I have much experience.
I mean, I’ve made numerous mistakes.
Some changed my life. Others were a blessing in disguise and opened unexpected opportunities.
The costliest ones?
Hiring mistakes.
As a leader, I soon realized how difficult hiring is and the price you pay when your new recruit doesn’t perform as expected. Get the wrong talent onboard, and you’ll quickly face issues that impact your whole organization, destroy the team’s morale and short-circuit your promising career.
Hiring is tough. Despite sophisticated systems at most reputable companies, you’re never sure you – or the chosen candidate – made the right choice.
So, how can you minimize risk and better assess a mutual match and the success potential of your candidates in an ever-changing world?
In addition to gauging domain expertise in specific areas, here are five questions I have found to be particularly insightful. They help assess the soft skills that are an absolute must for any individual to thrive in 2022.
What have you done in the past six months to keep learning and progressing?
Do they have a continuous learning mindset? Nothing’s static. The skills you learned at school might have helped kickstart your early years. But in the knowledge working world, you must constantly learn and seek new skills to help you succeed. Apply them to real-life experiences and keep feeding your curiosity.
Tell me about some fake news you recently faced at work and how you went about it.
Are they critical thinkers? We live in a mix of information overload and fake news. And it’s likely not going to get better anytime soon. Those who know how to analyze, go beyond their own bias and help others do the same have a very desirable skill set.
Tell me about a divisive issue on a complex problem you had to solve and how you addressed it.
How creative are they? Creativity isn’t limited to art. No matter how technical or scientific a role is, creative minds will look at problems from various angles. They will challenge the status quo and won’t take anything for granted.
Tell me about a conflict you recently experienced at work and how you resolved it.
How much emotional intelligence do they have? It is another crucial soft skill. No matter what, tensions will arise, and the ones who can manage their emotions, adapt, and play well with others under any circumstance will make a huge difference for your team’s cohesion.
What’s your definition of leadership? Please elaborate.
Less of a behavioral question, but I particularly like it. It helps you see whether the candidates limit their leadership view to leading people or if they embrace the notion that we all have a leadership role to play. I want them on my team if they have the attitude and mindset that bring other people together and keep them engaged.
I know there are additional dimensions to consider when hiring new talent. Each company has its own culture, and there needs to be a fit.
But I have found these five questions to be quite universal.
So, feel free to use them if you genuinely want to bring in the best talent and are ready – and able – to give them an environment that will make them thrive.
Good luck!