SOMETHING TO PONDER FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES September 25th SMALL BUSINESS SECTION       

How I Hire:    Don’t Tell Me You Work Too Hard and Care Too Much. . . . . . . . .

By ADAM BRYANT.                          

During my “Corner Office” interviews, I always make sure to pose these questions to chief executives: “How do you hire? What qualities are you looking for? What questions do you ask?”

Over the course of more than 250 interviews, I’ve heard some surprising answers, particularly about the questions they ask job candidates. After all, these leaders face a clear challenge when they meet with prospective hires: most of the people they meet have been coached and trained to come up with the “right” answers to questions, so that they can present a blemish-free and upbeat narrative about their career. And so, when they are asked about their weaknesses, candidates will inevitably try to turn a negative into a positive, as in, “I care too much.” Or, “I’m a perfectionist.” Or, “I work too hard.” The C.E.O.’s have heard them all before, and the answers can sound like Muzak after a while.

And so the C.E.O.’s have had to devise clever questions to get people off their scripts. I’ve come to think of them as “bank shot” questions that get around the facade that people present, so that they can get a sense of what the person is really like, and […]

By |September 25th, 2013|Human Resources|0 Comments