the correct answer. You can then dig deeper with those who are possible hires by asking the candidate the same MIQ question for 3-4 different accomplishments spaced out over the past 3-10 years. This reveals the person's long term trend line of growth and performance.

Repeating the MIQ is why it's the MIQ of all time.
A full assessment is made by comparing the scope and consistency of these accomplishments to the complete set of performance objectives for the job. As part of this consideration must be given to the hiring manager’s leadership style, the company culture, the local environment, and any unusual job circumstances, like lack of resources, a tight schedule, or some critical technical need.

The objective I had when I started this whole process was to find a practical way to counter hiring managers who made incorrect assessments based on a narrow set of technical requirements, overvaling first impressions, lack of insight regarding real job needs, or those who put too much trust in their gut. It turned out that the tangible evidence gained from the MIQ and the trend line was all that was needed. From this I discovered that "out-facting" a hiring manager was far more effective than bullheadedness.

As many readers commented, the form of the MIQ is a bit different for entry-level and less-experienced candidates. In this case I ask where they went the extra mile or have them describe smaller projects or tasks that they were excited about, received formal recognition for, or about work that made them proud. Talented youngsters have a bunch of things to brag about, so this is a good way to pull this out. As examples, we helped the YMCA hire a 100,000 15-16 year old camp counselors one summer using this question, and worked with a well-known hamburger chain using a similar process. The big benefit: the kids were hired because of their work-ethic and sense of responsibilty, not on their appearance or affability. The same technique works for non-kids, too.

Bottom line: there's more to determining if a candidate is a good fit for a job than the MIQ, but this is a critical part of it. The bigger part is first defining real job requirements in the form of 5-6 critical performance objectives. Collectively, this will help minimize the most common of all hiring mistakes – hiring a great person for the wrong job, or not hiring the right one.

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130121233555-15454-the-short-answer-to-the-most-important-interview-question-of-all-time

The Most Important Interview Question of All Time - Part 1

(NOTE - this is not the ONLY question, just the most important. Make sure you check out THE ANSWER (Part 2) post. Part 3 is for job-seekers on how to prepare for the interview.)

Over the past 30+ years as a recruiter, I can confirm that at least two-thirds of my hiring manager clients weren’t very good at interviewing. Yet, over 90% thought they were. To overcome this situation, it was critical that I became a better interviewer than them, to prove with evidence that the candidate was competent and motivated to do the work required. This led me on a quest for the single best interview question that would allow me to overcome any incorrect assessment with actual evidence.

It took about 10 years of trial and error. Then I finally hit upon one question that did it all.
Here’s it is:

What single project or task would you consider the most significant accomplishment in your career so far?

To see why this simple question is so powerful, imagine you’re the candidate and I’ve just asked you this question. What accomplishment would you select? Then imagine over the course of the next 15-20 minutes I dug deeper and asked you about the following. How would you respond?

• Can you give me a detailed overview of the accomplishment?
• Tell me about the company, your title, your position, your role, and the team involved.
• What were the actual results achieved?
• When did it take place and how long did the project take.
• Why you were chosen?
• What were the 3-4 biggest challenges you faced and how did you deal with them?
• Where did you go the extra mile or take the initiative?
• Walk me through the plan, how you managed to it, and if it was successful.
• Describe the environment and resources.
• Describe your manager’s style and whether you liked it or not.
• Describe the technical skills needed to accomplish the objective and how they were used.
• Some of the biggest mistakes you made.
• Aspects of the project you truly enjoyed.
• Aspects you didn’t especially care about and how you handled them.
• How you managed and influenced others, with lots of examples.
• How you were managed, coached, and influenced by others, with lots of examples.
• How you changed and grew as a person.
• What you would do differently if you could do it again.
• What type of formal recognition did you receive?

If the accomplishment was comparable to a real job requirement, and if the answer was detailed enough to take 15-20 minutes to complete, consider how much an interviewer would know about your ability to handle the job. The insight gained from this type of question would be remarkable. But the real issue is not the question, this is just a setup. The details underlying the accomplishment are what's most important. This is what real interviewing is about – getting into the details and comparing what the candidate has accomplished in comparison to what needs to be accomplished. Don’t waste time asking a lot of clever questions during the interview, or box checking their skills and experiences: spend time learning to get the answer to just this one question.

