Mark Murphy, Founder & CEO
Bringing Science to Leadership Training and Employee Surveyshttp://leadershipiq.com
The Perfect 4-Step Interview Question
"Hiring for Attitude"
The second half of this well-researched “Hiring for Attitude” white paper offers practical advice on how to ask great interview questions to reveal if the applicant is suitable for a high-performance workplace.
First, Mark Murphy lists three big questions NOT to ask:
- Clichés:
“Tell me about yourself.”
“What are your strengths?”
“What are your weaknesses?”
These are not inherently bad questions but rather questions, which guarantee canned, rehearsed answers.
- Hypothetical Questions:
“If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?”
These type of questions are “quirky, nonsensical questions that are useless to your hiring process”.
- Leading Questions:
“So listen, Mark, we have a team-friendly, family-oriented type of culture here.
You are going to fit well into this culture, right?”
You are going to fit well into this culture, right?”
“Well, yes, I am. In fact, my last boss told me my best attribute was working in a team- based, family-oriented culture.”
When you lead the question (hint the answer) , the effectiveness of your question is lost.
The questions that are revealing and relevant are those, which reveal the most important as well as least desirable attitudinal characteristics of your organization. Mark Murphy recommends using two questioning techniques, which bring out a past situation and how the employee reacted to it:
I. Behavioral Interviewing Technique
e.g. “Tell me about a time when…”
II. Hanging Question Technique
e.g. Where the employee is given “an assignment he doesn’t agree with”
e.g. When “project specifications are changed at the last minute”
e.g. When “the employee is given an assignment outside of his/her job role”
Six torpedoes
Mark cautions, however, not to add six little words that torpedo your question’s effectiveness:
“…and how did you solve it?”
“…how did you react to it?”
“…what did you tell your boss?”
These turn your questions into unproductive leading questions.
The Perfect 4-Step Interview Question:
Determining Coachability and High-Performance
Determining Coachability and High-Performance
Mark next lays out his killer interview question strategy that gets to the heart of the job applicant’s coachability – the leading indicator of new hire long-term success (see prior blog post).
As Mark Murphy puts it:
“There is no point in investing time and energy in people who
do not respond to positive feedback.”
Leadership IQ has developed and field-tested the following methodology for determining coachability and high-performance.
Step 1: Make them believe you’re going to talk to their previous boss.
Ask for the full name of their present or most recent boss; then confirm the spelling.
“Did she go by Kate or Katherine? And how do you spell Johnson?”
This step is key to the whole questioning process, which psychologically causes the applicant to answer more truthfully.
Step 2: Ask them to describe their boss.
“Tell me what Kate was like as a boss.”
Follow up with:
“Tell me a specific example,” or “What was that like?”
The answers will tell you what the applicant is looking for in a boss. If there last boss sounds like you, and they loved working for him/her, that is a great sign.
Step 3: Ask them what their boss considered their strengths.
“When I talk to Kate, what will she tell me are your biggest strengths?”
Asking about their strengths before their weaknesses keeps the applicant talking freely on a more pleasant note. If you ask them straight out what they think their strengths are, you will get a canned answer about what they think you want to hear.
Step 4: Ask them what their boss considered their weaknesses.
“Now everyone has some weaknesses,
so when I talk to Kate, what will she tell me yours are?”
This is the most critical question but will not produce insights into the applicant unless the first three questions have been successfully followed. Murphy says to listen to answers on two levels: 1) is the weakness something you can live with? and 2) if they answer they cannot think of any weaknesses or they do not know what the boss would say, then you have hit upon a strong disqualifier.
“If someone can’t hear and assimilate constructive criticism, they’re not coachable.
And even without formal conversations with their boss,
if they can’t put themselves in their boss’ shoes and anticipate their assessment,
they’re going to be a nightmare to try and manage.”
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