INTERVIEW QUESTIONS – No. 1

I have been hiring and interviewing candidates for (way) more than twenty years. I have developed a series of questions that are typically unexpected and give me a candid view into the way the candidate thinks. Here is one of my favorites: 

Tell me about the biggest mistake you ever made at work – describe what happened. 

I love this question because it offers so many insights into the way the candidate thinks. 

· What sorts of things to they view as “big mistakes”? Was it wearing sweatpants to the office? Falling for a phishing scam and giving out the corporate credit card? Accidentally spilling coffee on a client order that was ready to ship?

· What details do they provide about the situation? Does the mistake seem to be due to inexperience? Does it seem careless? What is the reason for the mistake? 

· What did they do to fix it? 

· How was the mistake discovered? Did their supervisor see it or did they bring it to them?

Mistakes can come from poor judgement or lack of awareness. They can also come from just being new in the job or new in a career. 

Mistakes aren’t necessarily a bad thing – they happen to everyone. Mistakes happen when we try new things, when we’re learning, and when we’re experimenting. 

Mistakes that happen more than once mean that lessons were not learned the first time. 

I still make mistakes all the time. If I’m not trying new things and experimenting, I’m not learning.

More to come…