As you’ll discover you’ll then have all of the information to prove to other interviewers that their assessments were biased, superficial, emotional, too technical, intuitive or based on whether they liked the candidate or not. Getting the answer to this one question is all it takes.

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130117183637-15454-the-most-important-interview-question-of-all-time

14 Revealing Interview Questions

Interview questions: Everyone has them.

And everyone wishes they had better ones.

So I asked smart people from a variety of fields for their favorite interview question and, more importantly, why it's their favorite and what it tells them about the candidate.

1. If we're sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it's been for you in this role, what did we achieve together?
"For me, the most important thing about interviews is that the interviewee interviews us. I need to know they've done their homework, truly understand our company and the role... and really want it.

"The candidate should have enough strategic vision to not only talk about how good the year has been but to answer with an eye towards that bigger-picture understanding of the company--and why they want to be here."

2. When have you been most satisfied in your life?
"Except with entry-level candidates, I presume reasonable job skill and intellect.  Plus I believe smart people with relevant experience adapt quickly and excel in new environments where the culture fits and inspires them.

"So, I concentrate on character and how well theirs matches that of my organization.
"This question opens the door for a different kind of conversation where I push to see the match between life in my company and what this person needs to be their best and better in my company than he or she could be anywhere else."

3. If you got hired, loved everything about this job, and are paid the salary you asked for, what kind of offer from another company would you consider?
"I like to find out how much the candidate is driven by money versus working at a place they love.
"Can they be bought?

"You'd be surprised by some of the answers."

4. Who is your role model, and why?
"The question can reveal how introspective the candidate is about their own personal and professional development, which is a quality I have found to be highly correlated with success and ambition.
"Plus it can show what attributes and behaviors the candidate aspires to."

5. What things do you not like to do?
"We tend to assume people who have held a role enjoy all aspects of that role, but I've found that is seldom the case.

"Getting an honest answer to the question requires persistence, though. I usually have to ask it a few times in different ways, but the answers are always worth the effort. For instance, I interviewed a sales candidate who said she didn't enjoy meeting new people.

"My favorite was the finance candidate who told me he hated dealing with mundane details and checking his work. Next!"

6. Tell me about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career.
"I find that this question opens the door to further questions and enables someone to highlight themselves in a specific, non-generic way.

"Plus additional questions can easily follow: What position did you hold when you achieved this accomplishment? How did it impact your growth at the company? Who else was involved and how did the accomplishment impact your team?

"Discussing a single accomplishment is an easy way to open doors to additional information and insight about the person, their work habits, and how they work with others."

7. Tell me how...
"I don't have one favorite question because I believe a great interview takes on a life of its own, becoming more of a conversation than a formal process.

"Ultimately we're looking for people who are motivated, disciplined, good spirited, possessing skills and passion, so I ask indirect questions about the creative process, about articulating and demystifying the process of creating great food and great service.

"Then I trust my instincts. Reading the eyes of the candidate is a final test I've come to rely on--because the eyes never lie."

8. What's your superpower, or what's your spirit animal?
"During her interview I asked my current executive assistant what was her favorite animal. She told me it was a duck, because ducks are calm on the surface and hustling like crazy getting things done under the surface.

"I think this was an amazing response and a perfect description for the role of an EA. For the record, she's been working with us for over a year now and is amazing at her job."

9. Why have you had x amount of jobs in y years?
"This question helps me get a full picture of the candidate's work history. What keeps them motivated? Why, if they have, did they jump from job to job? And what is the key factor when they leave?

"The answer shows me their loyalty and their reasoning process. Do they believe someone always keeps them down (managers, bosses, etc.)? Do they get bored easily?

"There is nothing inherently wrong with moving from job to job--the reasons why are what matters."

10. We're constantly making things better, faster, smarter or less expensive. We leverage technology or improve processes. In other words, we strive to do more--with less. Tell me about a recent project or problem that you made better, faster, smarter, more efficient, or less expensive.
"Good candidates will have lots of answers to this question. Great candidates will get excited as they share their answers.

"In 13 years we've only passed along one price increase to our customers. That's not because our costs have decreased--quite the contrary. We've been able to maintain our prices because we've gotten better at what we do. Our team, at every level, has their ears to the ground looking for problems to solve.

"Every new employee needs to do that, too."

11. Discuss a specific accomplishment you've achieved in a previous position that indicates you will thrive in this position.
"Past performance is usually the best indicator of future success.

