I’m always on the lookout for great interview questions. Pat Murray spoke at my last Vistage meeting. His topic was Group Dynamics. Pat was the best Vistage speaker I’ve heard in a while. All of our speakers are good, but this guy set a new standard.
Great interview questions help you learn a lot about a person’s natural tendencies and thinking style. Since we typically hire for skills and fire for behavior, wouldn’t it be great to interview for behavior and save yourself and the interviewee the potential for future pain?
Here are some great questions Pat shared when he helps interview people:
- “Walk me through your resume. Take as long as you like.” He listens for when someone becomes energetic about topics in the resume and then asks to talk about those moments. These high energy moments and the resulting discussion will help you learn a great deal about a person.
- “Walk me through your defining moments.” Decline to define the “refining moments” and allow the person to determine what these are.
- “Walk me through your heroes.”
- “Give me some examples of when you sacrificed a great deal to hold on to your integrity.”
- “What will your legacy be when you leave here?”
- “At this point in your career, what are you sure of?”
- Based on the ideal that a person accepts what he/she tolerates, ask someone to “walk you through your intolerables.”
A few other notes from Pat:
- Any information which cannot be immediately backed up with concrete evidence is probably a lie
- People will fight harder to prevent loss than for a potential gain
- Confrontation is only a search for the truth. It does not need to be aggressive, awkward, or any of those negative elements.
Thanks to Pat for visiting us and sharing!
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