114 Key Principles for Success

Principle 8 - The One Question Interview

What if you could only ask one question on a job interview, what would it be?

The question I thought of was "What number is next in the series, million, billion, trillion?"

So the reasons I like this question is that it shows:

Interest in numbers
Curiosity

Another similar question I recently thought of is:

"What time do you eat lunch at?"

The reasoning for this question is to see if the person:

Works through lunch; means they're a hard worker
Leaves before noon to beat the crowd, therefore smart to avoid issues
Eats when hungry, therefore doesn't plan well
Brings in their lunch, therefore knows how to prepare

I also like to ask "What's some of your key principles?" to see if a potential employee has any.

Another idea is to see if the person can untie a knotted wire to a headphone. This shows how easily the person will give up if the task is hard. I like people who don't quit.

Or have one of the foldable boxes and see if the candidate can put it together or will give up.

Another thought just came to me while writing this chapter is to mention a combination of words and ask for the first answer that comes to their mind, which would be an answer without filters.

Dogs or cats
Messy or clean
Plan or do
Read or write
Help or be helped
Money or fun
Glasses or contacts
Milk or juice
Hammer or screwdriver
Old or young
Smart or dumb
Beginner or expert
Qualified or unqualified
Hire or fire

So what one question would you ask a candidate?