"If the candidate can't point to a prior accomplishment, they are unlikely to be able to accomplish much at our organization--or yours."

12. So, (insert name), what's your story?
"This inane question immediately puts an interviewee on the defensive because there is no right answer or wrong answer. But there is an answer.

"It's a question that asks for a creative response. It's an invitation to the candidate to play the game and see where it goes without worrying about the right answer. By playing along, it tells me a lot about the character, imagination, and inventiveness of the person.

"The question, as obtuse as it might sound to the interviewee, is the beginning of a story and in today's world of selling oneself, or one's company, it's the ability to tell a story and create a feeling that sells the brand--whether it's a product or a person.

"The way they look at me when the question is asked also tells me something about their likeability. If they act defensive, look uncomfortable, and pause longer than a few seconds, it tells me they probably take things too literally and are not broad thinkers. In our business we need broad thinkers."
 
13. What questions do you have for me?
"I love asking this question really early in the interview--it shows me whether the candidate can think quickly on their feet, and also reveals their level of preparation and strategic thinking.

"I often find you can learn more about a person based on the questions they ask versus the answers they give."

14. Tell us about a time when things didn't go the way you wanted-- like a promotion you wanted and didn't get, or a project that didn't turn out how you had hoped.
"It's a simple question that says so much. Candidates may say they understand the importance of working as a team but that doesn't mean they actually know how to work as a team. We need self-starters that will view their position as a partnership.

"Answers tend to fall into three basic categories: 1) blame 2) self-deprecation, or 3) opportunity for growth.

"Our company requires focused employees willing to wear many hats and sometimes go above and beyond the job description, so I want team players with the right attitude and approach. If the candidate points fingers, blames, goes negative on former employers, communicates with a sense of entitlement, or speaks in terms of their role as an individual as opposed to their position as a partnership, he or she won't do well here.

"But if they take responsibility and are eager to put what they have learned to work, they will thrive in our meritocracy."

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/14-revealing-interview-questions.html

Best Interview Technique You Never Use

Eventually, almost every interview turns into a question-and-answer session. You ask a question. The candidate answers as you check a mental tick-box (good answer? bad answer?).

You quickly go to the next question and the next question and the next question, because you only have so much time and there's a lot of ground to cover because you want to evaluate the candidate thoroughly. The more questions you ask, the more you will learn about the candidate.

Or not.

Sometimes, instead of asking questions, the best interviewing technique is to listen slowly.

In Change-Friendly Leadership, management coach Rodger Dean Duncan describes how he learned about listening slowly from PBS NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer:

Duncan: He urged me to ask a good question, listen attentively to the answer, and then count silently to five before asking another question. At first that suggestion seemed silly. I argued that five seconds would seem like an eternity to wait after someone responds to a question. Then it occurred to me: Of course it would seem like an eternity, because our natural tendency is to fill a void with sound, usually that of our own voice.

Lehrer: If you resist the temptation to respond too quickly to the answer, you'll discover something almost magical. The other person will either expand on what he's already said or he'll go in a different direction. Either way, he's expanding his response, and you get a clear view into his head and heart.

Duncan: Giving other people sufficient psychological breathing room seemed to work wonders. When I bridled my natural impatience to get on with it, they seemed more willing to disclose, explore, and even be a bit vulnerable. When I treated the interview more as a conversation with a purpose than as a sterile interrogation, the tone of the exchange softened. It was now just two people talking...

Listening slowly can turn a Q&A session into more of a conversation. Try listening slowly in your next interviews. (Not after every question, of course: Pausing for five seconds after a strictly factual answer will leave you both feeling really awkward.)

Just pick a few questions that give candidates room for self-analysis or introspection, and after the initial answer, pause. They'll fill the space: with an additional example, a more detailed explanation, a completely different perspective on the question.

Once you give candidates a silent hole to fill, they'll fill it, often in unexpected and surprising ways. A shy candidate may fill the silence by sharing positive information she wouldn't have otherwise shared. A candidate who came prepared with "perfect" answers to typical interview questions may fill the silence with not-so-positive information he never intended to disclose.

And all candidates will open up and speak more freely when they realize you're not just asking questions--you're listening.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/best-interview-technique-you-never-use.html

9 Things You Wish Job Candidates Knew

Sure, you'll consider their qualifications. But admit it: This is what you're really looking for during interviews.

Job candidates say a lot during an interview. As the interviewer, so do you.
But there's a lot you wish you could say to job candidates well before the interview ever takes place:

1. I want you to be likable.
Obvious, sure, but also critical. I want to work with people I like and who like me.
So I want you to smile. I want you to make eye contact, sit forward in your chair, and be enthusiastic. The employer-employee relationship truly is a relationship--and that relationship starts with the interview (if not before).

A candidate who makes a great first impression and sparks a real connection instantly becomes a big fish in a very small short-list pond.

You may have solid qualifications, but if I don't think I'll enjoy working with you, I'm probably not going to hire you.

Life is too short.

2. I'm taken aback when you say you want the job right away.
Oh, I do want you to want the job--but not before you really know what the job entails. I may need you to work 60-hour weeks, or travel 80% of the time, or report to someone with less experience than you... so hang in there.

No matter how much research you've done, you can't know you want the job until you know everything possible about the job.

3. I want you to stand out....
A sad truth of interviewing is that later I often don't recall, unless I refer to my notes, a significant amount about some of the candidates. (Unfair? Sure. Reality? Absolutely.)

The more people I interview for a job and the more spread out those interviews, the more likely I am to remember a candidate by impressions rather than by a long list of facts.

So when I meet with staff to discuss potential candidates I might initially refer to someone as, "the guy with the handcuff-ready stainless steel briefcase," or "the woman who does triathlons," or "the guy who grew up in Romania."

In short, I may remember you by "hooks"--whether flattering or unflattering--so use that to your advantage. Your hook could be your clothing, or an outside interest, or an unusual fact about your upbringing or career.
Better yet your hook could be the project you pulled off in half the expected time, or the huge sale you made.

Instead of letting me choose, give me one or two notable ways to remember you.

4. ...But not for being negative.
There's no way I can remember everything you say. But I will remember sound bites, especially negative ones.

Some candidates complain, without prompting, about their current employer, their coworkers, their customers.

So if, for example, you hate being micro-managed, instead say you're eager to earn more responsibility and authority. I get there are reasons you want a new job but I want to hear why you want my job instead of why you're desperate to to escape your old job.

And keep in mind I'm well aware our interview is like a first date. I know I'm getting the best possible version of "you." So if you whine and complain and grumble now... I know you'll be a total downer to be around in a few months.

5. I want you to ask lots of questions about what really matters to you...
I need to know whether I should hire you, but just as importantly I need you to make sure my job is a good fit for you.

So I want you to ask lots of questions: What I expect you to accomplish early on, what attributes make our top performers so outstanding, what you can do to truly drive results, how you'll be evaluated--all the things that matter to you and to me and my business.

You know what makes work meaningful and enjoyable to you. I don't. There's no other way to really know whether you want the job unless you ask questions.

6. ...But only if the majority of those questions relate to work.
I know you want a positive work-life balance. Still, save all those questions about vacation sign-up policies and whether it's okay to take an extra half hour at lunch every day if you also stay a half hour late and whether I've considered setting up an in-house childcare facility because that would be really awesome for you and your family.

First let's find out if you're the right person for the job, and whether the tasks, responsibilities, duties, etc. are right for you.

Then we can talk about the rest.

7. I love when you bring a "project."
I expect you to do a little research about my company. That's not impressive; that's a given.

To really impress me, tell me how you will hit the ground running and contribute right away--the bigger the impact the better. If you bring a specific skill, show how I can leverage that skill immediately.

Remember how I see it: I have to pay you starting day one, so I'd love to see an immediate return starting day one.

8. I want you to ask for the job... and I want to know why.
By the end of the interview you should have a good sense of whether you want the job. If you need more information, say so. Let's figure out how to get you what you need to make a decision.

If you don't need more information, do what great salespeople do and ask for the job. I'll like the fact you asked. I want you to really want the job--but I also want to know why you want the job.

So tell me why: You thrive in an unsupervised role, or you love working with multiple teams, or you like frequent travel. Ask me for the job and prove to me, objectively, that it's a great fit for you.

9. I want you to follow up... especially if it's genuine.
Every interviewer appreciates a brief follow-up note. If nothing else, saying you enjoyed meeting me and are happy to answer any other questions, is nice.

But "nice" may not separate you from the pack.

What I really like is when you follow up based on something we discussed. Maybe we talked about data collection techniques, so you send me information about a set of tools you strongly recommend. Maybe we talked about quality, so you send me a process checklist you developed that I could adapt to use in my company.

Or maybe we both like cycling, so you send me a photo of you on your bike in front of the sign at the top of the Col du Tourmalet (and I'm totally jealous).

The more closely you listened during the interview, the easier it is to think of ways to follow up in a natural and unforced way.

Remember, we're starting a relationship--and even the most professional of relationships are based on genuine interactions.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/9-things-you-wish-you-could-say-to-job-candidates.html

3 Interview Questions That Reveal Everything

Interviewing job candidates is tough, especially because some candidates are a lot better at interviewing than they are at working.

To get the core info you need about the candidates you interview, here's a simple but incredibly effective interview technique I learned from John Younger, the CEO of Accolo, a cloud recruiting solutions provider. (If you think you've conducted a lot of interviews, think again: Younger has interviewed thousands of people.)

Here's how it works. Just start from the beginning of the candidate's work history and work your way through each subsequent job. Move quickly, and don't ask for detail. And don't ask follow-up questions, at least not yet.

Go through each job and ask the same three questions:

1. How did you find out about the job?
2. What did you like about the job before you started?
3. Why did you leave?

"What's amazing," Younger says, "is that after a few minutes, you will always have learned something about the candidate--whether positive or negative--that you would never have learned otherwise."
Here's why:

How did you find out about the job?
Job boards, general postings, online listings, job fairs--most people find their first few jobs that way, so that's certainly not a red flag.

But a candidate who continues to find each successive job from general postings probably hasn't figured out what he or she wants to do--and where he or she would like to do it.

He or she is just looking for a job; often, any job.

And that probably means he or she isn't particularly eager to work for you. He or she just wants a job. Yours will do--until something else comes along.

"Plus, by the time you get to Job Three, Four, or Five in your career, and you haven't been pulled into a job by someone you previously worked for, that's a red flag," Younger says. "That shows you didn't build relationships, develop trust, and show a level of competence that made someone go out of their way to bring you into their organization."

On the flip side, being pulled in is like a great reference--without the letter.

What did you like about the job before you started?
In time, interviewees should describe the reason they took a particular job for more specific reasons than "great opportunity," "chance to learn about the industry," or "next step in my career."

Great employees don't work hard because of lofty titles or huge salaries. They work hard because they appreciate their work environment and enjoy what they do. (Titles and salary are just icing on the fulfillment cake.)

That means they know the kind of environment they will thrive in, and they know the type of work that motivates and challenges them--and not only can they describe it, they actively seek it.

Why did you leave?
Sometimes people leave for a better opportunity. Sometimes they leave for more money.
Often, though, they leave because an employer is too demanding. Or the employee doesn't get along with his or her boss. Or the employee doesn't get along with co-workers.

When that is the case, don't be judgmental. Resist the temptation to ask for detail. Hang on to follow-ups. Stick to the rhythm of the three questions. That makes it natural for candidates to be more open and candid.
In the process, many candidates will describe issues with management or disagreements with other employees or with taking responsibility--issues they otherwise would not have shared.

Then follow up on patterns that concern you.

"It's a quick way to get to get to the heart of a candidate's sense of teamwork and responsibility," Younger says. "Some people never take ownership and always see problems as someone else's problem. And some candidates have consistently had problems with their bosses--which means they'll also have issues with you."
And a bonus question:

How many people have you hired, and where did you find them?
Say you're interviewing candidates for a leadership position. Want to know how their direct reports feel about them?

Don't look only for candidates who were brought into an organization by someone else; look for candidates who brought employees into their organization.

"Great employees go out of their way to work with great leaders," Younger says. "If you're tough but fair, and you treat people well, they will go out of their way to work with you. The fact that employees changed jobs just so they could work for you speaks volumes to your leadership and people skills."

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/3-interview-questions-that-reveal-everything.html

Sir Jonathan Ive: The iMan cometh

Sir Jonathan Ive, Jony to his friends, is arguably one of the world’s most influential Londoners. The 45-year-old was born in Chingford — and went to the same school as David Beckham. He met his wife, Heather Pegg, while in secondary school. They married in 1987, have twin sons and now live in San Francisco.
As Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, he is the driving force behind the firm’s products, from the Mac computer to the iPod, iPhone and, most recently the iPad. He spoke exclusively to the Evening Standard at the firm’s Cupertino headquarters.

Q: You recently received a Knighthood for services to design - was that a proud moment?
A: I was absolutely thrilled, and at the same time completely humbled. I am very aware that I’m the product of growing up in England, and the tradition of designing and making, of England industrializing first. The emphasis and value on ideas and original thinking is an innate part of British culture, and in many ways, that describes the traditions of design.

Q: Is London still an important city for design?
A: I left London in 1992, but I’m there 3-4 times a year, and love visiting. It’s a very important city, and makes a significant contribution to design, to creating something new where previously something didn’t exist.

Q: How does London differ from Silicon Valley?
A: The proximity of different creative industries and London is remarkable, and is in many ways unique. I think that has led to a very different feel to Silicon Valley.

Q: Why did you decide to move to California?
A: What I enjoy about being here is there is a remarkable optimism, and an attitude to try out and explore ideas without the fear of failure. There is a very simple and practical sense that a couple of people have an idea and decide to form a company to do it. I like that very practical and straightforward approach.
There’s not a sense of looking to generate money, its about having an idea and doing it - I think that characterizes this area and its focus.

Q: What makes design different at Apple?
A: We struggle with the right words to describe the design process at  Apple, but it is very much about designing and prototyping and making. When you separate those, I think the final result suffers. If something is going to be better, it is new, and if it’s new you are confronting problems and challenges you don’t have references for. To solve and address those requires a remarkable focus. There’s a sense of being inquisitive and optimistic, and you don’t see those in combination very often.

Q: How does a new product come about at Apple?
A: What I love about the creative process, and this may sound naive, but it is this idea that one day there is no idea, and no solution, but then the next day there is an idea. I find that incredibly exciting and conceptually actually remarkable.
The nature of having ideas and creativity is incredibly inspiring. There is an idea which is solitary, fragile and tentative and doesn’t have form.
What we’ve found here is that it then becomes a conversation, although remains very fragile.
When you see the most dramatic shift is when you transition from an abstract idea to a slightly more material conversation. But when you made a 3D model, however crude, you bring form to a nebulous idea, and everything changes - the entire process shifts. It galvanizes and brings focus from a broad group of people. It’s a remarkable process.

Q: What makes a great designer?
A: It is so important to be light on your feet, inquisitive and interested in being wrong. You have that  wonderful fascination with the what if questions, but you also need absolute focus and a keen insight into the context and what is important - that is really terribly important. Its about contradictions you have to navigate.

Q: What are your goals when setting out to build a new product?
A: Our goals are very simple - to design and make better products. If we can’t make something that is better, we won’t do it.

Q: Why has Apple’s competition struggled to do that?
A: That’s quite unusual, most of our competitors are interesting in doing something different, or want to appear new - I think those are completely the wrong goals. A product has to be genuinely better. This requires real discipline, and that’s what drives us - a sincere, genuine appetite to do something that is better. Committees just don’t work, and it’s not about price, schedule or a bizarre marketing goal to appear different - they are corporate goals with scant regard for people who use the product.

Q: When did you first become aware of the importance of designers?
A: First time I was aware of this sense of the group of people who made something was when I first used a Mac - I’d gone through college in the 80s using a computer and had a horrid experience. Then I discovered the mac, it was such a dramatic moment and I remember it so clearly - there was a real sense of the people who made it.

Q: When you are coming up with product ideas such as the iPod, do you try to solve a problem?
A: There are different approaches - sometimes things can irritate you so you become aware of a problem, which is a very pragmatic approach and the least challenging.
What is more difficult is when you are intrigued by an opportunity. That, I think, really exercises the skills of a designer. It’s not a problem you’re aware of, nobody has articulated a need. But you start asking questions, what if we do this, combine it with that, would that be useful? This creates opportunities that could replace entire categories of device, rather than tactically responding to an individual problem. That’s the real challenge, and that’s what is exciting.

Q: Has that led to new products within Apple?
A: Examples are products like the iPhone, iPod and iPad. That fanatical attention to detail and coming across a problem and being determined to solve it is critically important - that defines your minute by minute, day by day experience.

Q: How do you know consumers will want your products?
A: We don’t do focus groups - that is the job of the designer. It’s unfair to ask people who don’t have a sense of the opportunities of tomorrow from the context of today to design.

Q: Your team of designers is very small - is that the key to its success?
A: The way we work at Apple is that the complexity of these products really makes it critical to work collaboratively, with different areas of expertise. I think that’s one of the things about my job I enjoy the most. I work with silicon designers, electronic and mechanical engineers, and I think you would struggle to determine who does what when we get together. We’re located together, we share the same goal, have exactly the same preoccupation with making great products.
One of the other things that enables this is that we’ve been doing this together for many years - there is a collective confidence when you are facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge, and there were multiple times on the iPhone or ipad where we have to think ‘will this work’ we simply didn’t have points of reference.

Q: Is it easy to get sidetracked by tiny details on a project?
A: When you’re trying to solve a problem on a new product type, you become completely focused on problems that seem a number of steps removed from the main product. That problem solving can appear a little abstract, and it is easy to lose sight of the product. I think that is where having years and years of experience gives you that confidence that if you keep pushing, you’ll get there.

Q: Can this obsession with detail get out of control?
A: It’s incredibly time consuming, you can spent months and months and months on a tiny detail - but unless you solve that tiny problem, you can’t solve this other, fundamental product.
You often feel there is no sense these can be solved, but you have faith. This is why these innovations are so hard - there are no points of reference.

Q: How do you know you’ve succeeded?
A :It’s a very strange thing for a designer to say, but one of the things that really irritates me in products is when I’m aware of designers wagging their tails in my face.
Our goal is simple objects, objects that you can’t imagine any other way. Simplicity is not the absence of clutter. Get it right, and you become closer and more focused on the object. For instance, the iPhoto app we created for the new iPad, it completely consumes you and you forget you are using an iPad.

Q: What are the biggest challenges in constantly innovating?
A: For as long as we’ve been doing this, I am still surprised how difficult it is to do this, but you know exactly when you’re there - it can be the smallest shift, and suddenly transforms the object, without any contrivance.
Some of the problem solving in the iPad is really quite remarkable, there is this danger you want to communicate this to people. I think that is a fantastic irony, how oblivious people are to the acrobatics we’ve performed to solve a problem - but that’s our job, and I think people know there is tremendous care behind the finished product.

Q: Do consumers really care about good design?
A: One of the things we’ve really learned over the last 20 years is that while people would often struggle to articulate why they like something - as consumers we are incredibly discerning, we sense where has been great care in the design, and when there is cynicism and greed. It’s one of the thing we’ve found really encouraging.

Q: Users have become incredibly attached, almost obsessively so, to Apple’s products - why is this?
A: It sound so obvious, but I remember being shocked to use a Mac, and somehow have this sense I was having a keen awareness of the people and values of those who made it.
I think that people’s emotional connection to our products is that they sense our care, and the amount of work that has gone into creating it.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/sir-jonathan-ive-the-iman-cometh-7562170.html

10 Toughest Interview Questions: Answered

1. Why Should I Hire You?
The most overlooked question is also the one most candidates are unprepared to answer. This is often because job applicants don't do their homework on the position. Your job is to illustrate why you are the most qualified candidate. Review the job description and qualifications very closely to identify the skills and knowledge that are critical to the position, then identify experiences from your past that demonstrate those skills and knowledge.

2. Why Is There A Gap In Your Work History? 
Employers understand that people lose their jobs and it's not always easy to find a new one fast. When answering this question, list activities you've been doing during any period of unemployment. Freelance projects, volunteer work or taking care of family members all let the interviewer know that time off was spent productively.

3. Tell Me One Thing You Would Change About Your Last Job

Beware over sharing or making disparaging comments about former coworkers or supervisors, as you might be burning bridges. But an additional trouble point in answering this query is showing yourself to be someone who can't vocalize their problems as they arise. Why didn't you correct the issue at the time? Be prepared with an answer that doesn't criticize a colleague or paint you in an unflattering light. A safe scapegoat? Outdated technology.

4. Tell Me About Yourself

People tend to meander through their whole resumes and mention personal or irrelevant information in answering--a serious no-no. Keep your answer to a minute or two at most. Cover four topics: early years, education, work history, and recent career experience. Emphasize this last subject. Remember that this is likely to be a warm-up question. Don't waste your best points on it. And keep it clean--no weekend activities should be mentioned.

5. Explain A Complex Database To Your Eight-Year-Old Nephew

Explaining public relations, explaining mortgages, explaining just about anything in terms an eight-year-old can understand shows the interviewer you have solid and adaptable understanding of what it is they do. Do your homework, know the industry and be well-versed.

6. What Would The Person Who Likes You Least In The World Say About You?

Highlight an aspect of your personality that could initially seem negative, but is ultimately a positive. An example? Impatience. Used incorrectly this can be bad in a workplace. But stressing timeliness and always driving home deadlines can build your esteem as a leader. And that's a great thing to show off in an interview.

7. Tell Me About A Time When Old Solutions Didn't Work

The interviewer is trying to identify how knowledgeable you are in today's work place and what new creative ideas you have to solving problems. You may want to explore new technology or methods within your industry to be prepared for. Twitter-phobes, get tweeting. Stat.

8. What's The Biggest Risk You've Ever Taken?

Some roles require a high degree of tenacity and the ability to pick oneself up after getting knocked down. Providing examples of your willingness to take risks shows both your ability to fail and rebound, but also your ability to make risky or controversial moves that succeed.

9. Have You Ever Had A Supervisor Challenge A Decision?

Interviewers are looking for an answer that shows humility--??and the ability to take direction. The anecdote should be telling, but it's the lesson learned, not the situation, that could land you the job.

10. Have You Ever Had A Supervisor Challenge A Decision?

Interviewers are looking for an answer that shows humility--and the ability to take direction. The anecdote should be telling, but it's the lesson learned, not the situation, that could land you the job.

Top Executive Recruiters Agree There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions

The only three true job interview questions are:

1. Can you do the job?
 2. Will you love the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?

That’s it. Those three. Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions. Each question potentially may be asked using different words, but every question, however it is phrased, is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation, and Fit.

Can You Do the Job? – Strengths
Executive Search firm Heidrick & Struggles CEO, Kevin Kelly explained to me that it’s not just about the technical skills, but also about leadership and interpersonal strengths. Technical skills help you climb the ladder. As you get there, managing up, down and across become more important.

You can’t tell by looking at a piece of paper what some of the strengths and weaknesses really are…We ask for specific examples of not only what’s been successful but what they’ve done that hasn’t gone well or a task they they’ve, quite frankly, failed at and how they learned from that experience and what they’d do different in a new scenario.

Not only is it important to look at the technical skill set they have…but also the strengths on what I call the EQ side of the equation in terms of getting along and dealing or interacting with people.

Will You Love the Job? -Motivation
Cornerstone International Group CEO, Bill Guy emphasizes the changing nature of motivation,

…younger employees do not wish to get paid merely for working hard—just the reverse: they will work hard because they enjoy their environment and the challenges associated with their work…. Executives who embrace this new management style are attracting and retaining better employees.

Can We Tolerate Working With You? – Fit
Continuing on with our conversation, Heidrick’s Kelly went on to explain the importance of cultural fit:

A lot of it is cultural fit and whether they are going to fit well into the organization… The perception is that when (senior leaders) come into the firm, a totally new environment, they know everything. And they could do little things such as send emails in a voicemail culture that tend to negatively snowball over time. Feedback or onboarding is critical. If you don’t get that feedback, you will get turnover later on.

He made the same point earlier in an interview with Smart Business, referencing Heidrick’s internal study of 20,000 searches.

40 percent of senior executives leave organizations or are fired or pushed out within 18 months. It’s not because they’re dumb; it’s because a lot of times culturally they may not fit in with the organization or it’s not clearly articulated to them as they joined.

Preparing for Interviews

If you’re the one doing the interviewing, get clear on what strengths, motivational and fit insights you’re looking for before you go into your interviews.

If you’re the one being interviewed, prepare by thinking through examples that illustrate your strengths, what motivates you about the organization and role you’re interviewing for, and the fit between your own preferences and the organization’s Behaviors, Relationships, Attitudes, Values, and Environment (BRAVE). But remember that interviews are exercises in solution selling. They are not about you.

Think of the interview process as a chance for you to show your ability to solve the organization and interviewer’s problem. That’s why you need to highlight strengths in the areas most important to the interviewers, talk about how you would be motivated by the role’s challenges, and discuss why you would be a BRAVE fit with the organization’s culture.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2011/04/27/top-executive-recruiters-agree-there-are-only-three-key-job-interview-questions/